I still develop using server-rendered like it's 2012. Since I'm pretty much an indie dev, I just don't think it's worth my time to initally start a project off REST API (i.e. using react) because it's literally 1 more layer to take care off. I.e. if a REST end-point name changes, then I'd have to modify both frontend and backend code. In addition to that, initially, getting a software specs is a much harder problem than to implement. Having to create REST endpoints for every single data that needs to be passed around is not nice when the structure and specs are still very likely to change.
Moreover, finding developer experienced in react is much harder and more expensive than those who do traditional HTML-CSS combo. Finding a freelancer to slice out PSD design into HTML-CSS is also much harder to go wrong. I wouldn't be comfortable outsourcing a react project to freelancer I barely know, but I'd do it for HTML-CSS.
I'm not against react or other SPA frameworks by any means. I think they're great technology that makes certain use cases convenient and can make a good user experience. That being said, there are also costs for those, and I just feel like there are so many websites out there that don't actually need to be implemented using SPA. Traditional server-side rendering would have saved them so much time, resources, and headache.
I personally would only rewrite a particular project into an SPA when there's a real need for it. For example, when the user base is large enough that a nice-to-have user experience becomes a big enough deal, if there are real needs for "reactiveness", or if mobile apps counterparts that would also require REST API is needed.
As a beginner, Rails seems much easier to get from zero to something. So much of the tutorials I’ve seen on react are about dependencies and environment setup. I know React has some big advantages but on smaller teams/projects it’s hard to see the benefit.
Moreover, finding developer experienced in react is much harder and more expensive than those who do traditional HTML-CSS combo. Finding a freelancer to slice out PSD design into HTML-CSS is also much harder to go wrong. I wouldn't be comfortable outsourcing a react project to freelancer I barely know, but I'd do it for HTML-CSS.
I'm not against react or other SPA frameworks by any means. I think they're great technology that makes certain use cases convenient and can make a good user experience. That being said, there are also costs for those, and I just feel like there are so many websites out there that don't actually need to be implemented using SPA. Traditional server-side rendering would have saved them so much time, resources, and headache.
I personally would only rewrite a particular project into an SPA when there's a real need for it. For example, when the user base is large enough that a nice-to-have user experience becomes a big enough deal, if there are real needs for "reactiveness", or if mobile apps counterparts that would also require REST API is needed.