126: The 2025 Holiday Spectacular
Front-End Fire
Practical AI pitfalls and best uses
The hosts discuss AI hiding technical pain, maintainability concerns, and using AI for one-offs versus core code.
It’s that time of year again: the holidays are nearly upon us and 2026 is fast approaching, so it’s time for our year end holiday spectacular! This year our past predictions for the future of web development come back to haunt us, we make some bold new proclamations for what’s in store for 2026, and of course, share what’s made us happy this year.
Our past predictions were pretty hit or miss. Although a surge in popularity for simpler frontend frameworks like SolidJS and a whole slew of new web APIs didn’t appear (as Jack and Paige predicted), AI agents evolving to be capable of implementing whole new features and debugging bigger problems in code was spot on (point goes to TJ).
Predictions for 2026? With the continued popularity of AI for coding, TJ believes we’ll treat HTML more like assembly code. Paige predicts an uptick in Internet outages and supply chain attacks, and more scrutiny of if AI features are really as valuable as we’ve been led to believe. Jack feels this is the year SolidJS takes off, and “code mode” for AI agents is going to add even more value than the creation of MCP servers last year.
Just like last year, the things that made us happiest are pretty simple: maintaining consistent routines like exercising, reading books, and stepping away from the keyboard. And using the tools often used for work for fun, creative projects like a homemade fanfiction audiobook.
And as always, thank you, Front-end Fire listeners! We wouldn’t be here without you, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know many of you more over the past year. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and we’ll be back in 2026 with more frontend goodness.
Timestamps:
- 2:36 - Revisiting old predictions
- 18:01 - 2026 predictions
- 39:26 - What’s making us happy
2024 Predictions Revisited:
- Paige - New web APIs
- Jack - A return to simplicity in coding frameworks
- TJ - AI agents solving bigger coding problems
2026 Predictions:
- Paige - More tech attacks and less AI hype, more AI scrutiny
- Jack - SolidJS 2.0 and “code mode” is going to unlock even more AI agent functionality
- TJ - We start treating HTML like assembly code
What Makes Us Happy this Year:
- Paige - Consistent routines (as boring as that sounds): regular exercise, regularly practicing hobbies and reading books
- Jack - Descript and Claude for a homemade fanfic audiobook
- TJ - Reading books
Thanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
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