Thoughts
Arguing from first principles, I believe the web paradigm that should win in the long run is "google docs"-style live saving everywhere.
That is, when you open a web form in a web app, the backend creates a "draft" entry in the database and as you type a letter it's persisted to the database. The advantage of this is that it allows you to use the same code flow for editing as for saving. Maybe the draft is discarded after the user closes the page and is not associated with their account; the point isn't to save the draft. The point is that the data is in the only primary data store as soon as possible. Webdev is hell because you have local-storage and the browser page and backend memory and the database, and I feel like a lot of errors arise due to de-sync between these. Additionally, a lot of errors arise due to complexity of re-implementing logic between the front-end and the backend. If you live-steam data to the backend, you can start processing it on the backend instantly and get feedback instantly.
Now, this is different from pure-backend rendering; what you get right now with something like Django or Rails out of the box. The difference is that the visual change needs to be made on the frontend first and then pushed to the server. I'm storing state on the server, but you still need a ton of JS to do the initial update on the client.
I don't know. What's up baby.
The reason this is only a Thought (and not an Idea) is because it doesn't exist yet. I don't think this framework that I'm imagining exists and I've certainly never used it. So I don't know how hard it would be to actually use. Anyways. Good night. Phoenix LiveView sounds close but I haven't used it.
Edit (May 24, 2024): LFSA