Front-End Software Architectural Pattern
A Front-End Software Architectural Pattern is a computer system architecture for front-end code.
- Context:
- It can (typically) be used to improve User Experience, Performance, and Maintainability of front-end applications.
- It can range from being a Single Page Application (SPA) Architecture to being a Multi-Page Application (MPA) Architecture or a Progressive Web App (PWA) Architecture.
- It can be supported by Frameworks and Libraries such as React, Angular, and Vue.js.
- It can be applied to various types of applications, including web-based and mobile-based applications.
- It can (often) involve the use of RESTful APIs or GraphQL for communication with back-end services.
- It can distinguish itself from back-end architectures by focusing on the code that runs in the client’s web browser, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- It can (often) promote code reuse and maintainability through patterns such as Model-View-Controller (MVC), Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM), and Model-View-Presenter (MVP).
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- Example(s):
- Single Page Application (SPA) Architecture: Loads a single HTML page and dynamically updates content as the user interacts with the app.
- Multi-Page Application (MPA) Architecture: Involves multiple HTML pages, each representing a separate view.
- Progressive Web App (PWA) Architecture: Uses web technologies to provide a native app-like experience.
- Model-View-Controller (MVC) Pattern: Separates the representation of information from user interaction.
- Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) Pattern: Binds the view to the model via a view model.
- Model-View-Presenter (MVP) Pattern: Uses a presenter to handle the logic specific to the view, often used in mobile-based applications.
- Flux: A pattern for managing application state, often used with React.
- Backend for Frontend (BFF) Pattern: Creates separate backends for each frontend application to optimize performance and development.
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- Counter-Example(s):
- a Back-End Architecture, which focuses on server-side logic and database management.
- a Monolithic Architecture, which combines all functionalities into a single codebase.
- See: Single Page Application (SPA) Architecture, Multi-Page Application (MPA) Architecture.
References
2023
- chat
- Q: write an essay on front-end architectures. Distinguish them from back-end architectures. Provide some examples.
- A: Front-end and back-end architecture refer to the separation of concerns in web development. Front-end architecture deals with the client-side of an application, while back-end architecture deals with the server-side.
Front-end architecture refers to the structure and organization of the code that runs in the client’s web browser. This includes the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that make up the user interface of a web application. Front-end architectures are designed to make the application more responsive and efficient by reducing the amount of data sent between the client and the server, and by utilizing browser caching to minimize the number of requests made to the server.
Some popular front-end architectures include:
- Model-View-Controller (MVC).
- Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM).
- Model-View-Presenter (MVP).
- Flux, and more recent derivation like Redux
- Back-end architecture refers to the structure and organization of the code that runs on the server. This includes the web server, the application server, and the database server. Back-end architectures are designed to handle the processing and storage of data, and to provide an API (Application Programming Interface) for the front-end to access that data.
Some popular back-end architectures include:
2023
- chat
- Q: Write an essay on the similarities and differences between front-end architectural patterns for web-based and mobile-based applications? Provide examples.
- A: Front-end architectural patterns refer to the structure and organization of the code that runs in the client-side of an application. These patterns are used to improve the maintainability, scalability, and performance of the application. There are different architectural patterns that can be used for web-based and mobile-based applications, and each has its own similarities and differences.
One similarity between front-end architectural patterns for web-based and mobile-based applications is that both types of applications use a Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. The MVC pattern is a way to separate the concerns of the application into three distinct components: the model, which represents the data and business logic; the view, which displays the data to the user; and the controller, which handles the user's interactions with the application. This pattern is used in both web-based and mobile-based applications because it promotes code reuse and makes it easier to test and maintain the application.
A difference between front-end architectural patterns for web-based and mobile-based applications is that web-based applications often use a Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern, while mobile-based applications often use a Model-View-Presenter (MVP) pattern. The MVVM pattern is similar to the MVC pattern, but it uses a view model to handle the logic that is specific to the view. This allows the view to be more declarative, and it makes it easier to test and maintain the application. The MVP pattern is similar to the MVVM pattern, but it uses a presenter to handle the logic that is specific to the view. This allows the presenter to be more testable and maintainable, and it makes it easier to handle the differences between different platforms.
An example of a web-based application that uses the MVVM pattern is AngularJS. AngularJS is a JavaScript framework that allows developers to create dynamic web applications using a declarative syntax. The framework uses a two-way data binding system that keeps the model and the view in sync, and it uses a view model to handle the logic that is specific to the view.
An example of a mobile-based application that uses the MVP pattern is Android. Android is a mobile operating system that allows developers to create mobile applications using the Java programming language. The Android SDK includes a set of tools and libraries that make it easy to implement the MVP pattern, and it allows developers to handle the differences between different versions of the Android operating system.
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- The MVVM pattern is particularly well-suited for applications that run on both web browsers and mobile platforms because it allows for a separation of concerns between the platform-specific code and the business logic of the application. This means that the same view model and model can be used for both web and mobile platforms, with platform-specific views being developed separately. This allows for a more efficient development process, as the majority of the code can be reused across platforms, reducing the need for duplicating effort.
Additionally, MVVM also allows for easy testing of the application as the separation of concerns makes it easy to isolate and test individual components. This can lead to a more robust and maintainable codebase.