This content originally appeared on dbushell.com and was authored by dbushell.com
This is a public service announcement because the JavaScript world has lost its collective mind! Frameworks are everywhere. Where did the libraries go?
Background
Skip below for the main course if you don’t care but I’m building a CRUD-heavy web app for my personal finances. Yes I know I’ll regret it but I have no choice.
I’ve been using FreeAgent for my entire self-employed career. I wasn’t happy with their price hike. I emailed FreeAgent saying that in 10 years the only change I’ve seen was their web font. I expected them to beg me to stay. Instead they gave me the “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” and linked their extensive timeline as a mic drop.
So I can renew my FreeAgent subscription or I can save face by building my own thing. I’m making the obvious (and wrong) choice. For that I need code libraries because CRUD is boring. Problem is, everything is a framework nowadays!
Anyway, Libraries
What’s wrong with frameworks? Why are libraries better? What’s the difference? Let’s compare!
A good library has many of the following characteristics:
- Libraries provide a collection of useful functions
- Libraries reduce duplicate code and boilerplate
- Libraries are dropped in where needed
- Libraries are single dependency
- Libraries are feature complete
- Libraries only need bug fix updates
- Libraries have help and support across the web
- Libraries are named after what they do
- Libraries are interchangeable
- Libraries are a means to an end
Libraries are our friends! The JavaScript world needs more libraries.
Frameworks
The core tenets of a JavaScript framework are not friendly:
- Frameworks replace code with domain-specific config
- Frameworks require major architectural decisions
- Frameworks teach non-transferable knowledge
- Frameworks update with breaking changes
- Frameworks have a roadmap into the next decade
- Frameworks come with multiple 1st-party packages
- Frameworks install hundreds of 3rd-party dependencies
- Frameworks support is lost behind Discord walled gardens
- Frameworks names are trademarked with a terms of use
- Frameworks encourage “community” participation
- Frameworks have a fan club full of apologists
- Frameworks sell poorly printed T-shirts
- Frameworks host Kool-Aid conferences
- Frameworks have venture capital
- Frameworks persist well beyond obsoletion
Frameworks are lame. I’m just looking for a few libraries to build a website. Why does everything have to be a lifestyle choice?
Some frameworks do need to be a framework (not yours). I might choose one if my website or app is sufficiently complicated. Two at the very most if my back-end service is decoupled. But when everything is a framework that should have been a library, everything fights for attention.
Every time I have to run a CLI tool to initialise a framework I cry a little inside. My codebase is 100 megabytes and I’ve yet to write a single line of code. My project’s root directory is littered with JSON, YML, and dot files.
I just wanted a little help building an API I didn’t ask for your baggage 😭
Framework-mania is a plague that needs quashing.
Do your part and write a library.
This content originally appeared on dbushell.com and was authored by dbushell.com
dbushell.com | Sciencx (2025-02-06T10:00:00+00:00) Framework-mania is running wild!. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/02/06/framework-mania-is-running-wild/
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