Alex Russell joins us from Google, where he works on Chrome and the web platform, to discuss calls to put every conceivable framework into the browser. We reminisce about all the times we’ve heard similar requests and some of the problems we’ve seen created over the years by frameworks and libraries being too aggressive in pushing things forward. From Applets to frameworks to WASM, we’ve seen a variety of approaches to add functionality to the browser. Alex calls a lot of these approaches a “tax” that we have to pay in terms of overhead and bandwidth when we could instead spend someone else’s money—by adding to the web platform itself.
Keeping this history in mind, we know the cost in terms of deprecation and shortsighted APIs. By collecting the right evidence, asking the right questions, and providing playgrounds to explore new features, the browser platform can grow in a more reliable, sustainable way. If we want to push the web platform forward, web developers and platform developers working side-by-side is one of the most efficient ways and Alex guides us through how to best make this happen.
Speakers
Bryan Forbes on Twitter
Paul Shannon on Twitter
Neil Roberts on Twitter
Alex Russell on Twitter
Show Notes
Below are links to the resources and topics mentioned during this episode.
WICG
