Cassidy Williams and Michael Chan discuss the rise of web components, React frustrations, and share their hot takes on web development. They delve into the benefits and drawbacks of using web components, the evolution of React, and the popularity of Next.js. Cassidy's articulation and the frustration of job insecurity in the DX field are also highlighted.
Web components offer a native and framework-free way to build components in browsers, providing a slow and steady growth as they continue to improve.
Frustrations with React include lack of releases, limited communication, and navigating through outdated documentation, highlighting the need for improved communication and documentation.
Deep dives
Web components and their evolution in 2024
In January 2024, the W3C web components community group met to discuss the new standards and improvements for web components. Some of the key topics included declarative shadow DOM, CSS slot content detection, scoped element registries, and more. Web components are considered native components on the web, providing a way to build components in browsers without necessarily relying on frameworks. While their popularity has seen a resurgence, they are not expected to replace existing frameworks, but rather offer a slow and steady growth as they continue to improve.
Cassidy Williams' frustrations with React
In a viral blog post, Cassidy Williams expressed frustrations with React, including the lack of releases over a long period of time, the rise of frameworks and limited communication from the core team. She also highlighted the challenges of navigating through outdated documentation and the perception that there are two different versions of React: one for client-side and one for server-side rendering. Despite these frustrations, Cassidy still likes and uses React, but hopes for improved communication and documentation.
Notable trends in web development hosting
One emerging trend in web development is the return of teams owning their own hosting. Companies are opting for self-hosted or bare-metal solutions using free open-source tools like Ansible Tower and Salt Stack. This shift allows for reduced costs and greater control over infrastructure, with hosting becoming a team responsibility. This move back to owning infrastructure is seen as an appealing alternative in certain situations.
Signals as a mental model for data handling
Signals are not just an implementation detail, but a valuable mental model for data handling. Signals provide a different way to interact with code by eliminating the need for explicit rendering, updating, or subscribing. Their introduction challenges traditional coding patterns and offers a more efficient and effective approach to managing data. Signals are not just an integration detail, but a significant shift in how developers reason about and work with data in their projects.
In this month’s panel episode, we talk to Cassidy Williams, Michael Chan, and Atila Fassina about why web components are having a moment, mounting frustrations with React, and our guests’ hottest takes on web development.
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Special Guests: Atila Fassina, Cassidy Williams, and Michael Chan.
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