Paul Krill
Editor at Large

HyperApp takes functional JavaScript to web apps

news
Mar 2, 20171 min

The lightweight library is for developing scalable browser-based apps, with user interfaces built from microcomponents

The HyperApp JavaScript library serves as mechanism for building web applications while using a functional programming paradigm and stateless components.

Accessible via NPM, open source Hyperact has no dependencies, author Jorge Bucaran said. It’s currently in a beta stage of development with version 0.6.0, although the API is not going to change.

Bucaran emphasized HyperApp’s accommodations for functional programming, which offers a mathlike paradigm that can make it easier to deal with changes as a program’s scope itself changes.

HyperApp also boasts a small memory footprint, providing size advantages over frameworks like Vue and Mithril, and offering speedy building, deleting, and element swapping.

With a design based on the Elm architecture pattern for web apps, the 1KB library enables development of scalable browser-based apps, with user interfaces built from microcomponents. These stateless components are framework-agnostic and reusable, and they’re easy to debug. Elm-like state management and a virtual DOM engine are featured as well. Third-party components can be integrated.

On the drawing board for HyperApp is server-side rendering. Prototypes for this already have been developed by members of the HyperApp community, but Bucaran would like to offer this out of the box. Router improvements also are anticipated.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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