The internet is fun …and sometimes not fun
Ah, the interconnected network of networks. You know, it's gonna be big one day, they said. And boy were they right. It was so much fun, with endless possibilities.
Nowadays there are so many ways to create a website or web app. Just off the top of my head, there's React, NextJS, Svelte, PHP, HAML, Pugjs, Vue, Solid, Qwik, 11ty, etc. Oof, I can't forget the OG: HTML. haha.
With a new best framework coming out yearly and new best practices appearing at an even faster pace, it may feel overwhelming to figure out what to use. And, once you've mastered one, you find that it's "outdated".
I have a secret I want to tell you…
Nowadays there are so many ways to create a website or web app. Just off the top of my head, there's React, NextJS, Svelte, PHP, HAML, Pugjs, Vue, Solid, Qwik, 11ty, etc. Oof, I can't forget the OG: HTML. haha.
With a new best framework coming out yearly and new best practices appearing at an even faster pace, it may feel overwhelming to figure out what to use. And, once you've mastered one, you find that it's "outdated".
I have a secret I want to tell you…
Use what you know that works
Learning a new framework and way of doing things may be fun, but it comes at a cost. You may be worried about optimizing something that doesn't even matter, spending more time than necessary to learn this new way of doing things. Well, now you have multiple projects with different stacks. That only makes managing those even harder. What if you just got really good at a framework that worked and said "no" to the new shiny one? I bet you'd save a ton of wasted time and actually create something worthwhile: something you'd be proud about.
It doesn't have to be complex
For example, React has a very weird way of binding state to an input. And submitting that data is even weirder. Why is there so much overhead to just sync data with an input? It doesn't have to be complex.
What I see in modern web development is a shift towards bringing the dev experience back to a more native web experience, removing the approaches that we created to fix problems that we created, lol. There's a reason why PHP devs keep on doing what they're doing and are enjoying it, grabbing their bucket of popcorn and watching JS framework devs move frantically when the next big thing arrives.
Become good at something that works, and just ride it out. New and shiny often is more work and time than what it portrays to save.
What I see in modern web development is a shift towards bringing the dev experience back to a more native web experience, removing the approaches that we created to fix problems that we created, lol. There's a reason why PHP devs keep on doing what they're doing and are enjoying it, grabbing their bucket of popcorn and watching JS framework devs move frantically when the next big thing arrives.
Become good at something that works, and just ride it out. New and shiny often is more work and time than what it portrays to save.
The web was so much fun, and it will continue to be that way. If the web has not been fun for you lately, consider if you've run into the trap of framework bloat. Perhaps you've gotten into the unnecessarily complex side of the web. Remember the good 'ol days, and know that they are closer than you think :)
— from Cam Pak, someone who believes in the fun of web development