As of the first half of 2021, the number of mini programs on the entire network exceeded 7 million, of which WeChat mini programs are the mainstream in the industry, with more than 4.3 million, accounting for about 61.43%.

started with the first launch of mini programs in WeChat in 2017. After four years of development, major Internet giants have launched their own mini program application platforms, and mini programs have become the "new Internet technology standard" in the true sense. As of the first half of 2021, the number of mini programs on the entire network exceeded 7 million, of which WeChat mini programs are the mainstream in the industry, with more than 4.3 million, accounting for about 61.43%.

uses WeChat's bonus to convert existing WeChat mini programs into Apps in one click, and users are active and retained. In addition, social platform applications are used as traffic, enterprises can be said to be low-cost (just have a mini program) to cover the entire life cycle of users . The evolution of

technical standards: From

to mini-program technology

In the more than ten years since the evolution from Web 1.0 to 2.0, mobile apps have been the main battlefield for major software providers to compete for consumers' fragmented time. , a standardized and universal textual content encoding format, has been widely used and eventually became one of the cornerstones of the Internet. In the evolution of Web2.0 to 3.0, the expansion of software technology standards, the encoding and content format of mini-program technologies are generally based on , which is lighter, more open and vital.

From a standard perspective, the current mini-program technologies on the Internet almost all draw on the specifications of WeChat, a pioneer in this field. It can be said that WeChat mini-programs are the "fait accompliment" standard in this field. Therefore, W3C, the global standard maker of the Internet series, is also developing international standards through its Mini-Apps working group.

technology is progressing, standards are progressing, and independent stations built on standards are also progressing.

W3C: Mini Program Technical Standard White Paper

This article will take you to "travel" the following mini program standardization white paper drafted by W3C.

White Paper Link: https://www.w3.org/TR/mini-app-white-paper/

Part 1: Introduction

mainly introduces some conceptual content such as mini programs, the gap between mini programs and PWA, and some examples are explored.

1. What is a mini program? MiniApp is a new mobile application format, a hybrid solution that relies on web technologies (especially CSS and JavaScript) and integrates native application capabilities.

2, architecture of applets and PWAs: MiniApps is not intended to replace progressive web applications (PWAs), native applications, or web. Instead, each has its own advantages. As for applicable scenarios, developers can select technology according to the different scenarios after understanding the differences.

applet and PWA architecture

3. Example exploration: In our understanding, most applets are run in the App. But in this white paper, we will see that 4 of the 5 cases (AR zoo, in-car mini programs, Internet of Things mini programs, and TV mini programs) are all scenarios running on non-Apps. It can be seen that enterprises are also making active attempts to run mini programs across device side. It is understood that the mini program container technology has realized the ability to run mini programs in smart devices (especially on-board devices). Those who are interested can learn about it.

Part 2: Mini Program Overview

This part mainly introduces the core functions of mini program technology, including: view layer and logic layer separation, API and components, mini program constructor, mini program widgets, single instance multiple entries, performance and user experience, etc.

. Among them, it is recommended that you focus on the separation of view layer and logic layer, which is the core of the mini program technology.

Secondly, compared with front-end applications of , the reason why applets have the advantage in user experience is largely due to applets having a lot of native components and plug-in calling capabilities.

Part 3: Using network

introduces: application life cycle, performance and tuning, as well as graphics and media. If you are interested in mini-program technology, you must check the " application life cycle ". This section introduces the mini program: hybrid rendering, transition animation, standardized mini program package constructor, standardized navigation to mini program pages, mini program widgets, etc.

or above is the main part of the W3C applet technical standards white paper. Others such as preparation, security and privacy considerations, and global mini-program standardization, follow-up directions, etc. These are some of the extended development directions of some mini program technologies. If you need to have an in-depth understanding of mini program technologies and are interested in mini program research and development, you can consider it.