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Greetings, I'm Antoine, a seasoned senior engineer currently with Origin. With a robust 15-year tenure in the Frontend domain, my expertise lies in crafting scalable and maintainable applications. I embarked on my journey in the web2 landscape, where I had the pleasure of delving into a myriad of stacks and frameworks, allowing me to play and experiment with diverse technologies. I settled on React and its vibrant ecosystem, and, for the past two years, I've transitioned into the dynamic realm of web3. In this article, I'll be shedding light on the key differentiators I've observed between these two ecosystems, offering insights into the evolving landscape of web development.
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and the transition from Web2 to Web3 represents a paradigm shift in the way we approach frontend development. Web2 has long been synonymous with user experience (UX) and search engine optimization (SEO), while Web3 places a primary focus on privacy and decentralized technologies. In this article, we will dive into the key differences between Web2 and Web3 frontend development techniques, highlighting the pivotal aspects of each approach.
Web2 development prioritizes providing an exceptional user experience and optimizing websites for search engines. It involves creating fast, interactive, and visually appealing interfaces. SEO is critical in Web2, as it ensures websites rank high in search engine results, attracting more organic traffic.
On the other hand, Web3 emphasizes user privacy as a core tenet. Privacy is achieved by reducing the amount of user data collected and stored on centralized servers. User information is controlled by the users themselves, often through blockchain-based identity solutions. This not only protects user data, but it also offers transparency about how the data is used.
In the Web3 landscape, companies and developers are moving away from tracking users and collecting excessive data for advertising purposes, making user privacy a paramount concern.
Web2 traditionally relies on Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and traditional web servers to deliver content. SSR generates HTML on the server and sends it to the client, ensuring fast loading times and improved SEO. However, it can be resource-intensive and less scalable.
Web3, in contrast, embraces decentralized technologies like the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) to serve static content. IPFS allows content to be distributed across a peer-to-peer network, ensuring data redundancy and reducing the risk of data loss. This approach aligns with the decentralized principles of Web3, providing improved resilience and ensuring content remains accessible even if a single server or node goes down.
Web2 applications commonly fetch data from centralized APIs using protocols like REST, GraphQL, or gRPC. These protocols enable seamless communication between the frontend and backend, allowing for data retrieval, real-time updates, and interactions with databases and external services.
In Web3, on-chain data retrieval takes center stage. Decentralized applications (dapps) interact with smart contracts on blockchain networks through RPC (Remote Procedure Call) providers. These RPC providers serve as gateways to the blockchain, enabling the frontend to query and display data from the blockchain. This approach enhances transparency and security by enabling users to verify the data's source.
Web3 and Web2 frontend development techniques each have their unique strengths and priorities. Web2 excels in providing exceptional user experiences and optimizing for SEO, whereas Web3 centers on user privacy, decentralized technologies, and on-chain data retrieval.
At Origin, we try to avoid all dogmatic decisions; nothing is good enough nor too complex to apply to our way of thinking and crafting software. The goal is always to deliver the best experience for our users while keeping a fast delivery pace and not make any sacrifice on security.
The transition from Web2 to Web3 is not just a choice between one or the other but a recognition of the need to strike a balance between user experience, privacy, and the adoption of decentralized technologies. Developers and organizations must consider these factors when designing web applications and adapt to the evolving landscape to meet the needs and expectations of users in this new era of the internet. As technology continues to advance, frontend developers must remain adaptable and ready to embrace the opportunities and challenges presented by Web3.
