Using the platform
Elise Hein documents what it was like to build a website (or web app, if you prefer) the stackless way:
- use custom elements (for modular HTML without frameworks)
- use the in-browser package manager (for JavaScript packages without build tools)
- match pages with files (to avoid routing and simplify architecture)
- stick to standards (to avoid obsolescence and framework fatigue)
Her conclusions are similar to my own: ES6 modules mean you can kiss your bundler goodbye; web components are a mixed bag—it’s frustrating that Apple are refusing to allow native elements to be extended. Interestingly, Elise feels that a CSS preprocessor is still needed for her because she wants to be able to nest selectors …but even that’s on its way now!
Perhaps we might get to the stage where it isn’t an automatic default to assume you’ll need bundling, concatenation, transpiling, preprocessing, and all those other tasks that we’ve become dependent on build tools for.
I have a special disdain for beginner JavaScript tutorials that have you run
create-react-appas the first step, and this exercise has only strengthened my conviction that every beginner programmer should get to grips with HTML, CSS and vanilla JS before delving into frameworks. Features native to the web are what all frameworks share, and knowing the platform makes for a stronger foundation in the face of change.