The latest articles on Forem by Eric (@ericvera). https://forem.com/ericvera https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F1257532%2F39b303d9-deb4-4b06-af10-038d3a2eecff.png https://forem.com/ericvera en Eric Tue, 16 Jan 2024 01:00:15 +0000 https://forem.com/ericvera/decision-2-fisk-firebase-svelte-kit-stack-2mkg https://forem.com/ericvera/decision-2-fisk-firebase-svelte-kit-stack-2mkg <p>Firebase provides many services (hosting, database, authentication, serverless functions, analytics, file storage, feature flags, and more) in a "pay-for-what-you-use" format with free allocations during development while Svelte Kit provides a good deal of functionality for the front-end.</p> <h2> Motivation </h2> <p>After a few years of working on projects, there is an overhead that comes with using many services. After considering AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, Firebase (mostly supported by Google Cloud now) covers most services needed to launch an app with minimal upfront cost. </p> <p>Having used NextJS and React for a few years I kept running into "friction". After trying Svelte [Kit] for a few weeks I've decided to give it a go as some of the things seem to run simpler. </p> <h2> Concerns/Trade-offs </h2> <p>In the long term, the cost of scaling Firebase may increase significantly. Some of those costs may be designed away or there may be an eventual need to move to a different system. For now, the simplicity of use and lower startup cost seem to warrant that trade-off vs setting up more complex systems.</p> <p>As for Svelte Kit I have significantly less experience than with NextJS+React which means that I am more likely to run into problems that I have not had to solve before. The framework is still evolving and by deciding to use their latest (unreleased as of this writing) version 5 there is less information available when it comes to troubleshooting issues.</p> webdev development svelte firebase Eric Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:40:51 +0000 https://forem.com/ericvera/decision-1-pwa-only-jcj https://forem.com/ericvera/decision-1-pwa-only-jcj <p>PWAs provide the needed functionality for many types of apps while significantly reducing the development cost vs. building native apps. Discoverability is sacrificed, but I expect that to be a worthy trade-off for the first version of the app.</p> <h2> Progressive Web Apps Support and Functionality </h2> <blockquote> <p>A progressive web app (PWA) is an app that's built using web platform technologies, but that provides a user experience like that of a platform-specific app. ~<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps">Mozilla Dev Docs</a></p> </blockquote> <h2> Motivations </h2> <ul> <li>Reduce development costs and time to launch by developing a single app (web) rather than three (web, iOS, Android).</li> <li>Reduce release cycle time by avoiding the delays and slowdowns introduced by app store processes and the occasional lack of actionable feedback provided during submission failures.</li> </ul> <h2> Concerns/Trade-offs </h2> <ul> <li>The reality is that when people hear of an app they expect, for the most part, to be able to find it in the app store. Adding hints to the web app may help make the install experience more accessible.</li> <li>In the long term it may be important to launch native apps to capture the audience that goes there first.</li> </ul> webdev discuss frontend mobile