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The Business Case for Vanilla JavaScript

https://lewiscampbell.tech/blog/250430.html
6•LAC-Tech•10mo ago

Comments

copypaper•10mo 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•10mo ago
What benefits of a framework?

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

proc0•10mo 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•10mo 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•10mo 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•10mo 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•10mo 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.

Ask HN: How do you keep up with replies to your posts/comments?

2•alcazar•33s ago•0 comments

AgentBPF: eBPF-based observability for LLM agent trajectories

https://github.com/pandyamarut/AgentBPF
2•mwiki•1m ago•0 comments

Google says it will let UK publishers opt out of AI overviews

https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/19/google_opts_for_optout_on/
1•bundie•1m ago•0 comments

Ask HN: Is Google disabling accounts for using gws CLI with OpenClaw?

1•anandvc•2m ago•0 comments

Show HN: JobsByCulture – Find jobs where you'll enjoy working

https://jobsbyculture.com
1•saipradeep77•4m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Pocodex – Remote Control for Codex

https://github.com/davej/pocodex
1•davej•7m ago•0 comments

Cuba Is Going Dark

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/19/world/americas/cuba-blackout-electricity.html
2•saikatsg•7m ago•0 comments

Five more seated Gauls found in Dijon

https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/75639
1•speckx•7m ago•0 comments

Twin prime ramadan: crypto is borked

https://conferenceofthebirds.tiiny.site/
1•shaunxcode•9m ago•0 comments

Show HN: New hard science fiction novel

1•dufbugderopa•9m ago•1 comments

Not so diplomatic: Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump's march to war in Iran

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/witkoff-iran-war/
1•jamesgill•10m ago•1 comments

The ideological orientation of academic social science research 1960–2024

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11186-026-09690-2
1•bko•10m ago•1 comments

Video Effect Vibe – AI Motion Graphics in Seconds

https://videoeffectvibe.com
1•bruuuuuuuuh•11m ago•0 comments

Connecticut and the 1 Kilometer Effect

https://alearningaday.blog/2026/03/19/connecticut-and-the-1-kilometer-effect/
2•speckx•12m ago•0 comments

Restarting Fieldwide Shutdown for Middle East Oil and Gas Producers Is Not Easy

https://cyrusashayeri.substack.com/p/restarting-fieldwide-shutdown-for
2•toomuchtodo•12m ago•0 comments

Chrome endorsed READR organically in 16 days The algorithm made its verdict

https://wushu75.github.io/readr/
1•Ogbon•12m ago•0 comments

Ask HN: What do you think about Claude going down every day now?

1•scratchyone•14m ago•3 comments

Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified Android apps

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/google-details-new-24-hour-process-to-sideload-unverified...
2•MBCook•14m ago•0 comments

Why lab coats are white

https://www.asimov.press/p/lab-coat
1•bookofjoe•15m ago•0 comments

The fiery, deadly crashes involving the Tesla Cybertruck

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/18/tesla-cybertruck-crashes-battery-fires
4•fmihaila•15m ago•0 comments

US has "lost control of its own foreign policy", Oman says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/19/us-lost-control-of-its-own-foreign-policy-oman-fore...
28•prmph•15m ago•2 comments

A private space company has a new plan to bag an asteroid

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/03/a-private-space-company-has-a-radical-new-plan-to-bag-an-as...
1•cryptoz•17m ago•0 comments

Claude Drexler

https://claudedrexler.com/
1•mattdionis•18m ago•0 comments

San Francisco's DNA is mischief

https://www.fieldnotes.nautilus.quest/p/san-franciscos-dna-is-mischief
3•zackoverflow•22m ago•1 comments

How the first electric grid was built

https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-the-worlds-first-electric-grid-was-built/
2•deunamuno•22m ago•0 comments

Google announces Firebase Studio sunset and project migration

https://firebase.google.com/docs/studio/migrating-project
4•tmoertel•23m ago•0 comments

I Think a New Role Is Emerging in Tech

https://newsletter.thelongcommit.com/p/i-think-a-new-role-is-emerging-in
2•jcmartinezdev•24m ago•0 comments

Budgetbreeze – an AI centric personal finance tool

https://www.budgetbreeze.io/
1•boxstream•24m ago•1 comments

Imagined Unrealities

https://zuhayeer.com/writing/imagined-unrealities.html
1•zuhayeer•24m ago•0 comments

Why $4 gasoline is the tipping point for EVs

https://grist.org/energy/why-4-gasoline-is-the-tipping-point-for-evs/
1•speckx•24m ago•1 comments