Frontend

Adapt a new frontend framework for ARCsoft - SolidJS

by Archie To, 18 June 2024

ARCsoft recently decided to add SolidJS as a new frontend framework to their tech stacks. We have implemented SolidJS on several projects and the results have been promising. In this article, we’ll explore why we needed a frontend framework and what SolidJS offers as a solution.

A need for client-side rendering

Some background - CSR vs SSR

First, let’s define client-side rendering (CSR) vs server-side rendering (SSR):

• CSR: In short, your website is rendered on the browser. The server returns an HTML file, which in many cases, is a body containing only a simple div tag. Your browser runs the JavaScript, which fetches the data and builds the webpage dynamically.
• SSR: The server does all the heaving lifting. It gets the data from the database, builds the HTML, plugs the data into the right places, and sends the HTML to the client.

For simplicity, think about CSR as a shop that sends you ingredients for a meal then you have to cook for yourself, while SSR is like a restaurant that sends you a ready-made meal.