As mentioned earlier, when beginning a new application project, developers usually face questions about the proper methods for building its programming logic. Developers tend to use an approach that is comfortable to them, sometimes ignoring other good options that are available because of their ingrained habits.

When it comes to developing an application, is a heavy client-side system better than a heavy server-side implementation, or vice versa? The short answer is that both approaches provide different benefits that add to the performance, functionality, or development ease of an application.

Most containers that currently allow applications to be developed on their platforms offer a series of secure tags from which the developer can create quick visualizations of user social data without actually having to make any server calls. This provides an obvious boon to frontend development, as the container can take care of processing social data without actually requiring the user to grant the application permission to access her personal information. Secure tags are just one benefit available to developers who are building out a frontend system, but having the container manage the frontend processing of social data is usually the critical piece that allows developers to build highly social applications.

Exploring the alternate side of the fence, a server-side approach has obvious benefits for developers. First of all, server processing doesn’t have to account for browser quirks like JavaScript does. The server environment will be consistent no matter which browser the user views the application in, and will not be affected by a user’s browser settings, such as having custom JavaScript disabled. In addition, server processing allows the developer to cache data results and thus provide quicker responses to data requests from the application.

So when should we use a server-side approach versus a client-side implementation? Data processing is more efficient from the server side and offers caching mechanisms that speed up data requests. The client side, on the other hand, allows for custom tags and access to other container-specific social data by enabling the container to efficiently parse and display a user’s personal information without requiring the application to request access to it. The short answer is that a blended client/server environment is the most efficient and offers the largest opportunity for taking advantage of container-specific tools and utilities.