Book Overflow Carson Gross (Creator of HTMX) Reflects on Hypermedia Systems
Mar 4, 2025
Carson Gross, the creator of HTMX and author of Hypermedia Systems, dives into the journey of publishing his book and transforming setbacks into growth opportunities. He discusses the inspiration behind HTMX, emphasizing its role during the COVID lockdowns. The conversation also covers his new project, Fixi.js, and the evolution of hypermedia in web development. Gross reflects on the emotional investment in coding and debates the balance between clean code practices and practicality. Additionally, he shares fascinating book recommendations that span software engineering and literature.
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Book Deal Setback
- Manning Publications initially approached Carson to write a book about HTMX.
- After nine months of work, they cancelled the project, likely due to market size concerns.
JSON Dominance
- The current dominance of JSON APIs isn't necessarily because they're optimal.
- It's a mix of historical context, knock-on effects, and inherent strengths like human readability.
Worse is Better
- Lisp, despite being arguably superior to C in some aspects, lost out due to various factors.
- This illustrates how 'worse' technologies can sometimes prevail.
