A rant about front-end development | Frank M. Taylor

Every now and then someone writes a really entertaining and/or interesting critique of the whole modern web ecosystem thing that we are stuck using. This is one of those posts. I don't agree with it 100% (I like scoping; I like native nesting in CSS), but I agree with it more often than not. It's neither deeply original nor deeply researched. But it is funny as hell and does a good job of cutting to the point.

Technology has made my anger a recursive function.

On why content should always be the point (but often isn't):

I have worked with exactly zero computer science graduates who have ever heard the phrase, “content before code”.

This is wild to me because HTML5 semantics exist and their whole-ass raison d’être is, in fact, having an understanding of content.

I have found NaN fucks given about using a p over a div.

On CSS:

CSS is fine; you’re the problem

Chances are, the things you don’t like about CSS are the things you haven’t bothered to understand about it.

On why doing all of the things in JavaScript often makes little sense when you step back and really think about it:

If making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by spreading the jelly on both sides of the bread is disturbing to you, *good*. You can still find God.

On why jQuery was just so darn great (even if its time has likely passed):

This is me trying to illustrate how jQuery solved many problems with simplicity and somehow we seem to have forgotten the value of just being simple.

On UX being more important than DX:

Assume the users’ interests are more important than your own.

On why complexity is never the answer:

When a problem presents itself, look for multiple solutions, and then choose the simplest one.

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