Caveats

While SSR offers significant advantages, it also introduces some challenges:

Dual Environment Execution

Your application will run in two different environments:

• Browser: The familiar client-side environment with access to the DOM, window, and document.

• Node.js: A server-side environment without native DOM APIs.

To handle these differences, Aurelia uses a Platform Abstraction Layer (PAL) that abstracts platform-specific logic. It's crucial to utilize these abstractions to ensure compatibility across both environments.

Limited Global Objects

In the server environment:

• There is no real DOM, window, or document globals.

• Libraries that depend on these globals (e.g., jQuery) will not function correctly.

Aurelia uses jsdom to emulate the DOM on the server. To maintain compatibility, ensure that all DOM manipulations go through the PAL.

Development Effort

Creating an application compatible with both client and server rendering requires additional effort:

• Isomorphic Code: Writing code that runs in both environments.

• Testing: Ensuring that features work seamlessly on both the client and server.

Only adopt SSR if you're prepared to invest the necessary time and resources.

Resource Consumption

SSR increases server load because the server handles rendering tasks:

• CPU and Memory: More CPU cycles and memory are required to render pages on the server.

• Scalability: Ensure your server infrastructure can handle the increased load, especially under high traffic.