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The Business Case for Vanilla JavaScript

https://lewiscampbell.tech/blog/250430.html
6•LAC-Tech•1y ago

Comments

copypaper•1y ago
I would personally never touch a frontend not written with a framework. Sounds like a terrible developer experience--especially with a team. But from reading your article, it sounds like your issue is with React itself. I would recommend you try Svelte, it sounds like what you're looking for. It's as close to vanilla js as you can get with all the benefits of a framework.
LAC-Tech•1y ago
What benefits of a framework?

I think that's why I wrote this - I almost completely fail to see them.

proc0•1y ago
I think React caved in to wider adoption pressure to introduce abstractions that are intuitive on the surface level but are costly in terms of large scale complexity.

> It's "declarative" right up until you're debugging stateful hooks, or resorting to useRef, or trying to reason about when a "component" re-renders

Maybe they should have modularized the core library more and have these things be separate, because the core idea of a uniflow pattern with reactivity is good.

I think what happened, at least in frontend, is that the industry pushed away from having engineers do any design or architecting on the frontend. All of these high level patterns have been "outsourced" to frameworks, and the result usually is something that has trouble scaling and adjusting to whatever domain it's in.

LAC-Tech•1y ago
Maybe they should have modularized the core library more and have these things be separate, because the core idea of a uniflow pattern with reactivity is good.

That's what SolidJS does. IE the signal implementation is completely stand alone. I feel like it's better at doing what react purports to do then react is.

* think what happened, at least in frontend, is that the industry pushed away from having engineers do any design or architecting on the frontend. All of these high level patterns have been "outsourced" to frameworks*

I don't think react patterns are particularly high level, or do they save you from architecture. Whether it's vanilla JS or react, you still have to design.

proc0•1y ago
Oh I haven't looked at Solidjs yet, interesting will take a look. And yeah you may still need to design your application, but having hooks be something that is out-of-the-box pushes you into certain patterns and needs to be actively ignored to avoid its design influence. I've worked in large codebases where they make almost everything into hooks, and they start getting ridiculous, breaking composability but at the same time giving the illusion that you are making your code more modular.
GianFabien•1y ago
I write web front-ends for industrial embedded systems. So my experience might differ from business WebApps.

In my experience it requires a longer learning curve for the various frameworks than to simply learn the relevant Web API. My learning is very much JIT and over time I have built up a robust class library that gets my stuff done. When I get stuck ChatGPT suggests fixes that sometimes work and spare me from losing more hair.

LAC-Tech•1y ago
My experience too - part of what I found is how much about how react worked I'd forgotten. But the browser itself was easier to pick up.

Inboxjot: Email for Builders and Their Agents

https://inboxjot.com/
1•arikchakma•1m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Just a Pause – Blur your Mac's screen when you turn away, using AirPods

https://justapause.com
1•adrianhqs•1m ago•0 comments

Dissolving the Fermi Paradox

https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.02404
1•jandrewrogers•3m ago•0 comments

The future of Software Engineering is boring

https://packagemain.tech/p/the-future-of-software-engineering
1•theanonymousone•5m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Kinesis API for Tests and CI

https://github.com/saidsef/aws-kinesis-local
1•saidsef•12m ago•0 comments

Simon Winchester, RIP

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/04/obituaries/simon-winchester-dead.html
1•paulpauper•14m ago•0 comments

What I've Been Reading

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/11/what-ive-been-reading-298.html
1•paulpauper•14m ago•0 comments

NASA Is Selecting Future Astronauts. Here’s How to Apply.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/07/science/nasa-recruiting-astronauts.html
1•reaperducer•17m ago•0 comments

"RAM Altman"= Linux script emailing Altman daily on how much RAM left on your PC

https://respawnfirst.com/linux-script-emails-sam-altman-unused-ram-ram-altman/
26•netfortius•17m ago•3 comments

Pixel city generation with a small model and LoRAs

https://marceloeduardo.com/pixel-lora-training.html
1•thiagovsdiniz•17m ago•1 comments

Dispatch 007: Three Black and Milds

https://www.metanoia-research.com/dispatch-007-three-black-and-milds/
1•metanoia_•18m ago•0 comments

AetherSkin – A diagnostic skin intelligence platform I'm building

https://aetherskin.app
1•krrled•21m ago•0 comments

A guy running Claude KYC business to bypass anthropics restrictions

https://twitter.com/_FORAB/status/2118978587265290558
1•firemelt•21m ago•0 comments

Condition-Vault

https://condition-vault.vercel.app/
1•rfai•22m ago•0 comments

Less coal, less oil: China's emissions fall sharply

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Less-coal-less-oil-China-s-emissions-fall-sharply-11514905.html
2•doener•22m ago•1 comments

Thinking Machines Lab $5B funding round at a $40B valuation

https://www.businessinsider.com/thinking-machines-lab-is-closing-5-billion-new-round-2026-11
1•bookofjoe•25m ago•0 comments

Play ASCII Doom in the Terminal

https://wndsoftware.com/doom
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Radical Computing Evolution [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWR7unDDJhA
1•xlmnxp•27m ago•0 comments

China's AI models, led by Kimi, dominate open-source enterprise spending

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373550/chinas-ai-models-led-kimi-dominate-open-sou...
2•yogthos•31m ago•0 comments

One of Classical Music's Biggest Stars Says AI Is Degrading Our Taste

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-max-richter-weekend-interview/
3•mancerayder•32m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Jabhook – Harnessing computer vision for martial arts training

https://jabhook.ai/
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Show HN: ModelRefs – Interactive reference hub for AI models

https://modelrefs.com/
1•ModelRefs•34m ago•0 comments

A Compendium of Abandoned Greenhouses

https://www.messynessychic.com/2015/01/15/a-compendium-of-abandoned-greenhouses/
2•ohjeez•35m ago•0 comments

Teach Students to Code in English

https://commitcapital.substack.com/p/teach-students-to-code-in-english
2•aaymeloglu•41m ago•0 comments

From mass psychology to media studies: Interview with Jaap van Ginneken

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1•jruohonen•43m ago•0 comments

Show HN: emcee – macOS Stage Manager alternative

https://fuzzyfoundry.com/emcee
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Project Xanadu

https://www.xanadu.net/
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Titol Submit Proba

https://prova.com
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Fridge Hack

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckq6ndq8l6v0o
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Top Astrophysicist Leaves U.S.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/07/science/space/holley-bockelmann-astrophysicist-space-trump.html
10•xqcgrek2•48m ago•3 comments