JavaScript has been the most popular programming language for several years now, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. There are many reasons for this, but two of the most important include:
- JavaScript is versatile. It can be used for both front-end and back-end development, as well as mobile and desktop applications. This makes it a very versatile language that can be used for a wide variety of projects.
- JavaScript is easy to learn. JavaScript syntax is relatively simple, and there are many resources available to help developers learn the language. This makes it a great choice for beginners and experienced developers alike.
The popularity of JavaScript has led to the development of a wide variety of frontend frameworks. These frameworks provide developers with a set of pre-built components and tools that can be used to create complex user interfaces. Some of the most popular frontend frameworks include React, Angular, and Vue.js.
All these frameworks come with multiple rendering patterns, and as a JavaScript developer, it’s very easy to get confused between them.
In this article, we are going to discuss the 2 rendering patterns every Frontend developer should know.
Client-Side Rendering (CSR)
Client-side rendering (CSR) is a technique for rendering web pages in the user’s browser using JavaScript. This is in contrast to server-side rendering (SSR, explained below), where the web pages are rendered on the server and then sent to the user’s browser.
This technique was first popularized by Gmail and then many companies started using it for their web based SaaS applications. Other known examples include Facebook, Twitter and Netflix.
Note that all the three main frameworks i.e. React, Vue and Angular support this rendering technique.
There are several advantages to using CSR. First, it can improve the user experience by making pages load faster. This is because the browser can start rendering the page as soon as it receives the initial HTML file, rather than waiting for the entire page to be downloaded from the server.
Second, CSR can make pages more interactive. This is because JavaScript can be used to add dynamic features to the page, such as animations, drag-and-drop functionality, and user input validation.
However, there are also some disadvantages to using CSR. First, it can make pages more difficult to maintain. This is because all of the logic for rendering the page is located in the JavaScript code, which can be difficult to debug and troubleshoot.
Second, CSR can make pages less SEO-friendly. This is because search engines cannot crawl and index JavaScript code, so they will not be able to index the content of pages that are rendered using CSR.
Overall, CSR is a powerful technique that can be used to create dynamic and interactive web pages. However, it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of CSR before deciding whether to use it for a particular project.
A quick table to summarize pros and cons of Client Side Rendering is below-
| Pros | Cons |
| Faster page load times | More difficult to maintain |
| More interactive pages | Less SEO-friendly |
| Can be used to create interactive single-page applications | Can be more demanding on the user’s device |
Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
Server-Side rendering has been the de facto standard since the dawn of the Internet. Because that’s what servers are meant to do! They generate the HTML file for the client and then send it to them.
Simply put, Server-side rendering (SSR) is a technique for rendering web pages on the server before sending them to the user’s browser. This is in contrast to client-side rendering (CSR), where the web page is rendered in the user’s browser using JavaScript.
You can use server-side languages like Java and PHP to first compile the page with all the dynamic data placed into it and then send it to the client (the browser). The browser has to just display the page without worrying about getting the dynamic data from the server.
Thanks to modern JavaScript frameworks, developers can now reuse their frontend knowledge to do server-side rendering with ease.
There are several advantages to using SSR. First, it can improve performance, as the browser does not have to render the page itself.
Second, SSR can make it easier to implement search engine optimization (SEO), as the search engines can index the rendered page before it is loaded in the browser.
Third, SSR can make it easier to develop and maintain web applications, as the JavaScript code can be kept separate from the HTML code.
However, there are also some disadvantages to using SSR. First, it can increase the initial load time of the page, as the browser has to download the rendered page from the server.
Second, SSR can make it more difficult to create dynamic and interactive web pages, as the JavaScript code cannot be used to control the user experience.
Third, SSR can increase the server load, as the server has to render the page for each user request.
Overall, SSR is a powerful technique that can be used to create high-performance and SEO-friendly web applications. However, it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of SSR before deciding whether to use it for a particular project.
SSR is a good choice for web applications that need to be highly optimized for both performance and SEO. For example, SSR is a good choice for news websites, search engines, and other web applications that need to load quickly.
A quick table to summarize pros and cons of Server Side Rendering is below-
| Pros | Cons |
| Improved performance | Increased initial load time |
| Easier to implement SEO | More difficult to create dynamic and interactive web pages |
| Easier to develop and maintain web applications | Increased server load |
There are a number of JavaScript frameworks that support SSR. Some of the most popular frameworks include:
- Next.js
- Gatsby
- Remix
- SvelteKit
- Nuxt.js
Client-side rendering is often not enough
While client-side rendering is good for building tools-like applications, for example, an email client, or an internal dashboard. But not every app that you are going to build will be an internal tool.
Majority of the web applications are essentially web sites, i.e. they are required to be found by the search engines and social media sites.
For example, when you share a link to Facebook, it should be able to crawl that link and generate its preview based on the meta-tags on the page. Now since these crawlers can’t execute JavaScript, a completely client-side rendered web-page won’t be crawled and its preview won’t be generated.
Hence, we suggest building server-side rendered JavaScript apps, unless you don’t want search engines to crawl its contents.
Server-side or Client-side?
As we saw above, each rendering pattern has its own advantages and trade-offs. The choice depends on the specific requirements of your application, such as performance, scalability, and team’s capabilities.
Working with server-side rendering in JavaScript frameworks can be a bit daunting because you have to take care of things like Cookies, extra configuration on the server and caching.
These challenges can be overcome by using frameworks like Next.js and Nuxt.js, for React and Vue, respectively.
As for client-side rendering, it’s easier to write and maintain apps for this pattern. Unless you want to do SEO, you can opt for it without much thoughts.
If you are looking for an expert VueJS and ReactJS agency with extensive experience in building both server-side and client-side JavaScript/TypeScipt apps, you are at the right place. Reach out to us at hello@citrusleaf.in today to discuss your next-big idea.