Isomorphic Javascript

The Future of Web Applications

const me = {
    name:    'Cristian Moreno',
    title:   'FullStack Javascript Developer',
    work:    '@wolrd',
    org:     'Avanet',
    twitter: '@khriztianmoreno',
    website: 'http://khriztianmoreno.com/'
};

Evolution of the Web

OLD DAYS:
FAT-SERVER,THIN-CLIENT​

  • Routing
  • View layer
  • Application
  • Persistance

SERVER

  • DOM Manipulation
  • Animations

 

CLIENT

Evolution of the Web

AROUND 2010:
THIN-SERVER, FAT-CLIENT

 

  • Persistance

 

 

SERVER

  • DOM Manipulation
  • Animations
  • Routing
  • View layer
  • Application

CLIENT

Common problems

Single Pages Apps

Performances

Lot of stuff to do before even showing the content:​

Can destroy the usability on the

weaker clients (mobiles, tablets, etc.)

Download

skeleton HTML

Download

Javascript

Evaluate

Javascript

Fetch data from API

User sees content

Search Engine Optimization

All content is generated in JavaScript, so it's invisible to the search engines *

 

Over  complicated hacks needed to fix this issue:

  • phantom.js + static html archive of your website
  • prerender.io

Maintainability

Code duplication

  • ViewLogic
  • Logic
  • Date
  • Currency

Isomorphics Javascript

Popularized by AirBnB in 2013 to describe shared JavaScript that runs on both the client and the server.

Isomorphic JavaScript apps are JavaScript applications that can run both client-side and server-side. The backend and frontend share the same code.

 

 

Isomorphics Javascript

let posts = [{
    id: 1,
    title: 'Javascript is cool'  
}, {
   id: 1,
   title: 'The web is the platform'  
}];

_.pluck(posts, 'title');

// ['Javascript is cool', 'The web is the platform' ]

Example: Undescore.js

Environment-agnostic

or server specific properties 

Does not depend on browser specific properties 

(windows) 

(process.env, req.cookies)

let template = 
'<ul>'  \
    '{{#each posts }}' \
        '<li>{{title}}</li>' \
    '{{/each}}' \
'</ul>';

let templateFn = Handlebars.compile(template),
    html = templateFn({posts: posts});


// <ul>
//     <li>Javascript is cool</li>
//     <li>The web is the platform</li>
// </ul>

Example: Handlebars.js

Isomorphic use case

  • Templating

  • Routing

  • i18n

  • Date & currency formatting

  • Model validation

  • Api interaction

  • …?

Most of your favorite libraries can be used isomorphically

  • Underscore.js

  • Handlebars.js

  • Moment

  • Meteor.js

  • React.js

  • Polyglot.js (i18n)

Isomorphics Javascript

TODAY'S:
THIN-SERVER, THIN-CLIENT

SHARED

  • Persistance

 

 

SERVER

  • DOM Manipulation
  • Animations

 

 

CLIENT

  • Routing
  • View layer
  • Application

 

SHARED

Advantages

1. Staying DRY (Don’t-Repeat-Yourself) using the same code base improves code maintenance

 

2. Servers Side Rendering of single Pages Applications (very critical to the business)

1) Staying DRY with Isomorphic JavaScript

Models

Models

i18n - i10n

i18n - i10n

View Logic

Routing Controllers

Routing Controllers

Fetching

Views

View Logic

Fetching

Views

Client

Server

1) Staying DRY with Isomorphic JavaScript

Models

i18n - i10n

View

Logic

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

Views

Client

Server

Models

View

Logic

i18n - i10n

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

Logic-less

Templates

1) Staying DRY with Isomorphic JavaScript

Models

i18n - i10n

View

Logic

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

Views

Client

Server

Models

i18n - i10n

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

1) Staying DRY with Isomorphic JavaScript

Models

i18n - i10n

View

Logic

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

Views

Client

Server

Models

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

1) Staying DRY with Isomorphic JavaScript

Models

i18n - i10n

View

Logic

Routing

Controllers

Fetching

Views

Client/Server

2) Server Side Rendering of 

Single Page Applications

Server Render App

Download

FULL

HTML

Download

Javascript

Evaluate

Javascript

User sees content

Rendering Flow

Single Pages App

Single Pages App

Timeline

Isomorphic Rendering

JavaScript rendered on the server and the client

  1. Render the HTML of a JavaScript app on the Server.
  2. Return the full HTML on a new page request.
  3. JavaScript loads and bootstraps the application (without destroying and rebuilding the initial HTML)

Isomorphic Rendering

Isomorphic Rendering

  • Important for initial page load performance
  • Important for Search Engine Indexing and Optimization (SEO)
  • Important for mobile users with low bandwidth
  • Important for code maintenance

Isomorphic Javascript in the wild

  • Flickr: Yahoo’s Modown libraries (successor to Mojito)
  • Instagram: Facebook’s React library
  • Airbnb Mobile web: Airbnb’s Rendr library, built on Backbone and Express
  • Assana: Entire App runtime synced between client & server
  • Meteor: Realtime app framework

HOW I CAN BUILD ISOMORPHIC APP ? 

  1. Browserify

  2. Grunt/gulp

  3. Webpack

Browserify

Package up CommonJS modules for the browser.

Use ‘require()’ in the browser, the same way you would on the server

Browserify

let handlebars = require('handlebars');

module.exports = function(templatePath, data) {
 let templateFn = require('./views/' + templatePath), 
    html = templateFn(data);
 return html;
};

// app/template_renderer.js

Bundles a module and all its dependencies.

Shared libraries

let moment = require('moment');

moment().format('MMMM Do YYYY, h:mm:ss a'); // June 14th 2016, 11:10:20 pm

Server (node.js)

<script src="moment.js"></script>
<script>
    moment().format('MMMM Do YYYY, h:mm:ss a'); // June 14th 2016, 11:10:20 pm
</script>

Client

Demos

More

// Isomorphic Tutorial
https://github.com/spikebrehm/isomorphic-tutorial

// Isomorphic React Example
https://github.com/DavidWells/isomorphic-react-example

// Isomorphic React in real life
https://reactjsnews.com/isomorphic-react-in-real-life

Isomorphic Javascript: El Futuro de las aplicaciones web

By Khriztian Moreno

Made with Slides.com

Isomorphic Javascript: El Futuro de las aplicaciones web

Isomorphic JavaScript es un concepto donde el backend y frontend comparten el mismo código, entenderemos por qué estas nuevas bibliotecas y frameworks son la solución a los problemas asociados con los tradicionales marcos de trabajo en javascript.

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