FAQ

Why don't you have a separate front-end/back-end architecture?

Blacklight was written using Ruby on Rails. The typical Rails project has a server, which renders HTML views and delivers them to the users browser. However, Blacklight also has an API, which you could use to write your own front end, for example: https://github.com/projectblacklight/blacklight-vue-demo

We have found that the default Rails server side rendering offers many benefits over a two part architecture:

1. There are fewer dependencies and compile steps required for the end user. Blacklight makes it very easy to deliver a project that can be easily customized.
2. Cohesiveness. We never have to deal with the problems of having a cached front-end that is incompatible with the current API.
3. SEO. Blacklight offers easily crawlable and indexable pages without having to specially consider this use case.
4. Lower barrier to entry. Having to learn Rails means that you can work on the front or backend without having to learn separate technology stacks for both.