Tom Morris on Why I’m turning JavaScript off by default:
I snark a lot about JavaScript, but I’m of the opinion that most of the web would be improved if there were a lot less JavaScript running on it.
Even two years ago when this was originally written, this is considered heretical in many circles.
That issue aside, there is value in trying out the web with JavaScript turned off. It simulates what happens when your JavaScript has a fatal error, or takes 3 minutes to load. On a global Internet those are conditions that your users will run into.
2 replies on “JavaScript Off”
I’m actually convinced that more and more, JS is the replacing HTML at the “heart” of the web stack. Let’s face it, the web as it was built is now more and more unbundled: your html docs are not only/always served via HTTP (it could be/have been spdy, but also things like websockets, or even SSE, or they may have been loaded locally… or just “built” locally via JS), CSS is now threated to be replaced by writting JS code… etc.
(I’m not saying it’s a *good* trend… but I think this is happening and faster than we expect). It goes even further: Service Workers are now making JS execute *before* the network stack is even touched!
It something that seems to be marching forward at a quick pace. I don’t think we take enough time to evaluate the new failure conditions that happen as a result.