Redefining web development: how edge computing is shaping the future of modern applications
In a world where data is considered the new oil, edge computing is quickly becoming the refinery of choice for modern applications. This computing paradigm refers to the shifting of computing tasks from centralized cloud servers to distributed locations closer to the end user.
Additionally, it means adopting a new development mindset, where not only data, but also application logic and even APIs, are truly decentralized. This approach offers several advantages, such as low latency, scalability, heightened security, better availability, and less infrastructure overhead, hence, lower overall operational costs.
It is no surprise that developers are interested in modernizing their applications so they can harness those benefits. New strategies and technologies, including Jamstack and Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless (MACH), work in tandem with rendering JavaScript (JS) frameworks (such as Next.js, Remix, and Astro) to execute compute on edge runtimes. Together, these innovations enable developers to effortlessly deploy cutting-edge edge applications on a global scale, ensuring robust performance and top-notch security.
In this article, we explore the state of applications at the edge and unpack the major trends that are setting the stage for the next generation of web development.
The Evolution of Applications at the Edge
The first step in the migration of applications to the edge started with the use of content delivery networks (CDNs) to host static files (JS, HTML, images) used by the front-end. With this strategy, assets were distributed around the world near the end user, and any developer instantly got better performance, scalability, and robustness from their applications, without the need to manage web servers.
This worked well with static generation frameworks (such as Gatsby and Jekyll), but for a more interactive experience, the initial JS front-end frameworks (including React and Vue) had the browser do all the heavy lifting of rendering the user interface and running client-side logic. This meant sending the entire JS framework and app code to the browser to process it.
In many cases, this resulted in larger download sizes, increased time to first interaction, reduced browser compatibility, and overall, a poorer user experience on slower devices, especially on mobile. It also made it harder for search engines to index the content, leading to a suboptimal user experience and lower SEO rankings.
To address these problems, server-side rendering (SSR) support was added to the main JS frameworks. Now known as “rendering frameworks” or “full-stack frameworks,” this strategy offers several advantages: Less JavaScript is shipped to the browser as the HTML is pre-rendered, leading to smaller downloads. As a result, the time to first interaction is significantly reduced, resulting in more responsive applications even on slower devices that can be easily indexed by search engines, which helps SEO optimization.
Initially, SSR support was added by deploying the rendering engine on a centralized cloud running on a NodeJS server, it then evolved to run on serverless cloud functions. And recently, there has been an emerging trend of running everything at the edge. A critical step toward adopting this trend was the establishment of the WinterCG (Web-interoperable Runtimes Community Group) initiative, a consortium to standardize edge runtimes, supported by leading edge companies. The group’s overarching objective is to promote runtimes that endorse a comprehensive unified API interface, providing JavaScript developers with a consistent foundation, irrespective of the runtime they choose — whether it be browsers, servers, embedded applications, or edge runtimes.
Serverless and Jamstack: A Match Made in Heaven
The serverless paradigm frees developers from managing web servers and databases, eliminating the need to spin up instances manually. This is a great fit for applications that see unpredictable, sporadic bursts of traffic. For example, the developer is charged only for the resources actually being consumed by his application, without having to worry about provisioning, usage caps, or overages.
This seamlessly complements the Jamstack architecture, a modern approach to develop and deploy websites at scale, decoupling the front-end from the back-end and databases. This approach allows developers to create API-first, headless applications that can run directly on edge servers, offering an agile solution for developers looking to leverage the benefits of edge computing while also enjoying the flexibility of Jamstack.
According to a recent report on the state of edge, developers are keenly interested in the performance gains, cost savings, and ease of development that edge functions offer. To add, most participants strongly agreed that websites and applications will predominantly run at the edge within the next three years, signaling a rapid shift in edge adoption, which will enhance Jamstack architecture for developers.
How to Ensure Your Applications Benefit from the Edge
To take advantage of what the edge has to offer, developers should start by adopting edge runtimes, which can be done by using any edge-native JS framework, such as Next.js, Nuxt, or SvelteKit, among others.
Lightweight and secure, edge-native JS frameworks run processes in a sandboxed environment based on V8 isolates. This environment does not allow arbitrary code execution and is in compliance with open standard Web APIs (the same ones adopted by the browsers). Application logic can be processed faster and closer to the users, reducing latency and enhancing the user experience with no cold start times.
The migration of legacy cloud apps should be done incrementally, using edge computing to offload cloud servers, resulting in better response times and improving security with minor app changes. New, modern apps should be built already with thought about how to leverage the full potential of the edge.
It’s important to keep in mind that you should move away from technologies such as Node.js, which have proprietary APIs that may not be compatible with edge runtimes and are not safe in multi-tenant environments, and therefore require their own dedicated resources, making this strategy harder and more expensive to manage and scale.
The Future of Edge and App Development
Edge computing is the inevitable future of application development, offering a range of benefits that traditional architectures can’t match. But moving to the edge is only part of the equation. Modern applications should also deliver business agility by adopting composable architectures, modern design patterns, an AI-first mindset, and a zero-trust security strategy.
If you’re interested in building modern, efficient, and scalable applications, embracing edge computing can put you on the path to success. Taking the step toward edge computing will allow you to reap substantial business and security benefits, modernize applications, and propel the next generation of web development. Developers should be keen on new services and technologies to make the leap easier in order to see the best results and fully embrace the application trends of the future.
This article was originally published on Devm.io.
