How web-based technology is taking over your desktop

If you didn't already know, Newicon is a big promoter of web-based connected technology. The internet - and websites in general - are essentially becoming "the way" to building apps, and there is good reason for this.

In the early years, the web was held back substantially, as it was never intended to build applications. Apps were built by adding a dynamic server component - the server can gather the data itself from a database and generate a webpage - this data could then be consumed like a document.

However, apps that provide instant feedback posed a challenge. The interactive charts, instant communication, white-boarding, and simultaneous collaboration tools that we know today was a not commonplace. One of the key shifts in developing instant-response apps, was the development of Google Maps.

By leveraging XHR requests, (a handy functionality built into Javascript, originally intended to gather information from XML docs), the webpage could dynamically change based on the information received. For Google Maps, this meant the continuous loading of squares as you navigate across the map - later known, as Ajax.

Whilst this might feel like a world away from where we are today - the world of websockets, background fetching and automatic page updates - the leveraging of XHR requests is what gave birth to "single-page applications." In effect, this is where all of the data is fetched and negates the need for a complete refresh with every single interaction. Thanks to the modern web with modern standards, we can achieve things like this far easier than many of the native solutions designed to quicken the pace.

A large amount of this credit goes to standards. For a long time, innovation in the online world was slow-paced, as most of the world accessed the internet through Internet Explorer. It was the bane of all web development, it simply refused to adopt modern standards. Thankfully, things have moved on vastly and now all major browsers (yes, including Internet Explorer), support many of the standards - and this, is, HUGE.

It means we have a global standard for not just building user-facing content, but also applications. HTML / CSS and Javascript now form a ubiquitous standards-based application-development platform. The modern browser is no longer a way to consume websites but also to consume powerful apps - and pretty much any notable software, from Facebook to Slack to Basecamp is a web app. Check out the image below taken from my desktop!

The image above shows all the apps powered by Electron.js - which wraps web technology and turns it into a desktop app. Spotify has a similar system of app development but doesn't use Electron but uses the same approach. Electron.js now enables lots of big name apps to be cross platform enabling their core coding teams to minimise platform specific code. Electron is an open source project originally created by Github.

So what's the big deal with standards?

Standards mean you are free from the tyranny of an individual company's ups and downs. Of course, companies like Google and Apple are heavily involved in the defining of the standards - but there is a wonderful amount of backwards compatibility afforded there. A website build in the 90's will still work on a modern browser today, and this is pretty unheard of on any other platform. Not least is the fact that any device able to run a web browser - from your TV to your car dashboard to your fridge, would be able to run your app.

So without really realising it, we have built a universal application delivery platform. An un-owned public internet app store. Often, people are still suspicious of using this approach to build mobile / tablet and engaging user applications across devices, but the truth is, many popular apps you use on a daily basis will be built in this method.

Newicon championed this approach over 10 years ago and it's clear that eventually, the web will consume your application. Now, building your app as a web app means that, actually, you can experience it how you want.

Interested in building your own web-based app?

Did I mention Newicon also builds web based apps in this way? this is what we do? (shameless plug) If you are, or just want to talk all things tech then please do get in touch via LinkedIn - I look forward to hearing from you :)