Chapter 6: A Vanilla Client
Whenever you write a web app in vanilla JavaScript, you end up creating your own framework.
And who in their right mind wants another JavaScript framework?
- Common programmer idiom
And who in their right mind wants another JavaScript framework?
- Common programmer idiom
In this chapter we will write a small example client in vanilla HTML and JavaScript (i.e. without using any frameworks). We will realize why using vanilla HTML is (usually) not a great idea and why we might want to consider using a library to help us out. Spoiler alert: That library is going to be React.
If this sounds like a pointless exercise - it's not. You need to know the basics of HTML anyway (even if you end up using React for your application). Additionally, web development shouldn't consist of stapling a bunch of magic together and praying that it works. In order to accomplish this, you will need a solid foundation to build on.
This chapter presents that solid foundation.