Henry Lie - How does SvelteKit Fare as a SPA Framework?

Summary

Henry from Henge in Tokyo shares his team's experience adopting VELT as a front-end framework for a cloud security project. Despite familiarity with React and Vue, they chose VELT for its concise code, performance benefits like no virtual DOM, and scoped CSS. They opted for a Single Page Application (SPA) due to their SaaS product's nature, focusing on dashboards with high interactivity. SvelteKit's structured approach to routing, load functions, and error handling streamlined their development process. Challenges included debugging load functions and patching fetch, but overall, SvelteKit enhanced their front-end development experience.

Takeaways

• 👨‍💻 The speaker, Henry, leads a front-end team at Henge in Tokyo, focusing on cloud security solutions.
• 🌐 Henge's product teams previously used React or Vue, but faced complexity and state management challenges in their projects.
• 🚀 Henry introduced VELT (a SvelteKit framework) to the team for a new project to simplify code and improve efficiency.
• 📝 VELT promotes writing less code, which Henry believes reduces overhead and improves maintainability.
• 🔑 VELT offers shorthands for attributes and class names, and checks for unused CSS, enhancing development efficiency.
• 🌐 VELT doesn't use a virtual DOM, improving performance, and scopes CSS by default for better styling management.
• 🔍 VELT provides accessibility hints, such as reminders for alt attributes on images, to ensure compliance.
• 📚 The store contract in VELT is simpler than other frameworks, promoting easier understanding and usage.
• 🏢 Henge opted for a Single Page Application (SPA) due to their SaaS product's requirements, prioritizing interactivity over SEO.
• 🔄 SvelteKit supports multiple rendering strategies including SPA, SSR, and pre-render, offering flexibility for different project needs.
• 🛠️ SvelteKit provides opinionated defaults for common web development tasks, which can reduce team fragmentation and confusion.

Q & A

What is the main advantage of using VELT as described in the script?

VELT, as described, offers the advantage of writing less code, which leads to less typing, testing, and reviewing. It also provides shorthands for attributes and class names, and includes features like no virtual DOM for better performance, scoped CSS by default, and accessibility hints.

Why did the speaker choose VELT for their new project despite having React and Vue knowledge?

The speaker chose VELT for their new project because they are a proponent of writing less code, which can reduce overhead and complexity in projects. VELT's features align with this philosophy by providing shorthands and simplifying the development process.

What is the significance of VELT's approach to being close to native APIs?

VELT's approach to being close to native APIs allows developers to work almost as if they are using vanilla JavaScript, with the added benefit of VELT's reactivity. This results in a tidy and declarative component declaration.

Why did the team decide to build a Single Page Application (SPA) instead of using Server-Side Rendering (SSR)?

The team decided to build an SPA because their project is a SaaS product with no public-facing pages and no significant need for SEO. They required high interactivity, and since the backend API was already in place, using SPA was more aligned with their existing knowledge and infrastructure.

What is the role of SvelteKit in the development process described in the script?

SvelteKit plays a significant role by providing a flexible framework that supports multiple rendering strategies including SPA, SSR, and pre-rendering. It also offers opinions on common web development tasks and structures, which helps reduce fragmentation in the team.

How does SvelteKit handle directory structure and routing?

SvelteKit incorporates a routing system into the directory structure, using a src/routes folder where each route's pages are contained within their respective folders. It supports nested routes and layouts, and allows for the declaration of load functions and error handling components at various levels.

What is the purpose of load functions in SvelteKit?

Load functions in SvelteKit provide a way to fetch data and perform actions before rendering a page or layout. They ensure that necessary data is loaded and available as props to the components, and they help in managing route dependencies and interactivity fetches.

How does SvelteKit's preloading functionality improve user experience?

SvelteKit's preloading functionality improves user experience by eagerly loading root dependencies, making navigation feel instantaneous. It guesses user navigation intentions based on hover or touch events and loads dependencies in advance, reducing the need for loading indicators.

What challenges did the speaker encounter while using SvelteKit for SPA development?

The speaker encountered challenges such as understanding the documentation's applicability to SPA versus SSR, debugging load functions, and patching the fetch function to automate tasks like attaching tokens and handling errors.

What are some potential benefits of using Server-Side Rendering (SSR) with SvelteKit mentioned in the script?

Potential benefits of using SSR with SvelteKit include inlining initial data directly in the HTML, better handling of data aggregation on the server, and the ability to add cache control headers for resource management in the user's browser.