SolidStart: The Shape of Frameworks to Come

SolidJS is a JavaScript library focused on fine-grain reactivity, allowing developers to create highly efficient UI updates without running extra code to determine changes.

Fine-grain reactivity in SolidJS uses signals to notify the framework of changes, enabling more efficient updates compared to coarse-grain reactivity, which requires running code to find where updates occur in the UI.

Solid Start is a meta-framework for SolidJS that provides a non-opinionated, flexible way to start building applications, allowing developers to choose their own components and configurations.

Meta-frameworks are important because they offer multiple rendering modes, improved developer experience, and faster production times by encompassing essential components like routing and server runtime.

Examples include Nuxt for Vue, Analog for Angular, and Next.js or Remix for React.

The router is often the most opinionated part of a meta-framework, serving as a core component that dictates how navigation and data fetching are handled within the application.

Server-side rendering involves generating web pages on the server rather than in the browser, which can improve load times and performance by offloading some processing tasks from the client to the server.

The 'useServer' directive in Solid Start allows certain functions to be executed on the server, facilitating efficient data fetching and processing while reducing client-side load.

Solid Start optimizes data fetching by using features like data preloading and caching, reducing network requests and improving application performance.

Single-flight mutation in Solid Start allows for efficient data updates by combining POST requests and data fetching into a single network request, minimizing delays and improving performance.