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HomeHomeFuture Developm...Future Developm...DNN neXtDNN neXtSo this is the end of the web forms and other questions?So this is the end of the web forms and other questions?
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1/30/2015 4:11 PM
 
Note that SPA is not a solution for every type of website. It's usually used for apps but not for a general public site. If you're planning to use a SPA design, make sure you do it right. It should be SEO friendly where a search bot can follow links. Don't depend on button clicks. Make sure you manage browser history properly. Users can use bookmarks to go to bookmarked location and the back button works. Make sure the page doesn't have a memory leak. If you create new objects and variables and not dispose of them when done and because of the nature of SPA where the page doesn't refresh completely, memory usage will increase over time with user actions.

A SPA is more complicated because you will be putting a lot of code and business logic in Javascript.

If you do right, great. If not, users will be frustrated and your site won't have good ranking in search engines and users won't find what they need.

And you can do SPA now. You don't have to wait for vNext.
 
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3/9/2015 4:36 PM
 
Brad Murray wrote:

 CartViper might have work to do, but I believe HotCakes is also already Angular based. I don't have to tell those that aren't they need to adapt or die, they know it and I am sure will have great versions ready soon.

We have a small set of admin functions that have been added recently to Cart Viper that use AngularJS. Having used in on other projects we believe AngularJS is the future and DNN need to embrace client side JS libraries as we move forward into the next version. MVC and Razor is excellent but more and more functionality needs to happen without postback and this is how AngularJS can come into it owns to develop modern and slick user interfaces.

I know the DNN platform did focus on KnockJS and companies are going to have their own preferred JS libraries which is fine. Whatever works for each company is fine by me. However I think as well as making DNN vNext MVC/Razor there also needs to be consideration how to better get the standard DNN controls into a pure html/js format that negate the requirement to server side controls and allow for KnockJS/AngularJS SPA.

At the moment we are hitting a brick wall when it comes to making a SPA using AngularJS and AngularJS Routes in DNN when we attempt to use the DNN Text editor for example. Due to it be a pure server side user control its hard to use this in a Route template and equally trying to load it in the module ascx and use DOM manipulation to push it into the a template has issues.
Additionally the text editor control has a "Basic" mode selected by the radio button at the top of the text editor which results in a post back to the server which loses the Angular route.  

The future of web development is more and more on the client side.

 
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3/10/2015 2:13 PM
 

I don't know if using AngularJS or any similar JS framework to get a full SPA experience is fruitful in DNN's current architecture which is based on WebForms. It sounds like hammering a square wedge into a round hole. A SPA app just means all user interactions and updates will result in quick DOM updates based on getting just the data for these elements without regetting the whole page and its elements again.  Even one can mimic a SPA effect using an UpdatePanel, although it's not very efficient.

 

As an ASP.NET developer, I would like to see DNN move completely away from WebForms. Maybe not so good news for current module developers but in order for DNN to move forward and have a more active development community, DNN to use the modern web and Microsoft stacks. I bet there are companies who ignore DNN thinking it's based on antiquated technology. Whether this makes sense technically is irrelevant. Perception is what matters. Same thing for developers. New .NET developers are not going to be exited to work on DNN once they know it's based on WebForms instead of MVC. 

 

I am a full time developer in a job which is not DNN related at all  and would like to work in my day job and on DNN in my spare time using the same set of technologies. That means ASP.NET MVC, HTML5, lots of Javascript, a popular JS framework like Angular, RESTful/WebAPI services, Bootstrap, rwd techniques... etc.  These are the hot skills these days in the .NET world. If I search a job site like dice.com in my city for ASP.NET, WebForms is hardly mentioned. AngularJS is very hot these days. Actually if I say I don't know MVC, I probably won't be able to get any good job. Therefore it makes no sense for me as a developer who wants to keep his skills up to date to still be using WebForms. Also makes no sense for me to split my time between WebForms and MVC. I want to be an expert in MVC instead of being jack of all trades, master of none.

Therefore I am really looking forward when DNN goes to a full MVC platform but being able to build modules in ASP.NET MVC is still very beneficial. 

Also the move to MVC hopefully will flush out the old crappy modules from the store. I have installed tens of commercial modules from the store and noticed a common pattern; poor UI/UX experience. Lots of them (non popular ones) just have a bunch of form elements placed on the page with little organization and poor workflow.

The reset will force the module developers to rethink the design of their modules and work on new implementations which work better in modern browsers. Working in mobile devices is an example.

 Whenever I see a web app with lots of text & hints explaining what the user needs to do next or what a form element is about, I know the developer hasn't thought the app through. In general developers make bad UI designers. Very few developers are really good at both and developers tend to not hire UI designers because  they think they can do it themselves. Sure it's easy to place links, tabs & form elements.. etc on a web. To make the app look polished, professional, easy to use and navigate and where things are easily discoverable is another set of non development skills.

I want to totally through away my WebForms knowledge even though it took me many years to acquire it and embrace the new ones. For the simple reason it will make it easier for me to find a new better job any time.

The wealth of DNN store and the opportunities it offers is what is what makes DNN exciting for me. I want DNN to be an opportunity for me to learn and apply new skills by creating modules which I can sell and support, where users find my work useful and beneficial. 

 

Looking forward to a brighter DNN future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 
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HomeHomeFuture Developm...Future Developm...DNN neXtDNN neXtSo this is the end of the web forms and other questions?So this is the end of the web forms and other questions?


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