One of the most strongly debated subjects in the web development world is the difference between SPAs and MPAs. Recently, practically everyone has gotten on the bandwagon of single-page applications. Why is it the subject of so much hype? What about conventional applications with numerous pages? Do they worsen? Thanks to these inquiries, we have a fascinating notion.
In this article, we will discuss the two primary methods for developing web applications—single-page applications (SPA) and multi-page web applications (MPA). We will explore the advantages and disadvantages of each method, the use cases where one might be preferable over the other, and best practices for implementation.
What is a Single-Page Application?
A single-page application (also known as a SPA) is a web application or website that uses a single HTML page as a shell for all web pages. SPAs have a dynamic nature of loading. During interaction with a user, they display content without needing to be fully updated since different pieces of content are downloaded automatically as requested. It is possible thanks to AJAX technology. Most links will not trigger a page reload no matter what you click there. In single-page applications, there is only one HTML page, and this one page downloads a bunch of assets, CSS, and images but typically also a lot of JavaScript. Speaking of the latter, the code will then listen to clicks on links and then re-render parts of the DOM in the loaded page whenever a user needs something.
This means a user can see the main content in a browser. Still, when scrolling or navigating to a different page, all necessary elements will be dynamically updated instead of the entire page reloading. Thanks to this, single-page applications resemble native applications except that they work in a browser.
The Internet is filled with SPA examples. Some of them you use regularly. Whenever you open your inbox messages in Gmail, read the Facebook news feed, or join a thread discussion on Twitter, you deal with single-page web apps.
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SPA Pros
Responsiveness and High Speed SPAs work faster since they don’t require reloading the entire page. The logic is executed within a browser, significantly adding to a website's speed. After the initial page load, only separate data items will be reloaded by the user's request. The improved user experience is something single-page web apps can boast of. A website's page load speed greatly impacts how long visitors stay on it. People are impatient therefore, if this website takes longer than three seconds to load, they'll probably leave and visit another.
Offline Opportunities (Caching) One of the advantages of single-page web apps is their capability of caching any local data. In such apps, only one request is sent to a server, and all data the app receives is stored. Thanks to this, SPAs can work offline. Even if a user loses the Internet connection, they can still use the loaded data in an SPA.
Mobile Adaptability When the necessity to create a mobile app pops up, it is a lot easier to make it happen with single-page apps. Developer frameworks that developers work with while developing SPAs allow them to reuse code elements for a mobile version of an app. Besides, the design of single-page web apps resembles desktop or mobile apps; therefore, there’s little work to be done to adjust it for mobile devices.
Decoupled frontend This means that there’s no need to write any server-side code. In development teams, some specialists focus on the backend, creating an API to allow users to reach out from a single-page app. The decoupled front end makes it much easier to work.
SPA Cons
SEO Search engine optimization can be quite challenging. Although things have improved over the last couple of years, making single-page applications super SEO-friendly still takes some advanced knowledge. Why? Because crawlers like Googlebot can parse JavaScript, they have big problems if the content is loaded asynchronously. After the initial page loading, the crawler doesn’t know there is more data to arrive at, so SEO is missed at this point.
Troubles with Security When comparing single-page applications vs multi-page applications, it is safe to say that the first one is more vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks. Due to XSS, hackers can insert their client-side script into web apps. However, it can be prevented by securing data endpoints.
