The evolution of web development trends has given wings to newer capabilities in the digital field! It’s no surprise that in this digitally expanding world, online websites for any brand or business has become a necessity more than just an identity. But since every industry is perfected literally over time, brands, businesses and users also tend to choose or rather they urge on choosing progressive, high-performance sites with enhanced user experience and which are cost-effective at the same time. This is where the Single Page Applications (SPA) comes into play!
What is a Single Page Application (SPA)?
Gmail, Google Maps, Facebook, GitHub etc. are all Single Page Applications, which works inside a browser and requires no page reloading and no extra time for waiting during its use. This means, that these apps would dynamically update the content during user interactivity without having to reload the entire page itself.
What are the merits of SPAs?
The digital audience always like it quick! The buffering and the loading process would make most users uninterested in the page they visit. Especially when in case of activity on the site.
- One of the biggest advantages of Single Page Applications is that they can be used to build more advanced, richer, high-performance applications in the most cost-effective manner. Moreover, SPAs make it easy to add advanced features to a web application.
- When the user submits a piece of important new information or tries to process a request (e.g. form submission), traditional, non-SPA web apps refresh the entire page whereas in a SPA the feedback is almost instant! Hence, they are faster and more responsive than other non-SPAs.
- It also enables you to cache local data very effectively, which then supports offline experiences for your services.
- Kicking off development would be much easier, as you can start development from a file without using any server at all! The coding process is hassle-free, which means there is no need to write codes to render pages on the server. Hence, the development is streamlined, smooth and organized.
- Using SPAs helps to monitor network operations, investigate page elements and data associated and thereby makes it easier to debug with Chrome.
What are the use cases of SPAs?
SPA allows developing an effortless and more arranged & controlled UX, keeping web complexity at bay. It helps keep the user on a webspace where the content is presented simply and easily. There are many examples of SPA built applications around the net that you use in your routine life – such as Google, Gmail, Maps, Facebook, Twitter or GitHub etc.
- G-mail: You might notice that working on Gmail makes you encounter minimum disruptions. This is because the Gmail SPA performs simple functions like managing emails, sending emails, and saving drafts and browsing the app no longer requires reloading multiple pages, it does not send you to a new page every time you perform an action. The integrity and the seemingly flawless response of this app make it an interface for easy navigation.
- Google Maps: Using Google Maps, almost anyone with a computer can find a way to a destination with little effort. You can search for new locations on the map, change places. Fully customizable, this Single Page Application with numerous useful functions has an extremely friendly user-interface that lets you navigate easily.
- Facebook & Instagram: Single Page Application is great for making Responsive Websites that support mobile, tablet & desktop. It also powers applications that you use most usually like Facebook & Instagram. Hence, they offer a faster and an immersive user experience. Only certain actions lead to a change of URL and most of the clicks on the Facebook page only bring up dynamic content on the page.
Though Single Page Applications give users a superior user experience, it also needs to be noted that it has a lot of pitfalls like memory leaks – loss of available computer memory in SPAs, heavy client frameworks making downloads slower, more security concerns when compared to traditional applications etc.
However, we all know that user experience is one fact that wins the first impression for you as a designer! Single Page Applications capitalize on this trend & mostly gives you clutter-free navigation that assists responsive designs as well!
