The Transparent Web

The Transparent Web

Bridging the Chasm in Web Development

About the Book

Web development has become complex. Rather than creating pages, we're now writing full-fledged web applications. But, the term web application is a bit of a misnomer. Most modern web applications are really several distinct web technologies flying in close formation. There are server-side and client-side applications which are loosely connected via AJAX. There are server-side and client-side layout, form-handling, and more. We have our hands full!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all go back to writing, well, applications rather archipelagos? The application would handle the split between client and server transparently!

In The Transparent Web, I aim to demonstrate that there is hope for a return to coherence in web application development. I will guide the reader through the development of an application several times, first in the form of an MVC-style application, then in each of the transparent-style frameworks (currently: Ur/Web and Opa).

About the Author

Christopher Wilson
Christopher Wilson

Chris Wilson is a web developer by trade and a science nerd by training. He has an unusually keen interest in functional programming and loves to take it out on others.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
    • Why Did I Write This?
    • The Transparent Web
  • MVC (Rails)
    • Overview
    • Crash course
    • The App
  • Meteor
    • Overview
    • Crash Course
    • The app
  • Opa
    • Crash course
    • The Bookstore
  • Appendix A: Reactive Code (Functional and Otherwise)
    • Spreadsheet-oriented programming
    • Functions of time
    • Interfaces
  • Appendix B: Secure Remote Password Protocol
    • Passwords: A Primer
    • SRP Explained
  • Bibliography

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.

You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!

So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earnedover $13 millionwriting, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub