[straws]

Webpack-based projects are heavy. A Rails app comes with a Webpack-based Javascript scaffold out-of-the-box.

I wonder if something like Rollup or NCC could be used to create a single-file Javascript dependency in the general case that is only used for vanilla Webpacker builds, and relying on the individual packages could be something left for when you need to customize the Webpacker build.

Judging by some of the Hey developments, it's possible we could see a much more lightweight JS integration in Rails in the future:

https://twitter.com/sstephenson/status/1272608117604397063

[rileytg]

I've worked on the whole loop of ¡server side! to ¡client side! and now back to ¡server side!. Using Hey for a little, I'm really impressed with the "feel" of it. I really hope they will write about how they do this and even contribute stuff upstream.

Going back to primarily server side was about long term projects that aren't very active. I have a rails app I wrote in 2011, I occasionally make fixes, update gems etc. No stress.

I have a client side app from 2016 that I eventually gave up on trying to get the build system running again (grunt?). I just edited the minified build and told the customer this was the last major edit. Only copy changes now.

This isn't an isolated incident. I frequently have to relearn an old project b/c everything changes so fast in js. First we were on prototype, then we went to jQuery (2011?). Homegrown UI components lacked the browser support we needed (IE5/6?) so we added jQuery UI. Our code was a spaghetti mess without components, so eventually we moved to React (2015?).

Those changes took 10+ years. The rest is all in the last 2.5-3.5 years. And personally, I find it way more complicated than previous js ecosystem changes. Ok now we really want to use modern js so lets add a transpiler. Now our components state is getting out of hand. Lets use reflux. Oh no dont use reflux, use redux. Oh but now you need redux-forms. Remember that build system we had? Now everyone uses grunt. Oh no, everyone uses webpack now. Are you still using redux? Use react hooks. And while I value this ecosystem, I'm nervous that we wont "solve" our problems and just keep writing new partial solutions.

It's a bit story-telly (rant?) but the gist is Rails w/ ssr doesnt come with huge mental cost over time. Client side can. We still love and use the client side apps, just only for complex "apps" like an interactive document viewer where we are actively developing year over year.