One of the arguments for building web front-ends using tools like React is the ability to provide a better user experience.
Nowadays, if you follow the advice of "tech influencers," it's a fool's errand to build a web application without a very rich client layer, a backend split into discrete chunks of code running asynchronously, and a host of third-party services that provide the essential missing bits that the developers you hired can't be bothered to implement because "it's sooooo complicated" and their time is better spent on building "amazing UX."
Topics such as complexity or cost have always been ignored even though the developers' payroll is often the biggest expense a startup might have: just a decade ago, two friends working in their spare time to build a web app was the cheapest way to build the stereotypical two-man startup, now you're expected to have four or five employees and a payroll rather close to $500.000/year.
If we truly want to call ourselves engineers, developers, or builders, we need to understand that it's our responsibility to not only build functioning and maintainable solutions, but also to help our clients choose the technical solutions that fulfill their needs within their budget and, in many cases, help them pick solutions or change specifications in order to spend only a fraction, but get very similar results.
Not every house needs hospital-grade plumbing, but a lot of people need affordable houses.
Nowadays, if you follow the advice of "tech influencers," it's a fool's errand to build a web application without a very rich client layer, a backend split into discrete chunks of code running asynchronously, and a host of third-party services that provide the essential missing bits that the developers you hired can't be bothered to implement because "it's sooooo complicated" and their time is better spent on building "amazing UX."
Topics such as complexity or cost have always been ignored even though the developers' payroll is often the biggest expense a startup might have: just a decade ago, two friends working in their spare time to build a web app was the cheapest way to build the stereotypical two-man startup, now you're expected to have four or five employees and a payroll rather close to $500.000/year.
If we truly want to call ourselves engineers, developers, or builders, we need to understand that it's our responsibility to not only build functioning and maintainable solutions, but also to help our clients choose the technical solutions that fulfill their needs within their budget and, in many cases, help them pick solutions or change specifications in order to spend only a fraction, but get very similar results.
Not every house needs hospital-grade plumbing, but a lot of people need affordable houses.