The web is backward and forward compatible. Anything you learn about HTML, CSS and browser API’s will serve you well for the next 25 years, which is not something you can say about the current fashion in JavaScript libraries. By ejecting from the thrash of React and other heavy-handed frameworks and doubling down on web fundamentals, you’ll be future-proofing both your career and your codebases.
Fancy joining me in Pittsburgh in August next year to celebrate Brad’s birthday?
I suspect most people on opposing sides of the Tailwind debate actually complete agree on Tailwind itself. I don’t think we disagree on atomic CSS, or utility classes; I think our contention comes from the valuations we made long before we ever chose our tools. Where one of us sees a selling point, the other sees a flaw.
This is very much in line with what I’ve been talking about in my presentation on declarative design.
As Jeremy Keith put it so well: where it comes to styling, Builders want imperative programming; they want to specify what they want, where they want, how they want it. No surprises.
Crafters instead want declarative programming; they understand how to wield the power of creating rules of governance within a complex system, and wish to use that power, rather than micromanaging the browser.
I don’t think most people using React on a regular basis realize quite how much it’s fallen behind.
Following on from Josh’s earlier post where he said “React isn’t great at anything except being popular”, here are the details.
Every decision React’s made since its inception circa 2013 is another layer of tech debt—one that its newer contemporaries aren’t constrained by.
This is particularly damning:
No other modern frontend framework is as stubbornly incompatible with the platform as React is.
The good news:
React is a bit like a git branch that’s fallen well behind
main. You might not realize it, if React is the star your galaxy orbits around, but…well, frontend has moved on. The ecosystem has taken those ideas and run with them to make things that are even better.
To mark the start of the Dark Skies Festival today, here are some fantastic photographics taken not that far from Brighton.
Håkon wrote his doctoral thesis on CSS …which is kinda like Einstein writing a thesis on relativity. There’s some fascinating historical insight into the creation of the standards we use today.
Last time I was in Austin I met up with Trent who got very animated when as he described a childhood strapping shinguards to his arms and recreating the montage fighting/dancing scenes from the finest of 80s movies.
That explains where this website is coming from.
A peak at a near-future mundane dystopia from Joanne McNeil that reminds me of Brian’s spime story
Offcom are not representing my interests as a consumer. This is a disgraceful decision.
Okay, you have to be a real JavaScript/HTML geek to find this funny but check this out: document.write('<noscript>...'); Madness!
kottke.org is 10. Many happy returns, Jason.
You've seen isitchristmas.com, istwitterdown.com and dowebsitesneedtolookexactlythesameineverybrowser.com. Now Gareth Rushgrove has built isitbirthday.com. Subscribe to the RSS feed just in case you were wondering when my birthday is.
Happy birthday, microformats!
Happy tenth birthday, CSS.
What a great idea for a birthday celebration: a one-off screening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley. The signing up process is powered by Event Wax.