Single Page Application – Definition | Advantages | Disadvantages

Single Page Applications (SPA) are incredibly engaging and delivers a unique experience to the users throughout the journey. Examples of SPA include Gmail, Netflix, Google Maps, PayPal, Pinterest, etc. and you might have used them before.

Building a scalable customer experience is one of the many benefits of SPA. You can pair a Single Page Applications with a CMS to give both marketers and Developers the flexibility and control they need, to manage their tasks.

In a single page application, as the name indicates, the information stays on one single page while only a few sections need to be updated at times. For example, when you check your emails, you will notice that you stay on a single page where the header and the sidebar remain untouched as you browse through the inbox.

These applications send what the user needs at a single instance of time while the browser renders that particular information only. The client-side method accelerates the load time, making it much faster for users while reducing the amount of information that the server needs to send at each request.

Single Page Application interacts with the user by rewriting the current page dynamically, which eliminates the need to load full web pages from the server. Simply put, it is just one single page that you visit which further fetch all other content based on user request using JavaScript. Server-side technologies in SPA include node.js, PHP, Java, Python, C#, Ruby, etc. while the client-side technologies are majorly based on React, Ember, Vue, or Angular.

SPAs are simple to deploy in comparison to traditional server-side rendering applications. It contains one index.html file with a JavaScript and CSS bundle. The three static files can be downloaded to static content servers like Amazon S3, AKAMAI, other CDN delivery networks, etc.

Besides eliminating the need for loading the full webpage, SPAs bring along numerous benefits for both developers and users. Some of these benefits include:

As discussed above, Single Page Application improves website speed and makes them run faster by updating only the required content and not the entire page. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other resources are loaded only once throughout the journey, and data is transmitted back and forth.

Single Page Application provides a linear experience to the users with a clear beginning, clean middle, and end. The scrolling and navigation experience is smooth. Users do not have to click on multiple links to reach the desired content.

SPAs request data from the server only once during the first download. Once the page is available for access, you can scroll through without interruption even with a slow internet connection. Moreover, after the page downloads, SPAs are accessible offline.

Developers can easily debug SPAs by inspecting the JavaScript code filtered through the browser. Since SPAs are developed on frameworks such as Angular, React, etc., it’s easy to debug these applications using different browsers including Chrome, Firefox, etc. These tools assist developers in understanding how the browser will display the page elements, how the page will request required data from the server and how it will cache data.

For easy transition from SPA to the mobile app, developers can use the same code; since the entire code is delivered in one instance SPAs are easy to scroll which makes them ideal for mobile apps. Developers often use SPAs to develop Progressive Web Apps to offer functions like offline access, local caching, and push notifications.

Similar to any other application platform, SPAs come with certain limitations, some of which are discussed below:

SPAs load the entire code at once due to which initial load time can be longer in comparison to websites that load one page at a time. In the traditional web model, the browser typically fetch a cached version of the web page and resources, whereas in SPA implementation, hitting the back button is equivalent to clicking a link that results in new server request, leading to latency.

The dependency of SPAs on client-side resources to run Single Page Application can leave them vulnerable to security threats. Without proper security protocols, SPAs can expose a website’s sensitive information to unauthorized access.

Utilizing search engine optimization advantages to rank higher in the search engine results listings can sometimes be a little difficult for Single Page Applications. In the SPA structure, there’s a single URL for each webpage that limits the SEO capabilities for SPAs. Although search engines have aligned their indexing routines considering SPAs, SEOs still encounter problems in achieving higher rankings in SERP (Search Engine Results Pages).

Single Page Applications are gaining popularity due to their simple structure, less resource utilization, and easy navigation. The SPA architecture is excellent for SaaS platforms and social channels where search engine optimization does not matter.

Every architecture has its strength and limitations; however, specific business goals can help to decide if SPA is an appropriate option for your business or not.

If you are looking to build a Single Page Application for your business, get in touch with our SPA consultants who can analyze your business requirements and advise you with the most viable solution.