Is that a new way of saying "I just don't care about it"?
The idea of a single-page app is to make it feel like a desktop application, not to make it highly linkable
I've heard that before... from ASP.NET WebForms developers. Incidentally, I've seen quite a few ASP.NET WebForms applications that were literally a single page with changing panels and hidden controls. Needless to say, they were a bloody mess. Thing that normally could be achieved by linking required code changes. Integrations that could be performed via a simple HTTP post were done using complicated web services.
Links are the essence of the web platform. Calling something an "app" doesn't change that.
It's one way of saying it, I suppose, yes. We don't worry about linking to states in desktop apps so why would we care about linking to states in desktop-like javascript apps?
> Links are the essence of the web platform. Calling something an "app" doesn't change that.
I agree. But when you make a desktop-like app that lives on the web, then linking isn't as important. I take it your issue is with desktop-like apps on the web?
Linking is an easy example. Something that didn't require any "extra" effort now requires "correct" usage of some framework and extra effort. But there are many other things as well.
Take google docs. During any given session there could be thousands of different states the app is in at any one time, such as certain formatting options being selected, different popover or dropdown menus shown, or the content in the document itself changing. There'd be no point in providing a different URL for each one of those states.
For example, to save some kind of setup you often use as a bookmark. This is especially valuable in case there are multiple setups you often alternate between.
To make it more concrete, imagine a table with multiple columns you can sort by and a bunch of search filters at the top. Your users from accounting always sort by date. Your users from HR always filter by a particular status and last name. Your CEO wants to be able to see both views.
If the application supports proper URLs, all of this can be done via bookmarks with no extra coding. Moreover, if someone suddenly develops the need for a new weird workflow, they can service themselves simply by bookmarking the URL.
I think that's an unfounded (not to mention unfair) statement, unless you've actually attempted to do so and can provide some objective data points. Otherwise, it's nothing but opinion.
Aside from that, the app does look interesting; I'll have to check it out later.
It was my first AngularJS app, and I was learning it on the job, which is why it took that long. Overall, Angular is a joy to work with and its conventions force you to write clean, readable, decoupled code.