Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop’s Zoom chat:
Another implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of "purely technical solutions" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent naïveté) of existing technical solutions.
A technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.
A technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.
Any technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.
In addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down.
I was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!
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"text": "Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u2019s Zoom chat:\n\n\nAnother implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of \"purely technical solutions\" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent na\u00efvet\u00e9) of existing technical solutions.\n\nA technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.\n\nA technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.\n\nAny technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.\n\n\nIn addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down. \n\nI was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!\n\n#W3C #credweb #credibleWeb #authenticWeb #technology #technical #proposal #technicalProposal #history",
"html": "Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u2019s Zoom chat:<br /><br /><br />Another implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of \"purely technical solutions\" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent na\u00efvet\u00e9) of existing technical solutions.<br /><br />A technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.<br /><br />A technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.<br /><br />Any technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.<br /><br /><br />In addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down. <br /><br />I was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!<br /><br />#<span class=\"p-category\">W3C</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credweb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credibleWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">authenticWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technology</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technical</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">proposal</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technicalProposal</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">history</span>"
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I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop¹ hosted by the Credible Web Community Group² (of which I’m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:
1. Politician’s Syllogism — "Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!"
2. Solutions Looking For Problems — "I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y"
After some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:
3. Ad Hominem — while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker’s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.
I am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.
We need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others.
We need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.
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"text": "I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u00b9 hosted by the Credible Web Community Group\u00b2 (of which I\u2019m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:\n\n1. Politician\u2019s Syllogism \u2014 \"Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!\"\n\n2. Solutions Looking For Problems \u2014 \"I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y\"\n\nAfter some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:\n\n3. Ad Hominem \u2014 while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker\u2019s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.\n\nI am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.\n\nWe need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others. \n\nWe need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.\n\n#W3C #credweb #credibleWeb #authenticWeb #flaw #fallacy #fallacies #logicalFallacy #logicalFallacies\n\n\nGlossary\n\nAd Hominem\n\u00a0 attacking an attribute of the person making an argument rather than the argument itself\n\u00a0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem\n\nPolitician's syllogism\n\u00a0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism\n\nSolutions Looking For Problems (related: #solutionism, #solutioneering)\n\u00a0 Promoting a technology that either has not identified a real problem for it to solve, or actively pitching a specific technology to any problem that seems related. Wikipedia has no page on this but has two related pages: \n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument\n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix\n\u00a0 Wikipedia does have an essay on this specific to Wikipedia:\n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem\n\u00a0 Stack Exchange has a thread on \"solution in search of a problem\":\n\u00a0 * https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem \n\u00a0 Forbes has an illustrative anecdote: \u00a0\n\u00a0 * https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/\n\n\nReferences\n\n\u00b9 https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/\n\u00b2 https://credweb.org/ and https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/\n\n\nPreviously in 2019 I participated @misinfocon.com #MisinfoCon: \n* https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency\n* https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation",
"html": "I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop<a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_note-1\">\u00b9</a> hosted by the Credible Web Community Group<a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_note-2\">\u00b2</a> (of which I\u2019m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:<br /><br />1. Politician\u2019s Syllogism \u2014 \"Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!\"<br /><br />2. Solutions Looking For Problems \u2014 \"I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y\"<br /><br />After some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:<br /><br />3. Ad Hominem \u2014 while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker\u2019s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.<br /><br />I am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.<br /><br />We need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others. <br /><br />We need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.<br /><br />#<span class=\"p-category\">W3C</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credweb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credibleWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">authenticWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">flaw</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">fallacy</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">fallacies</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">logicalFallacy</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">logicalFallacies</span><br /><br /><br />Glossary<br /><br />Ad Hominem<br />\u00a0 attacking an attribute of the person making an argument rather than the argument itself<br />\u00a0 <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem</a><br /><br />Politician's syllogism<br />\u00a0 <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism</a><br /><br />Solutions Looking For Problems (related: #<span class=\"p-category\">solutionism</span>, #<span class=\"p-category\">solutioneering</span>)<br />\u00a0 Promoting a technology that either has not identified a real problem for it to solve, or actively pitching a specific technology to any problem that seems related. Wikipedia has no page on this but has two related pages: <br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument</a><br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix</a><br />\u00a0 Wikipedia does have an essay on this specific to Wikipedia:<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem</a><br />\u00a0 Stack Exchange has a thread on \"solution in search of a problem\":<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem\">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem</a> <br />\u00a0 Forbes has an illustrative anecdote: \u00a0<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/\">https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/</a><br /><br /><br />References<br /><br /><a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_ref-1\">\u00b9</a> <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/\">https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/</a><br /><a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_ref-2\">\u00b2</a> <a href=\"https://credweb.org/\">https://credweb.org/</a> and <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/\">https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/</a><br /><br /><br />Previously in 2019 I participated <a href=\"https://misinfocon.com\">@misinfocon.com</a> #<span class=\"p-category\">MisinfoCon:</span> <br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency\">https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency</a><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation\">https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation</a>"
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"html": "<p>This tool indexes the full text of all published Fediverse Enhancement Proposals, and then lets you search that text. (<a href=\"https://fep-search.glitch.me/\">full item here</a>)</p>",
"text": "This tool indexes the full text of all published Fediverse Enhancement Proposals, and then lets you search that text. (full item here)"
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"published": "2025-03-11T16:43:39-07:00",
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"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/start-living-your-life-and-not-somebody-elses\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>Now I haven\u2019t been on planet Earth all that long but I have learned a few things along the way. I\u2019ve observed there are a couple of key ingredients that successful individuals seem to have mastered:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1.</strong> Learn to develop extremely focused and valuable instincts for what you want to achieve in life and how to achieve it.<br /><strong>2.</strong> Trust your instincts.</p>\n\n<p>Recently I spent some serious time reviewing the last 10 years of my life, and I noticed a pattern. Every time things seemed to go sideways and my plans took months (or years) to get back on track, it was because, essentially, <strong>I lost the nerve to go after my dreams.</strong></p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I was having fun over on <a href=\"https://theinternet.review/2025/03/10/my-rah-rah-of-web-2.0-aged-poorly/\">The Internet Review</a> linking to myself from 20 years ago, and then I thought why let that site have all the fun? \ud83d\ude02 So here\u2019s me from 10 years ago\u2026and honestly, I agree with me! It\u2019s only proven to be <em>more true</em> now that I\u2019m a decade older\u2026and blame my more recent forays into <strong>Taoism</strong> if you want to understand just how much stock I put into letting \u201cflow states\u201d dictate my focus and my decision-making on a daily basis.</p>\n\n<p>Now that might sound like a contradiction in terms\u2014let life unfold vs. chase after your dreams, but the way I look at it is my dreams are what my heart knows to be true about who I am and <em>why</em> I am\u2014yet there\u2019s that constant pressure to logic your way out of those crazy ideas into other plans which are \u201csensible\u201d. <em>Nope to that!</em> <strong>You can\u2019t logic your way to happiness.</strong> It just doesn\u2019t work like that.</p>\n\n<p>\u201cIf anyone wants to take the world and directs it at his will, I do not see how he can succeed.<br />The world is a sacred vessel, which cannot be directed at one\u2019s will.<br />To direct it is to fail.<br />To grasp it is to lose it.<br />Some things go ahead, some follow, some breathe slowly, some breathe fast,<br />some are strong, some are weak, some grow in strength, some decay.<br />Therefore, the sage avoids \u2018very\u2019, \u2018too\u2019 and \u2018extreme\u2019.\u201d<br />\u2013<em>Tao Te Ching, <a href=\"https://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz29.htm\">Chapter 29</a></em></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/mindfulness\">#mindfulness</a> <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/spirituality\">#spirituality</a></p>",
"text": "Now I haven\u2019t been on planet Earth all that long but I have learned a few things along the way. I\u2019ve observed there are a couple of key ingredients that successful individuals seem to have mastered:\n\n1. Learn to develop extremely focused and valuable instincts for what you want to achieve in life and how to achieve it.\n2. Trust your instincts.\n\nRecently I spent some serious time reviewing the last 10 years of my life, and I noticed a pattern. Every time things seemed to go sideways and my plans took months (or years) to get back on track, it was because, essentially, I lost the nerve to go after my dreams.\n\n\n\nI was having fun over on The Internet Review linking to myself from 20 years ago, and then I thought why let that site have all the fun? \ud83d\ude02 So here\u2019s me from 10 years ago\u2026and honestly, I agree with me! It\u2019s only proven to be more true now that I\u2019m a decade older\u2026and blame my more recent forays into Taoism if you want to understand just how much stock I put into letting \u201cflow states\u201d dictate my focus and my decision-making on a daily basis.\n\nNow that might sound like a contradiction in terms\u2014let life unfold vs. chase after your dreams, but the way I look at it is my dreams are what my heart knows to be true about who I am and why I am\u2014yet there\u2019s that constant pressure to logic your way out of those crazy ideas into other plans which are \u201csensible\u201d. Nope to that! You can\u2019t logic your way to happiness. It just doesn\u2019t work like that.\n\n\u201cIf anyone wants to take the world and directs it at his will, I do not see how he can succeed.\nThe world is a sacred vessel, which cannot be directed at one\u2019s will.\nTo direct it is to fail.\nTo grasp it is to lose it.\nSome things go ahead, some follow, some breathe slowly, some breathe fast,\nsome are strong, some are weak, some grow in strength, some decay.\nTherefore, the sage avoids \u2018very\u2019, \u2018too\u2019 and \u2018extreme\u2019.\u201d\n\u2013Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29\n\n#mindfulness #spirituality"
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“in 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.”
I’ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb’s js;dr page:
I have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?
E.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.
You can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.
Regarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:
“All your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.”
Of all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.
However instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration).
Since I wrote “js;dr”, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.
This means it’s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.
You wouldn’t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?
I’ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:
In 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.
There’s a lot more to unpack about what we’ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.
For now I’ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:
Practice Progressive Enhancement.
Build first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.
All content should be readable without scripting.
Links, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.
Scripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support.
Then make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.
If it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last.
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"content": {
"text": "Ten years ago today I coined the shorthand \u201cjs;dr\u201d for \u201cJavaScript required; Didn\u2019t Read\u201d\n\n* https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead\n\nin reference to (primarily content) pages that were empty (or nearly so) without scripts.\n\nSince then js;dr found its way into a book:\n\nPage 88 of \u201cInclusive Design Patterns\u201d by @heydonworks.com (@[email\u00a0protected])\n\n\nand stickers!\n\n\n\nAt the time I made the claim that:\n\n\u201cin 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\u201d\n\nI\u2019ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb\u2019s js;dr page:\n\n* https://indieweb.org/js;dr\n\nI have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?\n\nE.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.\n\nThe one almost exception I found was Facebook, e.g. this Smashing Magazine post on Facebook barely renders some content and all commentary is missing, in the earliest (2019) version saved on the Internet Archive:\n* https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490\n\nYou can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.\n\n\nRegarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:\n\n\u201cAll your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.\u201d\n\nOf all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.\n\nHowever instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration). \n\nSince I wrote \u201cjs;dr\u201d, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.\n\nThis means it\u2019s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.\n\nYou wouldn\u2019t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?\n\n\nI\u2019ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:\n\n\nIn 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\n\n\nThere\u2019s a lot more to unpack about what we\u2019ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.\n\n\nFor now I\u2019ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:\n\n\nPractice Progressive Enhancement. \n\nBuild first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.\n\nAll content should be readable without scripting.\n\nLinks, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.\n\nScripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support. \n\nThen make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.\n\n\nIf it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last.",
"html": "Ten years ago today I coined the shorthand \u201cjs;dr\u201d for \u201cJavaScript required; Didn\u2019t Read\u201d<br /><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead\">https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead</a><br /><br />in reference to (primarily content) pages that were empty (or nearly so) without scripts.<br /><br />Since then js;dr found its way into a book:<br /><br />Page 88 of \u201cInclusive Design Patterns\u201d by <a href=\"https://heydonworks.com\">@heydonworks.com</a> (<a href=\"https://front-end.social/@heydon\">@<span>[email\u00a0protected]</span></a>)<br /><br /><a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190405121431/https://twitter.com/jkphl/status/792452368562618369\"><img alt=\"Cropped photo of part of page 88 of Inclusive Design Patterns at an angle\" src=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190405121448im_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cv9bNjYW8AAHOac.jpg\" /></a><br />and stickers!<br /><br /><a href=\"https://kvalhe.im/@andrew/103211689652698610\"><img alt=\"A hand holding about a dozen stickers with the \u201cjs;dr\u201d in black on white text die-cut around the edges of the lettering\" src=\"https://andrew.kvalhe.im/+gcs1iho7eqcknyiqxtjm5qadxi366ewu?x=.jpg\" /></a><br /><br />At the time I made the claim that:<br /><br />\u201cin 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\u201d<br /><br />I\u2019ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb\u2019s js;dr page:<br /><br />* <a href=\"https://indieweb.org/js;dr\">https://indieweb.org/js;dr</a><br /><br />I have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?<br /><br />E.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.<br /><br />The one almost exception I found was Facebook, e.g. this Smashing Magazine post on Facebook barely renders some content and all commentary is missing, in the earliest (2019) version saved on the Internet Archive:<br />* <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490\">https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490</a><br /><br />You can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.<br /><br /><br />Regarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:<br /><br />\u201cAll your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.\u201d<br /><br />Of all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.<br /><br />However instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration). <br /><br />Since I wrote \u201cjs;dr\u201d, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.<br /><br />This means it\u2019s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.<br /><br />You wouldn\u2019t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?<br /><br /><br />I\u2019ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:<br /><br /><br />In 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.<br /><br /><br />There\u2019s a lot more to unpack about what we\u2019ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.<br /><br /><br />For now I\u2019ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:<br /><br /><br />Practice Progressive Enhancement. <br /><br />Build first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.<br /><br />All content should be readable without scripting.<br /><br />Links, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.<br /><br />Scripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support. <br /><br />Then make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.<br /><br /><br />If it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last."
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Tantek \u00c7elik",
"url": "https://tantek.com/",
"photo": "https://tantek.com/photo.jpg"
},
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"_source": "2460"
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