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UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

unsuckjs.com

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Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#2
Looks great, love the list so thanks for putting it together.

In an ideal world your table would also have a first commit row that way I can better compare how well established each library is (GitHub stars mostly does this but date of first commit would help give sense of momentum too)

Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#6
This is a brilliant list, I'm a particular fan of HTMX and Alpine.js.

The move back towards small dependancy free JS libs, in combination with modern JS ES Modules, is absolutely brilliant.

I learnt web dev back in the late 90s by doing "view source", and was still learning about new things that way well over a decade later. If we can move back towards that, by not having a build step, it will be amazing for new devs starting out and learning new things.

Obviously larger apps, with many dependancies, will require all the incredible work thats gone into modern JS tooling, but for so many simpler (and not so simple) sites this process really does make sense.

Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#7
I can do the same thing via NextJS and output pure HTML and CSS without any JS at all. Or with server components, output only the minimal JS needed. Not sure why everyone wants to write a programming language inside HTML like lit does.

Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#8
I get these for when your stack contains python/go/ruby and your page is SSR. But more recently I've just come to enjoy the full blown Javascript Framework. I use Svelte exclusively, and the bundle sizes aren't too large thanks to the compiler. I can write TS which is way more comfortable than JS or even Python or Go IMO.

Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#9

I can do the same thing via NextJS and output pure HTML and CSS without any JS at all. Or with server components, output only the minimal JS needed. Not sure why everyone wants to write a programming language inside HTML like lit does.

The king of "use JS frameworks, output pure HTML" is Astro. (https://astro.build/) It's basically an SSG where you can use a number of frameworks to write your components, and shipping any JS is explicitly opt-in.

Re: UnsuckJS: Progressively enhance HTML with lightweight JavaScript libraries

#10

What's great about Mithril is that is squeezes a router in that tiny size. None of the others have that I imagine. If you do need a full blown single page app, Mithril takes care of it all.

Yes! I don't think Mithril gets enough attention. It's my go to JS framework when I need more than Vanilla JS but don't need something like React.
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