AI solution for Interview Question on BFE.dev
154. How would you add offline support to your web app?
As a frontend developer, there are several ways to add offline support to your web app:
Progressive Web Apps (PWA): PWA is a way to build web apps that work seamlessly offline. PWAs use service workers to cache data and provide a native-like experience to the users. Service workers can intercept outgoing fetch requests and return cached data if available, improving the performance and reducing the dependency on network connectivity.
Local Storage: Local Storage can be used to store application data in the browser's cache, and the application can load data from the cache if the network connection is lost. Local Storage can store up to 5 MB of data, which can be used to store small amounts of data like user preferences, settings, and data that doesn't change frequently.
Application Cache: Application Cache is a deprecated technology used to store web app files like HTML, CSS, JS, and images in the user's browser cache. When the user visits the app, the cached files are used to load the app, even if there is no network connectivity.
IndexedDB: IndexedDB is an API used to store large amounts of structured data in the browser cache. IndexedDB can be useful for applications that require offline support, and can load data from the browser cache even when the network connection is lost.
When considering building offline support, it's important to understand the app-specific needs and choose the appropriate offline strategy. For example, an app that requires real-time data like stock prices, sports scores, or news updates may not be a good candidate for offline support. On the other hand, an e-commerce site that allows users to browse products may benefit from offline support to provide a better user experience.