How Much JavaScript Does a Business Application Need?

Server rendering is usually enough

For forms, tables, reports and workflows — which is most business software — server-rendered pages are fast, simple, accessible by default and considerably cheaper to build and maintain.

A full JavaScript application for a system that is mostly forms and tables is a large amount of additional complexity for very little user benefit.

Three levels

The middle option covers the large majority of business software well and is where we start unless there is a reason not to.

When a JavaScript application is justified

• Genuinely interactive interfaces — drag-and-drop planning, live editing
• Real-time collaboration between users
• Offline capability
• A mobile application sharing the same API
• Complex client-side state that would be painful server-side

What the heavier option costs

1. Two codebases to maintain instead of one
2. An API layer that must be built and versioned
3. Accessibility that must be built deliberately rather than inherited
4. A build pipeline and its dependencies
5. A broader skill requirement in whoever maintains it

Accessibility is easier server-side

Server-rendered HTML is accessible by default and breaks only when you break it. A JavaScript application is inaccessible by default and works only when accessibility is built deliberately.

For internal business systems used all day by a whole team, that difference matters more than the interface polish.

Frequently asked questions