Islands Architecture

You may have guessed (if you read the rest of this blog) that I’m all-in on the web. I believe native apps are useful for some things, but not all things. So I’m all-in on the Jamstack approach.

Learning more about Jamstack has brought me closer to other approaches, like Islands Architecture. The short version is this: some Jamstack frameworks out there (usually based on Javascript) impede their own efficacy by generating a mix of static html and a bunch of - usually semi-useful - JavaScript.

Sometimes you just want Static, and nothing more. But other times you might want 99% Static, with a teeny tiny sprinkling of JavaScript for certain components (think about an “almost realtime” equity price displayed on an otherwise static web page).

Some people call this approach Partial Hydration. Other refer to it as Progressive Hydration. Islands Architecture is easier to grok for me. Jason Miller wrote a great post about what it all means.

Recommended reading if you’re building for webs 1, 2, 3, 4, etc (that’s my web3 joke for the day).