Building Isomorphic JavaScript Apps

Chapter 12. Isomorphic React.js at WalmartLabs

Jason Strimpel and Maxime Najim

We are going through an application architecture metamorphosis at WalmartLabs. We are just now slowly beginning to emerge from our warm, secure Java cocoon and have started to spread our beautiful isomorphic JavaScript wings. It is this transition that we will be sharing in this chapter.

Origin of a Species

Walmart has undergone many changes since early 2013. This is because executive leadership set the wheels in motion years ago to make the digital and physical experience seamless for Walmart customers. A large part of this has been an investment in technology and infrastructure. It has been an evolutionary process. Some technologies and projects have thrived and others have become extinct. So it goes. Extinctions have occurred for a variety of reasons, but we learn from each and move forward. One of the latest and most germane to this book is the gradual extinction of Java and Backbone + Handlebars in the UI layer in Walmart.com. In the world of software nothing really dies unless the business or a particular initiative dies. The same problem is just solved in a different (and hopefully better) way using other technologies (Figure 12-1).

Figure 12-1. In the world of software, nothing really dies

The problems we faced with Walmart.com are now being addressed with React.js and Node.js.

The Problem ...