asp.net core 2.0 dotvvm vs razor pages - which one is more powerful for an interactive web app?

Question

With the latest release of ASP.NET CORE version 2.0 we now have Razor Pages which I really like because it shows a MVVM way of developing which I am already familiar because I've used it in UWP.

I was searching to develop web apps without js because I am a .net developer and I came across this framework known as DOTVVM , it is great because it gives some features of js frameworks like Angular, React etc. and it also integrates very well with ASP.NET CORE 2.0

I want to discuss this between following 3 scenarios :

• I should use DOTVVM and not use JS at all.

• I should use Razor pages instead with asp.net core 2.0, because razor pages provide all functionality which dotvvm provides and it will have more community in future.

• I should learn a JS framework like Angular or React because neither razor pages, nor dotvvm is powerful enough to replace them.

The discussion can be from point of view of all developers, so I can get opinion of JS developers as well as those who have worked with dotvvm or Razor pages. The aim is to create completely interactive and responsive web app with good performance.

**Important : ** the web app created can be a progressive web app from the start or maybe turned into a pwa after creating it, depends on the technology I choose at the end.

I know for a progressive web app I will need to write a little JS, but that is alright considering that is very simple and little to write.

The reason of this question is so that we can discuss these options from multiple perspectives and deduce a better option at the end for my app.

Answer 1

It really depends on the type of the application you are trying to create. The fact is that you can build any application in any web technology. The difference is only in how difficult it would be.

Razor Pages are very easy to use and they are part of ASP.NET Core platform. They are using the MVVM pattern, but they are not helping with client interactivity. If you need to hide some form field based on some condition, you would need to do it in JavaScript.

I would use them for a simple company website, very simple admin sites with few pages and trivial forms, or for a public facing part of some eCommerce site. I would probably use also jQuery or other libraries to do the interactivity, animations and things like that.

DotVVM is an MVVM framework which helps especially with web applications with complicated UI: lots of complex forms with dozens of fields and interactivity (when you select an item in a combobox, another combobox will get new values, some fields will be pre-filled, a part of the form will disappear or change and so on). Modal dialogs, multi-step wizards, lots of grids with data, sorting, paging...

Because DotVVM handles many things for you and translates the data-bindings to JavaScript, you don't need to write the JS yourself. It doesn't mean that you should not learn it. It will help you a lot if you know it - you will be able to add even more interactivity, extend the framework when you need it and more. DotVVM lets you do quite a lot without knowing JS, but you will get much further if you know it.

Angular, React or other client-side frameworks are used widely today and many websites and applications are built in that. They are more universal than DotVVM, which aims primarily at the business app segment and requires .NET on the server (because it is not only the client-side library).

Using Angular or React requires the knowledge of JavaScript, and not only that. You will need to know Node.js and the related tooling, like npm. You will need to exchange data with the server, so you will need to build probably a REST API, use Swagger to generate the client-side proxy classes, and then you will probably need some other JS libraries with controls and things like that.

It is quite a lot of things to learn and if you are used to the comfort of Visual Studio, like the IntelliSense or the debugger, you will miss these features for sure.

And finally, you don't need to stick to one technology. You can combine Razor Pages with DotVVM for example. You can make the admin dashboard in DotVVM and the public part of the website in Razor Pages.

Answer 2

Microsoft is coming back to the WebForms approach to simplify the project structure trusting in the "Convention over configuration" mantra, while hiding the configuration from developer to make things faster. But it has the disavantage that everything will be mixed again. I doesn't look like a smart move for organizing. But... Hey! Something new must catch the attention of the dev towards Microsoft.

If your page uses an MVC Web API for the REStful, it's really more easy to just use Razor pages. If not, I would recommend you to use Core MVC.