Transitional Apps: The SPA vs. MPA Debate Isn't Binary
Rich Harris serves up a 19-minute take on website architecture that's neither too hot nor too cold—just right for the ongoing SPA vs. MPA conversation. While the acronym MPA (Multi-Page App) has only recently entered common parlance, the tension between it and Single-Page Apps has been simmering for years.
Most developers, Harris suggests, hold appropriately nuanced views about which architecture fits their projects—but it's far more entertaining to pit hardline caricatures against each other and pull the best arguments from both sides. The real irony, though, is that choosing between SPA and MPA isn't an all-in wager anymore. You can have aspects of both on a single site.
Technologies like SvelteKit and Astro are pushing this hybrid "transitional app" model forward directly, with Next 12's server-rendered components also playing a part in the shift. Yet plenty of existing sites already live in this blended world by necessity—a hodgepodge of tech stack pieces smushed together over years of business needs.
Harris appreciates that some newfangled tools are genuinely worth adopting, while some old standbys have proven their staying power and remain just as useful today. It's a pragmatic middle ground in a debate that too often paints developers into absolutist corners.
