In the IE8 era, I had a brief stint as an architect on the IE team, trying to figure out a coherent strategy and a deployable set of technologies that would allow web developers to build offline-capable web applications. A few of those ideas turned into features, several turned into unimplemented patents, and a few went nowhere at all.
A decade later, it’s clear that ServiceWorker is going to be the core engine beneath all future top-tier web applications. ServiceWorker brings the power of Fiddler’s AutoResponder and FiddlerScript features to JavaScript code running directly within the user’s browser. Designed by real web developers for real web developers, it delivers upon scenarios that previously required native applications. And browser support is looking great:
As I started looking at ServiceWorker, I was concerned about its complexity but I was delighted to discover a straightforward, very approachable reference on designing a ServiceWorker-backed application: Going Offline by Jeremy Keith. The book is short (I’m busy), direct (“Here’s a problem, here’s how to solve it“), opinionated in the best way (landmine-avoiding “Do this“), and humorous without being confusing. As anyone who has received unsolicited (or solicited) feedback from me about their book knows, I’m an extremely picky reader, and I have no significant complaints on this one. Highly recommended.
Unfortunately, the book isn’t available at list price on Amazon, but buying directly from the publisher is straightforward. The EBook is $11.00 and the paperback+ebook bundle is $28.80+shipping.
-Eric
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