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Are we ready for javascript without a build step on the front end in 2023? (lemmy.fbmac.net)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/programming

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On the current typescript / anti-typescript internet drama I saw someone mention javascript without a build step.

Do you think we're already there?

Last time I attempted it:

there were too many libraries I couldn't import
JSX (using babel) had a warning saying you shouldn't do it in the browser for production
there was some advice against not using a bundler, because several requests for different .js files is slower and bigger than a bundled package

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I would disagree.

There's more to software than big corporate websites or massive FOSS projects. I've made tons of little one-html-file sites, like an inflation-adjusted income calculator, a scheduling app I've used every week for 4 years, a chemistry converter/calculator for a class I was in, even my resume site is just a single html file. Not only that but most of my published deno modules are nothing more than a main.js, a readme, and a gitignore (no package.json, no node_modules, no install step).

You don't need tests, and a linter, and babel, and tree shaking, and JSX, and typescript, and souce maps just to make a resume site, or an infographic, or a one-off internal dashboard, or a simple blog, or a restraunt menu. Modern ES http imports and modern JS tooling is enough.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

None of the tools are really made for the most trivial use cases though. Although it doesn't take much effort to set everything up in a simple project I would probably also skip most of it. But this discussion about tiny one off projects is kinda pointless as you don't have many of the problems to solve anyway.

I implemented a reddit frontend (kiosk mode) a while back using only vanilla JS for fun, because a previous implementation by someone else broke. There was not really a point though as it wasn't even simpler than using the proper tools. It was just for the hell of it, but nowhere close to a "real" project.