We’ve arrived at an industrialised process, one that’s like an assembly line for applications. Frameworks like React have become the machinery of that assembly line. They enable us to build efficiently, to build at scale, to build predictably. But they also constrain what we build.
But what aren’t we building? What new kinds of experiences, what new kinds of applications, what new kinds of interaction could we create if we were deeply exploring and engaging with the capabilities of the platform? I don’t know, because we’re not building them. We’re building what the frameworks enable us to build, what the assembly line can produce efficiently.
Collectively, as an industry and as a profession, consciously or not, we’ve chosen this maxima that we’re stuck on. We can build what React or Vue or Next or name your framework/library enables us to do.
I share John’s despair at this situation, but I don’t share his belief that large language models will save us.
Eric Meyer and Brian Kardell chat with Jay Hoffmann and Jeremy Keith about Shadow DOM’s backstory and long origins
I enjoyed this chat, and it wasn’t just about Shadow DOM; it was about the history of chasing the dream of encapsulation on the web.
Grrr… it turns out that browsers exhibit some very frustrating behaviour when it comes to the video element. Rob has the details…
When I set about writing this article, I intended it to be a strong argument for progressive rendering. But after digging into it, my feelings are less certain.
Framework monoculture is a psychology problem as much as a tech problem. When one approach becomes “how things are done,” we unconsciously defend it even when standards would give us a healthier, more interoperable ecosystem. Psychologists call this reflex System Justification.
The explains a lot about React-driven front-end development!
When a single toolset becomes the default, we don’t just prefer it, we build narratives that justify it. And that’s when a tool quietly becomes a gate or even a destructive force.
I’m not the only one who’s amazed by how much you can do with just a little CSS these days.
The line-up is now complete and you don’t want to miss this!
The sixth speaker is revealed—only two more to go!
Reminding myself just how much you can do with CSS these days.
Technically, websites can do just about anything that native apps can do. And yet the actual experience of using the web on mobile is worse than ever.
A redesign with modern CSS.