> (And if this is all an elaborate joke, then I'm an ass for falling for it ;) But that's not the sense I get.)
Actually I think it is a joke. Kind of. It's an elaborate argument for a philosophy (basically: eschew frameworks, use jQuery for DOM and events, manage your own MVP structure).
They go on to say "You don't need a framework" (repeatedly), and "Riot is a manifesto for vanilla JavaScript and jQuery".
I see it as a functioning demo to present an opinion about how apps should be written. Viewed like this, the whole "world's fastest framework" thing seems tongue-in-cheek. Their use of the familiar "Unveiling a new framework" device is a conceit to push a philosophy. It's allegorical.
I admit that starting off with silly benchmarks undermines the point a lot :)
Just to clarify... Obviously it's not a pure allegory; there is an actual JS library being offered here. But I think the author intends it more as a reference implementation of some boilerplate to get you started with his DIY philosophy. I do think he's taken it too far by directly benchmarking it against frameworks, which are conceptually different things. It's all a bit mixed up, and this has caused a hypey and flamey conversation. But get past all that, and it does make an interesting point – that you can (surprisingly easily) achieve several things that we normally associate with frameworks, without a framework.
Actually I think it is a joke. Kind of. It's an elaborate argument for a philosophy (basically: eschew frameworks, use jQuery for DOM and events, manage your own MVP structure).
They go on to say "You don't need a framework" (repeatedly), and "Riot is a manifesto for vanilla JavaScript and jQuery".
I see it as a functioning demo to present an opinion about how apps should be written. Viewed like this, the whole "world's fastest framework" thing seems tongue-in-cheek. Their use of the familiar "Unveiling a new framework" device is a conceit to push a philosophy. It's allegorical.
I admit that starting off with silly benchmarks undermines the point a lot :)