C H A P T E R  1

Getting Ready

Client-side web app development has always been the poor cousin to server-side coding. This started because browsers and the devices they run on have been less capable than enterprise-class servers. To provide any kind of serious web app functionality, the server had to do all of the heavy lifting for the browsers, which was pretty dumb and simple by comparison.

Over the last few years, browsers have got smarter, more capable, and more consistent in how they implement web technology and standards. What used to be a fight to create unique features has become a battle to create the fastest and most compliant browser. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has created a huge market for high-quality web apps, ...

Get Pro JavaScript for Web Apps now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.