Web Development Beginner

What is Progressive Enhancement?

A web design strategy that starts with basic functionality for all browsers and progressively adds advanced features for capable ones.

Progressive enhancement builds from a baseline of semantic HTML that works everywhere, adds CSS for visual presentation, then layers JavaScript for interactivity. This ensures content is accessible even if CSS or JavaScript fails to load. The approach contrasts with graceful degradation (building for modern browsers first, then patching for older ones). Examples include forms that work without JavaScript (standard submit), images with proper alt text, and server-side rendering with client-side enhancement. Progressive enhancement aligns with web accessibility, SEO (search engines primarily read HTML), and resilience. Feature detection (not browser detection) guides which enhancements to apply.

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SPA (Single Page Application)

A web application that loads a single HTML page and dynamically updates content without full page reloads.

REST (Representational State Transfer)

An architectural style for designing networked applications using standard HTTP methods and stateless communication.

MVC (Model-View-Controller)

An architectural pattern that separates an application into three components: data (Model), interface (View), and logic (Controller).

The latest HTTP version that uses QUIC instead of TCP, providing faster connections and better performance on unreliable networks.

Hypermedia As The Engine Of Application State — a REST constraint where API responses include links to related actions and resources.

An XML file that lists all important URLs on a website, helping search engines discover and crawl content efficiently.

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