frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

The Business Case for Vanilla JavaScript

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

Comments

copypaper•6mo 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•6mo ago
What benefits of a framework?

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

proc0•6mo 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•6mo 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•6mo 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•6mo 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•6mo 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.

Linux Patches Improve Intel Nested VM Memory Performance Up to ~2353x in Test

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Nested-VM-Faster-Memory
1•rbanffy•1m ago•0 comments

SC25: HACCing over 500 Petaflops on Frontier

https://chipsandcheese.com/p/sc25-haccing-over-500-petaflops-on
1•rbanffy•2m ago•0 comments

Safe haven to sanctions: how Jersey sheltered Roman

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/23/jersey-london-safe-haven-sanctions-roman-abramovich...
1•zeristor•5m ago•0 comments

Call Center Batik Air

1•Batikolangan•6m ago•7 comments

Ask HN: Vim, Emacs and the time spent configuring

1•not-so-darkstar•6m ago•0 comments

We're entering 'stage two of AI' where bottlenecks are physical constraints

https://fortune.com/2025/11/23/google-ai-data-centers-serving-capacity-contraints-gemini-google-c...
2•pretext•9m ago•0 comments

AI Ignites the Return of Bezos the Inventor

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-ignites-the-return-of-bezos-the-inventor-c42d0075
1•pretext•10m ago•0 comments

Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03714-0
1•bookofjoe•12m ago•1 comments

Shaders: How to draw high fidelity graphics with just x and y coordinates

https://www.makingsoftware.com/chapters/shaders
1•Garbage•13m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Sidemail – Email platform for SaaS (email API, newsletters, automation)

https://sidemail.io/
1•slonik•14m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Qeltrix:PoC for content-derived,parallel,streaming encryption container

1•hejhdiss•14m ago•0 comments

What Does the AGPL Require?

https://runxiyu.org/blog/agpl/
1•todsacerdoti•17m ago•0 comments

IKEA Mastered Furniture [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h8vAGCiRX0
1•vinhnx•18m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Page Cast – A single-file HTML host that hosts itself

https://gist.githack.com/Romelium/7513fc74536c3be15edf769cc416d10f/raw/4cebb56717ae4637de40403991...
1•Romelium•19m ago•0 comments

Titanic passenger's pocket watch sold for record £1.78M at auction

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/23/titanic-passenger-pocket-watch-sold-record-auction
1•stevekemp•21m ago•0 comments

Show HN: The AI homepage – A news homepage for AI related articles

https://www.theaihomepage.com/
1•maverick98•25m ago•0 comments

Game Theory Explains How Algorithms Can Drive Up Prices

https://www.wired.com/story/game-theory-explains-how-algorithms-can-drive-up-prices/
3•quapster•37m ago•0 comments

Microsoft says it will run Windows 11 File Explorer in background to load faster

https://www.windowslatest.com/2025/11/22/microsoft-says-it-will-always-run-windows-11-file-explor...
2•tosh•38m ago•1 comments

US Department of Transportation unveils first female-modeled crash test dummy

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/transportation-department-first-female-crash-dummy
1•binning•38m ago•0 comments

The Many – and Contradictory – Histories of Mt. Rushmore

https://lithub.com/on-the-many-and-contradictory-histories-of-mt-rushmore/
1•bryanrasmussen•38m ago•0 comments

The battle between science and postmodernism: from Boyle's air pump to Dawkins

https://susanpickard.substack.com/p/the-battle-between-science-and-postmodernism
1•binning•42m ago•0 comments

Like the New Yorker but Better

https://thelambsconduitreview.neocities.org
1•rishirulzeworld•44m ago•0 comments

South Africa declares gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/22/south-africa-g20-protests-gender-based-violence-n...
2•binning•44m ago•0 comments

Show HN: I made it fast and easy to launch your own RAG-powered AI chatbots

https://www.chatrag.ai
1•carlos_marcial•45m ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Why GenAI is immoral but vibe coding is ok?

1•jb_briant•50m ago•4 comments

Russia's drone revolution heaps pressure on Ukrainian defenses

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/22/europe/russia-rubicon-unit-drone-revolution-ukraine-intl-cmd
2•rguiscard•51m ago•0 comments

Should you dry someone else's abandoned laundry?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/21/magazine/wet-laundry-hodgman-quiz.html
1•bookofjoe•54m ago•1 comments

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri Disqualified from Las Vegas Grand Prix

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-and-piastri-disqualified-from-las-vegas-gp-as-m...
1•tosh•55m ago•0 comments

Show HN: A little browser game I made after seeing a viral dance video

https://immersivewarmup.com/
1•davidyu37•56m ago•0 comments

Alcove: An RSS Reader for the Open Web

https://bearblog.stevedylan.dev/alcove-an-rss-reader-for-the-open-web/
2•stevedsimkins•58m ago•0 comments