Foundational Front-End Architecture: Getting the Most out of Frameworks, Libraries, Events, and the Browser Platform (Without Losing Your Mind)

“There's a new JS framework every week! There's a new JavaScript feature every week! There's a new HTML5 feature every week! We are losing our minds OMG@#$HELPUS!”

Settle down everybody. Shiny new frameworks distract you from the stability offered by the web platform: ES6 is the first major update to JavaScript since 2009, and HTML5 was 18 years in the making! More importantly, few of these innovations significantly change the architecture of web applications — we owe browser innovation and frameworks for that. But since the browser evolved in to a full-blown application runtime, we now need solid front-end architecture, and front-end architects. It's not just about JavaScript, it's about the entire browser platform. And you can't pick frameworks to simplify that platform until you understand its underpinnings.

In this workshop, we will dissect the components of a modern web client into three buckets:

1. Networking: How does data get to and from the client? We will discuss the various underlying APIs and libraries for client-server communication.
2. Rendering: How does the user interface get created and painted? We'll look at the HTML5 APIs for manipulating the DOM, and explain how various frameworks including AngularJS, React, and Polymer regard and manipulate the DOM.
3. Distribution & Maintenance: How does the resulting app get distributed and updated, either on the web or to app stores?

I'll lay the foundations to simplify the complex world of front-end tools, frameworks, and architecture. I'll share patterns to help you manage the complexity of front-end development and back-end integration for modern web clients. And I'll convince you to never again complain about how fast the world of front-end technologies is moving.