i absolutely hate how the modern web just fails to load if one has javascript turned off. i, as a user, should be able to switch off javascript and have the site work exactly as it does with javascript turned on. it’s not a hard concept, people.
but you ask candidates to explain “graceful degradation” and they’ll sit and look at you with a blank stare.
People do stuff in JavaScript that you really don’t need JavaScript for. You don’t need JS to display a store listing, for instance. Or a news page, or documentation, or even a search engine
Ok, I’m seeing this a lot and I get it, and despite my lack of expertise in the field I can sympathize with the sentiment. Perhaps those replies are answering more in the spirit of the post than the letter.
It’s just that the title asked if no one knew what this ‘graceful degradation’ concept was anymore and the text used the example specifically that the page should be exactly the same with or without JavaScript switched on which, without trying to be facetious, sounded kind of logically impossible.
I get you. I think you’re right - if you have a page which does make heavy use of JS, it can be difficult if not.impossible to replicate the same behaviour without it. HOWEVER: you can often get something close enough!
To go back to my shop example: yes, you can use JS to show a richer shopping experience, with pop-up windows, filtering, and the ability to add to cart without leaving the page. Graceful degradation would be to show the same listings, but without the more convenient features that use JS - so without popups, with filtering that refreshes the page, and a completely separate cart.
Some apps really can’t function without JS, because they are… well, apps.