The subject of this study is modern architectural approaches to the development of Single Page Applications (SPA), specifically a comparative analysis of classical client-side rendering (SPA), server-side rendering (Server-Side Rendering, SSR), and static site generation (Static Site Generation, SSG). The research focuses on key aspects that determine the choice of architecture for real projects: performance during content loading and rendering, as well as support for search engine optimization (SEO). As practical comparison objects, two widely used technologies were selected: Create React App, representing a pure SPA approach, and the framework Next.js, which implements SSR and SSG models. All examined frontend options are built on a unified backend – a REST API on Node.js, ensuring the correctness of the comparison under equal conditions. The methodology includes the practical implementation of three types of applications (SPA, SSR, SSG) on React/Next.js with a common REST API. Performance assessment was conducted using Google Lighthouse based on FCP, LCP, and Speed Index metrics. The analysis of SEO accessibility was performed through cURL requests simulating the behavior of search engine bots Googlebot and Yandexbot. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the comprehensive comparative experiment carried out, which quantitatively evaluates the trade-offs between three dominant architectural paradigms of web development using a unified codebase and identical API. A key conclusion is that classical SPA, despite its advantages in interactivity post-loading, falls short in critically important areas for successful applications – initial performance and SEO. This creates fundamental limitations for its use in public, content-oriented projects. The results of the study allow for the formalization of criteria for architecture selection: SSR and SSG become preferable for projects where quick initial loading and search promotion are paramount, while SPA may remain the choice for complex internal interfaces with high operational requirements. The work provides a clear practical justification for the transition from universal SPAs to hybrid or server-rendered solutions in modern frontend development.
Romanov et al. (Tue,) studied this question.