Decoupling a web application or website is becoming more common and is no longer just the preserve of high-traffic websites. Let's explore what this entails and the benefits this approach can offer for your projects.
What is Decoupling?
Let's start with a simple example: a standard website created with WordPress. It consists of a client interface with which the user interacts: clicking a button, submitting a form, etc. Depending on the user's action, WordPress will interact with the database to return the appropriate information. This is referred to as the front-end: the visible part with which the visitor interacts; and the back-end, the part connected to the database. Traditionally, a site manages the front and back in a monolithic way, as a single entity. Essentially, with WordPress, the WordPress theme, various functions, core, modules, etc., are all part of the same application.
What happens if the front and back are managed independently? Well, it becomes a decoupled site! In short, decoupling involves separating the client interface of your website from the part that interacts with the database. In other words, the front will fetch data from the back to display it. The site then results from two independent applications, one for the front, one for the back.
Decoupling an application thus involves splitting an application into two parts, one client-side, one server-side. You may not realize it, but the vast majority of the sites you use are actually decoupled...
What are the advantages?
One might legitimately wonder why one would divide an application into two when the monolithic version works perfectly well. Simply because in a decoupled setup, it works even better ☺ Let's delve into this...
Freedom of Language
By separating the front from the back, you are free to use different languages for each side of the application. For example, for the front, we might use JavaScript and for the back, Python. This allows you to work with individuals who have more diverse and perhaps more specialized skills in their specific field.
Parallel Development
Decoupling an application or a site requires a longer design period, but the separation of the client side and server side allows them to be developed in parallel, almost independently. Thus, even if the overall duration is longer, the timeline can be shorter if a different developer handles each part.
In the case of a monolithic application, it can be more challenging to have multiple people working simultaneously because one person's work might cause unintended effects on another's work.
Leveraging JavaScript Libraries (Vue, React)
In recent years, the web has witnessed the rise of the JavaScript language. Initially used to add some animations to websites, this language has evolved to run servers (Node.js), thus being utilized for the back-end, and has become significantly more sophisticated for interface design. Libraries/frameworks like Angular (developed by Google), React (developed by Facebook), and Vue (currently the most popular tool among the three on GitHub) have experienced considerable growth. These tools enable more efficient and faster front-end development.
Today, these tools offer possibilities for good SEO and allow you to design your site as a Progressive Web Application (PWA). It is worth noting that this approach to site design is strongly encouraged by Google.
More Efficient Maintenance
Decoupling implies the separation of application logic, making it easier to maintain a website. Two small applications will have fewer side effects than one large one.
Better Assured Scalability
Similarly, adding features becomes easier. Moreover, the independence of the front-end and back-end allows for more freedom in adding features, particularly by limiting side effects.
Furthermore, when you want to redesign your site with a new graphic charter, you can keep the back-end and only modify the front. This will notably prevent you from having to migrate your data.
Diversify the interfaces
Another considerable advantage is that the same back-end can power multiple interfaces. In other words, your application with your content can power your website, your mobile app, your intranet, etc. The back-end will centralize the content, which is then distributed on the appropriate platforms. The press has notably moved to decoupling for several years now with a multichannel approach.
How to achieve it?
The good news is that you can switch to decoupling right now. Indeed, you can use a CMS and its API (WordPress natively offers an API). An API? It is a feature that exposes data and allows its use by a third-party application, which is the back-end. This is notably how this site operates.
The next step is to redesign the front by developing a high-performance client application that meets current technological standards.