Apollo vs Bootstrap

Responding to 
https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-website-redesign/2020Jun/0001.html
and https://w3c.studio24.net/docs/choosing-front-end-framework/

I can't speak from much website development experience, but my impression is 
that Apollo would be a better fit for W3C.

Bootstrap has a lot of compatibility baggage that it has to lug around because 
that's what it does. But W3C doesn't need all that, and I expect that 
Bootstrap would weigh down the website, both in terms of performance and 
ultimately in terms of design and maintenance.

W3C has a few unique characteristics compared to most websites:

1. We don't just need a website that works. We need one that's a good example 
of best practices. We need one that shows off the simplicity and power of 
modern Web technologies when they are used as designed.

2. Our Team is fairly tech savvy to begin with, and also has direct access to 
some of the top experts in fundamental Web technologies. We have comparatively 
little expertise in particular frameworks and their complexities. The more raw 
the framework, the easier it will be for us to work with.

Wrt maintenace: With fundamental technologies like HTML and CSS, what works 
now will work in the future. The closer we are to that core, the more stable 
our foundation, and the easier it will be to build upon in the future.

Wrt backwards-compatibility: Yes, we should have a usable site on older 
browsers. But that doesn't mean the design and layout needs to be the same. It 
can be different, and that's OK. We don't need to have the same layout in old 
browsers as in new ones. We should be using the best available technology and 
design techniques in contemporary browsers, to provide the best possible 
experience and best possible leadership now and in the future.

Wrt coding style: Separation of content and style is a fundamental design 
principle of the Web Platform technologies that *we develop*. To the extent 
practical, we should be embracing that principle in how we code our own website.

Which is to say, I think it makes sense to use a lightweight framework for the 
more complex design patterns like tabbed sections, but we shouldn't need 
presentational classes for things like "I want to disable padding on this box"...

... and I think starting with Apollo rather than Bootstrap will help us get there.

~fantasai

Received on Wednesday, 10 June 2020 23:52:16 UTC