The ‘Capable Web’: A 10 Year Retrospective
source link: https://chinagdg.org/2018/09/the-capable-web-a-10-year-retrospective/
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The ‘Capable Web’: A 10 Year Retrospective
Source: The ‘Capable Web’: A 10 Year Retrospective from Chromium
2008 – 2014: Web applications, HTML5, and the start of the mobile era
WebSocket landed on the platform the same year, heralding a change in the types of experiences developers could deliver on the web. No longer did they have to use long polling to enable a bi-directional channel between the user and a service; developers now had a two-way channel with a simple API to provide real-time communication.
Four major APIs came to Chrome in 2011. WebGL, Web Audio, and the Fullscreen API let us build rich and immersive experiences that could take advantage of the entire screen. IndexedDB — a new “web-first” storage mechanism — us store and query serializable JavaScript objects such as Strings, Objects, Arrays, Files, and Blobs more effectively.
A bumper year for game-changing experiences on the web arrived in 2012. On the back of WebGL and Fullscreen, the Pointer Lock and Gamepad APIs let us build games and other web experiences that felt really interactive. The game-changing collection of WebRTC APIs truly set the web apart from all of the other platforms: It let us build P2P video-chat and real-time data sharing, without any plug-ins or proprietary stack, and accessible by simply clicking a link.
2015-2018: PWA, The Extensible Web, and deeper integration era
In 2015, we experienced a fundamental change in how we thought about integrating capabilities into the web platform. The Extensible Web manifesto asked browser engineers to consider a layered platform that offered lower-level primitives that were easier to explain, more efficient to implement, and allowed web developers to easily build higher-level abstractions, thus increasing the cadence and availability of compelling new features. Service Worker is an example of building on these APIs to follow these principles. Service Worker is a small piece of JavaScript that sits between the browser and the network, and lets the developer decide what to do with any web requests.
- Fast—they load instantly
- Reliable—they never show the “downasaur,” even in uncertain network conditions, by taking advantage of the Service Worker and Cache APIs
Engaging—they respond quickly to user interactions with silky-smooth animations and no janky scrolling Capable—the sites feel like natural extensions on the device, with immersive user experiences provided by features such as “fullscreen” and standalone mode through Web App Manifest; they deliver capabilities for meeting specific business goals, such as re-engagement through the Add to Homescreen feature and Web Push notifications
WebAssembly (WASM) opens up many possibilities. It brings a runtime that can execute code at near-native performance. Plus, it opens a new world of experiences on the web by letting developers use existing codebases built for other platforms on the web platform.
Forward to the future
We’re excited about the possibilities of the web platform. The web can (and should) be feature-rich, but new capabilities don’t always have to be more complex. Web development should be predictable, manageable, and pain-free. Coming APIs such as Feature Policy are great examples of additions that will help developers create amazing sites in a more predictable way, and provide more control and customization over the UX of certain browser features. Feature Policy is the browser’s built-in guide rails to help web developers avoid common pitfalls and use best practices.
Posted by Paul Kinlan, the Wizzy Web Warrior.
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