Google Docs will now use canvas based rendering

Post by gentleman11 » Wed, May 12, 2021, 4:53 PM UTC

pwdisswordfish8 wrote: post #370

Ajedi32 wrote: post #213

I think this is actually one of the few cases where canvas-based rendering makes sense as a replacement for the DOM. Docs is a full-featured application which already has to re-implement a lot of DOM-like features in order to fulfill its primary function (things like text formatting and layout, spell checking, etc). Doing it all in canvas doesn't sound significantly more difficult than what they're already doing. The…

This is a great example of a comment written by a developer or some otherwise technical person who is so used to thinking and speaking in terms of trees that they can't see the forest, let alone the village it's situated next to and the people inhabiting it. Google Docs may be an app, but a big part of the app, and confirmed to be one of the reasons for the migration here, is the part that renders the document to the…

Post by tablespoon » Wed, May 12, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

burlesona wrote: post #321

pdkl95 wrote: post #99

Ever since WebAssembly was first introduced, I thought it was obvious[1][2] that the end game for those that want to control the web is sending opaque binary blobs of code that only use the browser for the canvas tag's framebuffer. Font rendering and layout can all easily be accomplished by embedding libraries like freetype. This breaks all forms of user control - like ad blockers - and turns the web back into cable…

Just for what it’s worth, “word processors” are a logical starting point specifically because the APIs for text manipulation in the DOM are abysmal, and every in-browser WYSIWYG text editor is a steaming pile of hacks. Some of them work well despite this, but, it’s a horrible set of code to maintain and very, very hard to make a good user experience. One of the very hardest things to do well in the browser, actually.…

Post by vkou » Wed, May 12, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

ctoth wrote: post #433

pwdisswordfish8 wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great example of a comment written by a developer or some otherwise technical person who is so used to thinking and speaking in terms of trees that they can't see the forest, let alone the village it's situated next to and the people inhabiting it. Google Docs may be an app, but a big part of the app, and confirmed to be one of the reasons for the migration here, is the part that renders the document to the…

Thank you for articulating this. For the last decade we have had frontend developers trying to force the web to be an app delivery platform. We have bent over backwards to accommodate this. We have turned browsers into a giant pile of hacks essentially emulating their own operating systems. And for what? As soon as they're able, they say oh, the browser is a giant bundle of hacks now, let's implement our own app deli…

Post by slver » Wed, May 12, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

agency wrote: post #448

vagrantJin wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dom isn't trash. Its good enough. We just need to stop making it do things it wasn't supposed to. That's why things like electron make sense a little bit. Not perfect but sensible.

Isn't Electron rendering to an embedded Chromium and therefore the DOM as well?

Post by 86J8oyZv » Wed, May 12, 2021, 4:56 PM UTC

pdkl95 wrote: post #99

Ever since WebAssembly was first introduced, I thought it was obvious[1][2] that the end game for those that want to control the web is sending opaque binary blobs of code that only use the browser for the canvas tag's framebuffer. Font rendering and layout can all easily be accomplished by embedding libraries like freetype. This breaks all forms of user control - like ad blockers - and turns the web back into cable…