Browsers are pretty good at loading pages (carter.sande.duodecima.technology)

Article summary

The article discusses the trend of using client-side navigation in web development, where JavaScript is used to load new pages instead of relying on the browser's built-in navigation. The author argues that this approach can be slower and more complex than traditional navigation methods. A test was conducted on a website using both traditional and client-side navigation, and the results showed that the traditional method was faster on a slow internet connection. The author concludes that browsers are capable of handling navigation efficiently and that client-side navigation is not always necessary.

Main themes

• client-side navigation
• web development trends
• browser capabilities
• page loading speeds
• JavaScript optimization

What commenters say

• Client-side navigation is often slower and more complex than traditional navigation methods, and can be frustrating for users with slow internet connections. Some argue that the benefits of client-side navigation, such as faster page loads, are not always realized in practice. Others believe that page reloads are not jarring, but rather an expected and familiar part of the web browsing experience. The use of client-side navigation can also lead to issues with scroll restoration and middle-click functionality. Some commenters argue that single-page applications can provide a visually continuous experience, but this comes at the cost of increased complexity and potential performance issues. Others suggest that using the history state pushing API and putting state information in the URL can make client-side navigation easier to implement. There is disagreement over whether the benefits of client-side navigation outweigh the potential drawbacks, with some arguing that it is not necessary for most websites.