What is a Single Page Application? The Basics, Pros, Cons Discussed

Gone are the days when a flipbook or flick book used to give the feel of picture animation. Metaphorically comparing it to the times when each request made on Google goes to the server, collects the response and loads the new page. Today, things work differently, a lot differently! Single Page Applications (SPA) have changed the way we surf the internet. It loads almost all the information at the first request and changes only a few pieces on a new request. Do you wish to know more about single page application development? If yes, read this blog.

Single Page Applications (SPA) have made internet surfing incredibly engaging and unique. If you browse through the applications like Gmail, Google Maps, Facebook, Netflix, Pinterest, Airbnb, you will find out that a lot of information remains the same, which includes the sidebar & header. Only a few pieces of information updates at the time you navigate through the inbox. Only the information you wish to know in the next request is sent by the SPA to the server and the server renders it back.

This means, the client gets the desired information much faster than the traditional way and the server has to send quite less information on each request. So, we have a cost-effective, scalable and faster application development!! A win-win situation for all of us isn’t it?

SPA development works way better than old methods of application development. It consumes less resources, where you (as a developer) can focus on giving a well-structured API and not on building server-side layouts. We hope you have found your answer to the question, What is a Single Page Application?

It is a website application that dynamically rewrites the query information, instead of loading a new page entirely. The process makes no hindrance to the user experience while loading between successive pages. Single Page Applications are built using Javascript that works in the browser.

Let’s understand some of the core features of SPA and how it is giving a competitive edge in the market.

It doesn’t make a server roundtrip:

As mentioned, it dynamically changes part of the UI and restores the HTML page without making a server roundtrip. By using the Separation of Concerns (SoC) design principle, the software system is divided into parts. Which means each part has the potential to handle a separate problem.

Templating and routing happen on the client-side:

SPA is supported by JS-based routers. The user’s actual state and the location can be known and monitored while they navigate through the application.

SPA apps work offline:

Loss of internet connectivity is a common problem faced by users. In such times, a SPA works flawlessly without disturbing the browsing experience.

Cross-platform functionality:

This is a blessing in disguise for the SPA development company that the apps work on different operating systems when opened through browsers.

How will a developer or an app development company benefit from SPA?

There are a few other advantages of SPA solutions along with improved performance, scalability, reduced cost, and consistency. Also you can reuse the existing server-side code and also have transitions and spinners in the application.

Easy to transform into Progressive Web Apps:

SPA apps can easily be transformed into Progressive Web Apps where you can provide local caching and offline support. It can cache any local data which means it sends only a single request to the server and saves the data obtained from response. Hence, the application keeps working even if the user’s internet connection is lost.

SPAs are fast and responsive:

In SPA, the HTML, CSS and the scripts get loaded just once and that too at the first initial request. This makes it fast for the server to update small chunks of data on the next request and deliver it promptly. Hence quick interchangeability makes SPA fast and responsive.

It has an adaptable layout:

As mentioned earlier, the SPA is easily adaptable to various platforms and mobile device browsers.

SPA is best when there is no need for SEO:

The client rendered content is not easily crawlable and hence if there is no need for SEO, then you should go for Single page application. Every page is carefully crafted with target keywords so that they are easily read and ranked on search engines.

They are great for working in teams:

Each of the developers engaged with the application process can do their part of the job. Backend developers can work upon building API while the front end developers can concentrate on creating unique UI.

SPA gives enhanced User experience:

Engaging, dynamic and animated user experiences are given by SPA. Since the SPA’s follow modular service architecture that gets updated independently, the browsing experience remains undisturbed. It gives a continuous user experience which is the need of the hour in the current competitive scenario.

You may wonder, are there any disadvantages of building a single page app?

When compared to the brilliant list of advantages, the cons or the disadvantages of SPA are quite disregardable.

Poor SEO:

Not a major drawback, but SPA apps show a lack of SEO optimization. The reason being, it works on Javascript, which is difficult to load on every single new request. Also, the URL lacks uniqueness for various application pages.

Poor link sharing capability:

SPA has a single URL address which makes it difficult to share a larger chunk of information.

Difficulty in troubleshooting:

The potential of this technology is yet being explored and it is relatively new. Hence, you need to hire SPA developers who are experts in troubleshooting and have relevant experience in the field.

A few others on the list are high development price, security issues, etc.

Now let’s shift our focus to know which are the popular frameworks that support SPA development.

Frameworks to develop single-page applications are the need of the time. The robustness and the extensive libraries ease out the application development. Frameworks help developers in building efficient and eloquent SPAs. Frameworks have a repository of reusable components that contribute to developing SPA.

A framework holds the capability of handling complex architecture which makes the application more interactive and intriguing. Here is the list of frameworks that can be used for building a SPA.

AngularJs:

AngularJs is an open-source, front-end, Javascript-based framework which is hugely deployed to build single-page applications. It is developed by Google and has the potential to transfer the entire piece of content from the server to the browser.

It has a steep learning curve and MVC architecture, yet it is powerful to deliver SPA web applications. AngularJS facilitates faster loading of pages and thereby reduces the load on the servers. It comes with enormous built-in functionality which results in an outstanding SPA in the end. The two-way data binding feature mitigates the task of writing countless code.

ReactJS:

React was incepted by Facebook in the year 2013. It is a powerful library that helps in building high-performance SPA. React is more flexible than Angular and allows developers to deal with the stand-alone libraries. The MVC architecture used in React updates UI without waiting for the server response.

Along with the Flux, it allows one-way data binding.

Backbone.JS:

Lightweight, flexible and structured is how we can describe Backbone.Js framework. It is a Javascript library that was released back in the year 2010. Surprising and the most appealing thing about Backbone is, it offers around 100 extensions which are completely free. It provides various tools like models, events, views, and routers.

The MVC model allows making variations to the program architecture. The structural code developed by the developers can be modified which further gets reflected in the DOM. Backbone handles every complex problem effectively and gracefully.

We can also include Emeer.Js, Meteor.Js, Knockout, Polymer.JS, Aurelia, Batman, CanJs in the list of frameworks used for SPA development.

There are few things that can help you with the framework selection. Have a look:

1. Check the scalability and flexibility of the framework;

2. Know the performance of the framework.

3. To get a competitive advantage over others you need to outshine the application with classic UI. Hence, ensure that the framework allows you to build a tangible UI.

4. Know the application testing capacity of the framework;

Parting Words:

SPAs are promising and the most sought after way of website application development. If you have a project in mind and wish to move ahead with the development, then you can contact us for sure. We analyze the project from a different perspective, suggest a framework, get your approval and then move ahead with the SPA development.

You can also hire app developers and build your amazing application.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mihir Mistry

CEO