Why Is Front-End Development So Unstable?

Sorry but I find font-end development pretty stable.

Having to learn a new library every 3-4 years (because of a new job, generally) is it really a big deal?

In my career I also had to learn Java, PHP, C#, Node.js, bash, batch, Python… Build apps with Spring, CakePHP, Symfony 1 & 2, ASP.NET MVC 3 & 4… Query database with Hibernate, Entity Framework, Linq SQL… Handle dependencies with Maven, Nugget… Store data in Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, Mongo, Redis, Redshift… Host on OVH, Digital Ocean, Heroku, AWS… Learn REST and GraphQL, SVN and Git, Linux and Windows Server, Vagrant and Docker… And according to HN, what's really hype right now is Rust, Go, FoundationDB, Kubernetes, and so on…

Any idea why back-end development is so unstable? :)

This is a great comment and an amazing insight. What's particularly interesting is that people have attempted to collapse (almost?) every stage of that abstraction hierarchy individually, but none of them have been so successful as to take over the world.

If you were writing a desktop application, you would still have at least three of the layers (serialized data on disk, in-memory data, and the rendering of the objects), but without the dramatic impedance mismatch that the web platform introduces everywhere.

I think the title is referring to the ecosystem and not the technology.

• How many frameworks for Java, Python, Bash, etc did you have to learn?

• Did you switch from Redis to X because the former was deprecated N months later?

• Are OVH, Heroku, AWS updates getting in the way of your development process?

Learning a technology by itself like Node.js is not a problem, the problem is that front-end development nowadays requires so many small and fragile tools just to build a web application compared to the number of tools that you would need in another language like C# where the most recognized libraries are several times more stable and change with much less frequency. Mentioning things like database engines, cloud platforms and version control tools is out of the scope of the discussion because they are encapsulated tools, and at least the ones that you mentioned (before you updated your comment) have a very low release rate, and to my opinion are very-very stable in comparison with the JavaScript ecosystem.

> Having to learn a new library every 3-4 years (usually when starting a new job) is it really a big deal?

Yes, it is.

> In my career I also had to learn …

Not for the same project and/or development cycle, but surprise me if I that's the case.

> And according to HN, what's really hype right now is Rust, Go, FoundationDB, Kubernetes, and so on

People stick to them and that's it, I don't know any serious company changing their tech stack every N months just because they are trendy on HN. Several years later they may switch to a new tech stack because the project requirements have changed but not because the author of one of the thousand libraries that you are importing decided to carelessly modify a feature that another dozen libraries use, consequently breaking not just your code but also many others. Or, in another scenario, your package manager doesn't betray you by destroying all your file system during a careless upgrade [1].

> Learn REST and GraphQL, SVN and Git, Linux and Windows Server, Vagrant and Docker

You are missing the point entirely… We are talking about how "unstable" front-end development is, not how many tools you have to learn. If I could learn 10-20 tools for front-end development and be certain that they will not drastically change in a year or so, or at least get deprecated, then — and only then — I would not have to worry so much about available updates via the main and (unfortunately) only package manager that the JavaScript community have.

[1] https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/19883

Similar boat. I’ve been presenting passion projects to user groups / unconferences for a decade. Now, I wasn’t aware at the time but around 2013 seems like the turning point. I was getting tingles then. I never wanted to be a celebrity but it seems my aptitude has sent the wrong signals to some. I refuse to tow company lines, but acknowledge funding of open work or course. Starting to explore other outlets for sohpistic endeavors eg. live streaming (shameless plug, building an open source platform, search: ispooge live). People subscribe and keep coming back and chatting too, didn’t expect that but it’s pretty cool. I feel it can lead to a good career in some way, involving good natural collaboration. Maybe even money ;).

That's been our experience as well.

I much prefer the more holistic approach to development that Vue.js provides over React.

And we did spend a year working with React, so it's not just something we did off the cuff.