I am working on a new project in which we are currently deciding which technologies and frameworks we will be using. The application will eventually be cross platform. Therefore, for the server side, we will be using a REST api written in Java Spring.
We are now deciding on which technology we will be using for the front end web application.
The options are as following:
Using a front end javascript framework (we'd probably use ember js). Pages would be rendered purely in javascript, all REST requests would be sent from within Ember
Using a PHP server framework (Laravel). All REST calls would be made from within Laravel. Server side page rendering
My question: which approach is the best one? And why? If we would go for option 2 (using laravel to make the requests), wouldn't it be overkill to use Laravel as we would only be using it to generate views and make the calls to the REST api's? (all logic comes from the REST API) What bothers me in option 1 is that the rendering will be done client side, which will impact the initial loading time. The application will be widely used, also by users with low-end hardware.
Any input is welcome!If you have other suggestions or better options, please let me know!