Introduction to Single-Page App Development: Whats, Whys and Hows?
How to upgrade your web business? Looking for a correct answer to this question, you may have already heard of single-page applications and its potential. The concept appeared several years ago as more and more people worldwide started using smart devices. As the number of smartphones and interested users grew, the necessity to provide a seamless experience on mobile browser emerged. When Angular.js was first released, it became obvious that this framework will change the industry. And it did as it allowed building amazing single-page apps.
The single-page app is a tried and tested way to attract more attention (investments and income) to your brand. In this article, we’ve collected the essentials about these web solutions. Take a look and decide how to use it for your business!
What is a single-page app?
First, let’s make things clear.
The single-page app is a software product, a simple website that works in a user’s browser and requires no page reload. The very first time when a user opens a website, entire data is loaded automatically, at once. AJAX technology allows refreshing not the entire website but only a part of it. Thus, during a user’s journey, he or she is taken to the different states of the website that doesn’t fully reload.
And yes, when we talk about a “single page app” it means that it literarily has only one page. Thanks to the dynamic updates, server load and response time decrease.
Potential customers aren’t ready to devote much time to your web page load. You’d be surprised, but most of the users are ready to wait for not more than 3 seconds for a web page to appear on a screen. Although the initial load of the SPA may take more time, once it is loaded, the experience becomes flawless and uninterrupted.
Internet users got used to the fact that needed product or information appears on the screen immediately, without annoying delays. Once it is not like that, they just leave and never come back to the website. Besides, your website visitor can be distracted any second and abandon your website without even mentioning it. To make your business survive, you need to provide the experience that will save users from delays and distractions and make them order your products or services.
SPA implementation is the way to contribute to the overall user experience and the company’s brand.
How’s MPA different from SPA?
The multi-page application concept may be more familiar to most of us. The majority of web apps consist of multiple pages and send requests to the database each time user clicks a button on a website. MPA page load may take more time, and the website works horribly when the Internet connection is poor. However, it has its advantages.
There’s no better way to understand the difference between SPA and MPS clearly than checking the real examples:
· Single page apps: Gmail, Trello;
· Multi-page apps: Forbes, Amazon.
See how flawless Gmail experience is? And once you want to take a look at another Amazon’s product, the web page fully reloads and makes you wait longer.
Still, the difference is well-observed in many factors. We’ve presented the single page apps vs multi-page apps comparison in the table below:
SPA in pros and cons
Should you choose a single-page approach for your next project development? To answer this question correctly, you need to be aware of the main SPA’s advantages and disadvantages.
Single-page app in pros
Let’s start with a positive side of the concept. Users prefer single-page apps because of:
Improved user experience
We’ve already mentioned the significance of UX upgrade but we cannot help but place it on the top position.
Initial load time may last longer, however, SPAs do not require never-ending page reloads. Besides, it works well even if Internet speed is relatively slow. The fact that 1–2 seconds of delay may cost you potential customer’s attention may become a serious reason to opt for SPA.
Cross-platform concept
Multiexperience is one of the hottest trends of 2020. What does it mean? In order to succeed, a software app must run seamlessly on any platform, any device, in any browser. Building a single-page app, you come closer to every potential customer and get a chance to launch an app that looks and works well everywhere. Developers save their time as only a single codebase is needed; adaptable design looks great no matter where customers open an app.
Read also: React Native vs Ionic: the Battle of Cross-Platform Development Giants
Bug fixing and maintenance
Another great advantage software engineers may notice when building a SPA is easier debugging within the browser. That’s an actionable way to avoid complicated bug fixing in MPA! Besides, thanks to deployment specifics, it is much easier to support and upgrade single-page apps.
Single page apps in cons
On the contrary, we have several inconveniences to deal with during SPA development:
SEO issues
We all want our website to appear on the first page of Google search results. But lack of unique links and specifics of semantic kernel make search engine optimization a hard task. Fortunately, on the recent Google I/O, methods to avoid SEO troubles on SPA were announced.
Analytics
To build detailed website statistics, Google Analytics uses data about each page load. But the SPA has only one page, thus, it gets much harder to measure statistics precisely.
Security troubles
Cross-site scripting attacks (XSS) are serious threats for SPA. Besides, detecting other vulnerabilities may be a challenge. To protect your single-page app, you need to employ advanced techniques and engage skilled software engineers.
Read also: Discovering Main Web App Vulnerabilities with Security Testing
How to build a single page app?
Now, when you are aware of the essentials, it is time to take the next step.
SPA development includes typical stages like:
— business and requirement analysis,
— graphical and UI/UX design,
— software engineering and testing.
After release, further improvement and upgrades are required for successful business growth.
Typically, the process takes 2–12 months+, depending on your team expertise and project requirements.
What projects are SPAs good for? Any! But diving deeper into the topic, we have prepared a detailed review with described use cases when to opt for the SPA approach. Check our latest article dedicated to SPA and related insights.
Take our business to a higher level with a brand new
single page app!
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