Web Development With Blazor: Introduction

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 





Preceding Blazor

In today's world, the approach to app development has evolved. Frameworks like Angular, React, Aurelia, and Vue have transformed the web experience from needing to refresh the entire page to only updating specific sections dynamically. This method of dynamic updates has made page loading faster, as the perceived loading time has been reduced (although the total page load time might not have changed). However, for many developers, adapting to this requires learning a completely new skill set, particularly transitioning from a server-side environment to a frontend built with JavaScript. On the backend, data objects are created in C# and then converted into JSON, which is transmitted through an API and subsequently reconstituted into JavaScript objects on the frontend.

In the past, JavaScript functioned differently across various browsers, a problem that jQuery aimed to address by providing a unified API that could be interpreted by web browsers. Nowadays, the variations among different web browsers are significantly reduced, which has made jQuery less relevant in many situations. JavaScript stands out from many other programming languages because it isn't strictly object-oriented or typed. In 2010, Anders Hejlsberg, who is recognized as the original creator of C#, Delphi, and Turbo Pascal, began developing TypeScript, an object-oriented language that can be compiled or transpiled into JavaScript. TypeScript can be utilized with frameworks like Angular, React, Aurelia, and Vue; however, ultimately, it is JavaScript that executes the code. In simple terms, to build interactive web applications in today’s environment using JavaScript or TypeScript, one has to alternate between languages and stay updated on various frameworks.

Now, we know JavaScript is no longer the only language that can run within a browser, thanks to WebAssembly.

Introducing WebAssembly

One way of running Blazor is by using WebAssembly.

WebAssembly is a compact binary instruction format that is generated through compilation. It is engineered for native performance, making it faster and more comparable to C++ than to JavaScript. In the case of JavaScript, the JS files (whether external or embedded) must be downloaded, parsed, optimized, and just-in-time compiled; however, many of those stages are unnecessary for WebAssembly.

WebAssembly employs a rigorous security framework that safeguards users against faulty or harmful code. It operates within a sandbox environment and cannot leave that environment unless it utilizes the correct APIs. If you intend to interact with anything outside of WebAssembly, such as modifying the Document Object Model (DOM) or retrieving a file from the internet, you must accomplish that through JavaScript interoperation.

Introducing .NET 5

To create Blazor applications, it is essential to utilize .NET 5. .NET Core represented a progression in the journey toward a more integrated .NET framework. It provided Microsoft the opportunity to rethink the entire .NET platform and reconstruct it from the ground up.

.NET 5 marks the beginning of our path towards consolidating into a single .NET framework. This unified toolchain ensures a consistent experience for creating, running, and more across various project types. .NET 5 remains modular in much the same way we are accustomed to, so we need not be concerned that combining all the different .NET versions will lead to an unwieldy .NET.

Introducing Blazor

Blazor is an open-source framework for building interactive Single-Page Applications (SPAs) with web UI. Although that may sound complicated, it essentially allows you to develop engaging SPA web apps using HTML, CSS, and C#, while offering comprehensive support for bindings, events, forms, validation, dependency injection, debugging, and much more.

The term Blazor is derived from merging the words Browser and Razor (the framework that integrates code with HTML). The addition of an L was simply to enhance the name's appeal, but it doesn't carry any significant meaning or represent an acronym. Blazor Server has several variations, including Blazor WebAssembly, WebWindow, and Mobile Bindings.

Conclusion

Basic introduction of Blazor is done accordingly. 



























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