I am starting to wonder if the overhead of doing an API first design is that much more than integrating your domain model into the web app directly. The benefits of having an API backend really seem to shine in the scenario that Joel is describing.
Branch a version of the codebase for the older browser, remove all the support for old browsers from trunk and off you go.
I think the main decision that Joel has made is that they will not shoehorn new features into the older browsers and instead force them to upgrade if they want the new features. May not work for other web apps but seems to be a good compromise.
Branch a version of the codebase for the older browser, remove all the support for old browsers from trunk and off you go.
I think the main decision that Joel has made is that they will not shoehorn new features into the older browsers and instead force them to upgrade if they want the new features. May not work for other web apps but seems to be a good compromise.