StacksAndLanguagesAndFrameworks
Created Thursday 11 April 2024
Note--because docker
you may or may not have much use for ANY of this.
the holy mess that is the web.
Here goes: This ONLY makes sense if you remember that the web grew and accreted on itself, and encouraged to do so primarily by "market forces"...
as opposed to "designed."
Text
Plain ol' text. BBS and the like
HTML
"Lets make this look better than the Matrix, SEMANTICALLY"
CSS
"Still kind of ugly, now let's go VISUAL"
STACKS
are ill defined.
What to think about (maybe)
- The "computer"
- The "OS" (lol it's linux)
- The "frontend" — HTML/CSS/probably at least a little JS
- The main "server side language"
- (Javascript) Frameworks?
- Database?
A webserver and real language:
Old school way (that's still pretty popular)
Webserver (which just serves up pages)
+
Language (e.g. PHP or ASP) — i.e. a web-specific language
"LAMP STACK"
LAMP STACK
A webserver and general language:
New school way
All in one
e.g. Python's Django or Flask
or
Node/Node.js (optionally plus frameworks)
or
JAVA (Spring boot)
Again, quick review of languages
- CGI-Bin (old school. Honestly, I feel like we've come full circle)
- PHP/ASP (embedded in html)
- Python/Perl/ etc (general purpose language, with web possibilities)
- JAVASCRIPT
Quick note on databases
Why YET ANOTHER LANGUAGE?
It's a good question. Data storage and retrieval is hard.
JAVASCRIPT
The 800lb gorilla.
Once again, why this mediocre language?
Because
- Bandwidth isn't infinite
- People want interactivity
- Ergo, MUCH must be offloaded to the users machine.
But why THIS language?
First to market. That's pretty much it.
But why THIS language?
"Because we need interactivity on the web right now, and anything’s better than Flash."
Brendan Eich, Creator of Javascript...
“I was writing something that could be used by people who didn’t know what a compiler was.
They were just going to load it.
“It was like Basic. That was really the pitch….”
“I was under marketing orders to make it look like Java but not make it too big for its britches.
It’s just this sort of silly little brother language, right? The sidekick to Java.”
Javascript
(primarily)
Client- Side Language.
Meaning, the BROWSER does the work.
Arbitrary, executable code in your browser, all the time.
Javascript
SO- in PHP (and other server side languages)
- The computer hosting the website does the work.
In Javascript?
- Your computer, the one viewing the website, does the work.
JAVASCRIPT FRAMEWORKS
Javascript got big
real big
Lets redo everything in JS
Fine, I kind of get it.
What is a framework?
Good question.
Someone tried to make a new platform that everyone
uses to make their stuff, and some succeeded.
Closest analogue, like a videogame engine?
or "meta-language"
MARKETED WELL, many probably work well too
Has it gotten better?
Yes, I think. Almost out of necessity.
But just about EVERYTHING has been replicated, rewritten.
Not only can you theoretically do everything in Javascript, a lot of it is literally "there."
But-- LOTS of wheel reinvention. I mean LOTS
So much so, it's hard to keep up with.
Also, lots of transpiling and other languages etc. etc.
The RUNK problem
The error
The ACTUAL CODE
Backlinks: FSU Courses:LIS5364