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The Business Case for Vanilla JavaScript

https://lewiscampbell.tech/blog/250430.html
6•LAC-Tech•11mo ago

Comments

copypaper•11mo 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•11mo ago
What benefits of a framework?

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

proc0•11mo 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•11mo 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•11mo 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•11mo 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•11mo 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.

StackTrove: Encrypted local registry for all your side projects

https://github.com/sennaBruno/stacktrove
1•essieli•2m ago•0 comments

Justin Sun Accuses Trump's WLFI Cryptocurrency of Hiding Wallet Freeze Function

https://beincrypto.com/justin-sun-slams-world-liberty-financials-blacklist-feature/
2•jrflowers•7m ago•0 comments

'The gravest crime against humanity': What does the UN vote on slavery mean?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rxqng5pyno
1•gpi•9m ago•0 comments

IBM AP-101 general-purpose computer [pdf]

https://gandalfddi.z19.web.core.windows.net/Shuttle/IBM%20AP-101S%20General%20Purpose%20Computer%...
1•__patchbit__•13m ago•0 comments

Your Harness, Your Memory

https://blog.langchain.com/your-harness-your-memory/
2•tanelpoder•16m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Tokemon – monitor token use with out refreshing 27 browser tabs

https://github.com/rvantonder/tokemon
1•rvttt•20m ago•0 comments

Overcoming Informational Risk

https://bencornia.com/blog/overcoming-informational-risk
1•bencornia•20m ago•0 comments

Best AI coding interview assistant in 2026

https://www.linkjob.ai/interview-questions/ai-coding-interview-assistant/
1•Silviaaa•24m ago•0 comments

Kindle users in uproar re: latest update, old devices now unusable: 'Fuck You '

https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/tech/kindle-to-cease-support-for-old-devices-causing-user-uproar/
1•1vuio0pswjnm7•24m ago•0 comments

Going Beyond World Models and VLAs

https://generalistai.com/blog/apr-07-2026-beyond-world-models
1•NeoInHacker•26m ago•1 comments

Show HN: Chipmunkify – I used ML to solve audio's dumbest problem

https://www.chipmunkify.com/
1•treelover•27m ago•1 comments

Artemis II: Christina Koch's PCD Failure

1•robgibbons•29m ago•1 comments

Show HN: React Modern Audio Player

https://github.com/slash9494/react-modern-audio-player
1•musgravite•38m ago•0 comments

Haunt, the 70s text adventure game, is now playable on a website

https://haunt.madebywindmill.com
12•jscalo•38m ago•0 comments

A Simple Lofi Player

https://github.com/talwat/lowfi
2•lwhsiao•38m ago•0 comments

Why Do Computers Stop and What Can Be Done About It? (1985) [pdf]

https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/Classes/739/Fall2018/Papers/gray85-easy.pdf
1•jruohonen•42m ago•0 comments

Tell HN: Claude-code prompt-cache workaround/fix

1•g4cg54g54•43m ago•0 comments

SFPD investigates apparent shooting near OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sam-altman-openai-gunfire-22202648.php
2•throwaway2027•47m ago•2 comments

Uses for Nested Promises

https://blog.jcoglan.com/2026/03/23/uses-for-nested-promises/
1•bkudria•51m ago•0 comments

HN: Distill-CBL, a single-file COBOL-to-WASM compiler in Rust

https://github.com/StealthEyeLLC/distill-cbl
1•stealtheyellc•57m ago•0 comments

AI Image Editor

https://jpgtomp4.com
1•yalvhe2009•59m ago•1 comments

BirdNET-Go – 24/7 realtime bird song analysis

https://github.com/tphakala/birdnet-go
1•darknavi•1h ago•1 comments

Show HN: Turn any YouTube video into something you can use

https://www.pandarecord.com/extension
1•misonic•1h ago•0 comments

Drawing Database – Blueprints for 3D modeling

https://drawingdatabase.com/
1•hyperific•1h ago•0 comments

Ecolibrium Directory

https://github.com/simonlpaige/ecolibrium
1•larrytheworm•1h ago•1 comments

PocketLLM – Run local LLMs from a USB stick (https://pocketllm-site.vercel.app/)

https://github.com/vraj00222/pocketllm
1•vrajpatel00•1h ago•0 comments

Apple's accidental moat: How the "AI Loser" may end up winning

https://adlrocha.substack.com/p/adlrocha-how-the-ai-loser-may-end
39•walterbell•1h ago•19 comments

2014: Black Holes and Supercomputing

https://www.goldengooseaward.org/01awardees/black-holes
1•mooreds•1h ago•0 comments

Tell HN: Reddit now demands to know why you won't use their app

8•josephcsible•1h ago•7 comments

The disappearing and unappreciated art of audible alerts [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXdVG45wveo
2•fortran77•1h ago•0 comments