The Browser Is Becoming A Platform

For a long time, I thought of the browser as a program for reading websites. That description is becoming too small.

Modern web pages are beginning to behave more like applications. JavaScript is more capable. Browsers are improving. New HTML features are making video, graphics, local storage, and richer interfaces possible without depending on the same old collection of plugins. This change is interesting because the browser already exists on almost every computer.

A normal desktop application needs installation. It may work differently on different operating systems. A web application can often be opened with only an address. That is a powerful idea.

Of course, the browser still has limits. Performance is not always good enough. Different browsers sometimes support features in different ways. Debugging can become frustrating. Offline use is still a problem for many applications. But the direction is exciting.

I especially like the simplicity of sending someone a link instead of sending an installer. The program can be updated on the server and everyone sees the new version.

This also changes how I think about programming. The line between a website and an application is becoming less clear. Maybe in a few years we will use the browser for tasks that currently require separate programs.

I do not think desktop software will disappear. Some jobs need direct access to the computer and high performance.

Still, the browser is becoming something larger than a document viewer. It is becoming a platform.