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Understanding Service Workers

Ah, yes! Service workers! They can make sites and apps work offline. They’re an integral part of progressive web apps (PWAs). They’re big boons for network performance. You’ll need service workers if you want to get at some of the nifty new web APIs like Web Notifications or Web Background Synchronization.

Yep: they enable a wide array of great features and are beginning to feel like a lynchpin of the modern web. Yet even folks who’ve cooked up a few service workers of their own can be hard-pressed to explain exactly what a service worker is.

In Chapter 5 of Smashing Book 6: New Frontiers In Web Design Lyza D. Gardner lays out exactly what service workers do, and how to use them.

She goes on to show you a selection of great recipes for use in your own service workers, and provides useful insight into the future of service workers.

Smashing Book 6

It’s about time to finally make sense of all the front-end and UX madness. Meet Smashing Book 6, with everything you need to know about web design. From design systems to accessible single-page apps, CSS Custom Properties, CSS Grid, Service Workers, performance patterns, AR/VR, conversational UIs and responsive art direction.

Start your subscription today and you'll get access to this book, plus 300+ other web design and development books in SitePoint Premium!

Until next time,
James at SitePoint