[Koha-devel] To React or not to React

[Kyle Hall]

>
>
> Question: what has Facebook added to js that we could not use as "regular"
> js? Not a show stopper, but our "gut feeling" (not fully documented, but
> more than anecdotal) is that all js code, given its standalone capability,
> has a more than proportional speed downside. And I'm not going near the
> licensing questions.
>

I must disagree. Ajax Koha features powered by javascript are far faster
then the traditional cgi-powered equivalents. Another powerful speed factor
is "just in time" loading. Consider all the data loaded in tabs they may
only be viewed once every dozen or more views. The prime example I can
point to is the holds tab. In the past we had to process and load the holds
data for a patron on every checkout. Now we only load that data when the
tab is clicked on, thus saving many wasted cpu cycles!


>
> If I understand this bug 17297 ("low enhancement") correctly, it refines
> itemnotes by adding granularity. If this is a "good thing", can the
> original coding be improved? Add an auth value? If we need js, how optional
> might this be? (do we know how many Koha users are truly interested?)
>

This discussion is not really about this particular feature or what it
does, but about the architecture that it uses. This is my second iteration
of the feature. The first version I wrote used Angular which gives me a
good perspective on the use of both in Koha, which is why I started this
discussion ; )

The short answer is yes, it's definitely optional and the feature can be
safely ignored if you aren't interested in it.


>
> I've always been impressed by Koha core speed, and without using such
> expressions as "mission creep" (or heaven forfend, code bloat) I truly
> recognize that enhancements are a real life necessity. Just wondering how
> and where they are best added while maintaining the KISS principle...
>

Getting proper tools in Koha will have a great impact on *reducing* bloat
rather than adding to it. When we make requests via our services we bypass
all the ui processing that is needed the redisplay the page. Koha has
suffered from bloating in the last few years of releases, but they had
nothing to do with javascript or restful services ( thanks again to
Jonathan for doing so much work de-bloating Koha! )

Kyle


>
> Best -- Paul
>
>
> Kyle
>
>
>
> http://www.kylehall.info
> ByWater Solutions ( http://bywatersolutions.com )
> Meadville Public Library ( http://www.meadvillelibrary.org )
> Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org )
>
> On Fri, Sep 16, 2016 at 9:50 AM, Stefano Bargioni <bargioni at pusc.it>
> wrote:
> My +1 for React. Angular requires a specific skill, other than Javascript.
> Stefano
>
> On 15 set 2016, at 19:22, Kyle Hall <kyle.m.hall at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have my proof of concept for using React within Koha completed! You
> can see it here:Â https://bugs.koha-community.
> org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=17297
>
> Please give it a try!
>
> So, I've written this development ( at least in part ) in both Angular
> and React. I know Angular 2 is out but here are my thoughts so far.
>
> 1) It's much easier to think in React than in Angular. React is for
> the most part just Javascript. It's far less opinionated than Angular. They
> saying goes React is Javascript and Angular is Angular. I think the
> flexibility of React works well within the Koha ecosystem.
>
> 2) Writing React feels much more like programming. I think it's much
> faster to develop reactive and ajax features in React than it is using
> jQuery.
>
> 3) React makes it pretty easy to create widgets that we can drop in to a
> given page and have just work. Pretty much anything that shows up on
> multiple pages would make for a good React widget. Think the holds table
> which is on the checkouts page and the patron details page. It is ajaxified
> now, but a far far cleaner version could be written in React.
>
> 4) React is just a view layer. Angular is a full MVC framework with many
> pieces we don't really need.
>
> I think React is probably the way to go for Koha. I like Angular but for
> Koha in particular, I think React is a better fit. I think we really need
> to get this decision made as soon as possible. If anyone has opinions,
> please let everyone know!
>
>
> Kyle
>
>
> http://www.kylehall.info
> ByWater Solutions ( http://bywatersolutions.com )
> Meadville Public Library ( http://www.meadvillelibrary.org )
> Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org )
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