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by nawgz 1649 days ago
Please, you must not be pedantic in this way, it's clear that I mean there's no install wizard and OS-native interactions the user must go thru, they just provide a string URL and immediately begin application-style interactions after a brief load
2 comments
DarylZero 1648 days ago
It's not really pedantic. Since any application (not just a browser) could provide the same download-interpreted-code-then-run-it functionality.

It's probably not this particular feature of the web browser matters but the fact that web browsers come preinstalled with new computers.

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nawgz 1646 days ago
> It's not really pedantic

I mean, if not pedantic, then perhaps grinding an axe - he said 'there is a lot of Javascript that is getting "downloaded and installed"' as if that has anything to do with the user experience I was referring to

> any application (not just a browser) could provide the same download-interpreted-code-then-run-it functionality

I have never heard of such a platform besides the web. That is why the web became the dominant platform. I do not know what theoretical could've would've should've has to do with the reality of technological evolution

> It's probably not this particular feature of the web browser

... yes, it's not the ease of use that makes users like web, it's that computers in 2021 come with browsers installed that makes users prefer web over bloated desktop applications without good accessibility anyways!

I have no clue what your comment is meaning to get at.

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DarylZero 1645 days ago
>I have never heard of such a platform besides the web.

Steam comes to mind.

> ... yes, it's not the ease of use that makes users like web, it's that computers in 2021 come with browsers installed that makes users prefer web over bloated desktop applications

Wasn't comparing to "desktop applications." I was saying that the reason that the download-code-then-run-it functionality was shoved into the browser rather than coming in some other form, was that the browsers were already on all the desktops.

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beamatronic 1649 days ago
Compare and contrast today's Javascript-in-browser dependent applications versus a pure server-side-rendering model. With the latter, there is truly no software downloaded, only static assets such as images.
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