Ask HN: What's the current thinking on doing plain JavaScript development?

[andrewstuart]

Is there a current approach to front end development that is pure JavaScript - with absolutely no use of a compiler, no use of webpack or other code processors, and no use of other JavaScript build tools?

I'm wanting to know if there's anyone/any group that is doing modern, plain JavaScript with zero of the complexity introduced by the modern build systems.

[oldboyFX]

In the past several years I haven't seen a non-trivial app built without some kind of a build system, but I'm sure there are folks who don't use them.

Why are you asking? Learning how to use webpack (for example) can be difficult depending on your background, but once you set everything up it's pretty solid. Plus you could use boilerplates like create-react-app if you're not willing to invest too much time into figuring it out.

[andrewstuart → oldboyFX]

>> Why are you asking?

I'm trying to decrease cognitive load in development.

Every single thing I need to learn takes time and introduces complexity.

I try to the greatest extent possible to program the underlying technology. This does not mean I don't use frameworks/libraries - I use lots of them - but I always try to decide if I'm better to learn the underlying tech than the framework/library - if the library is a better way to go then I use it. I'm just very pragmatic about whether or not I need to use that framework/library cause I cannot afford to expend time on learning new stuff if I can afford to.

Full stack development means building everything from the OS to the cloud to the database, the back end web server and front end. I already pay a huge cognitive price to know all that and task switching between parts of such systems incurs further brain cost.

I already know ReactJS very well but I'm just thinking maybe I can reduce the cognitive load further by not using it.

[CloudBuddy → andrewstuart]

All of the JavaScript written for https://cloudbuddy.cloud/ is raw and developed from scratch (zero frameworks / libraries / dependencies). It was my belief at the time that maintenance costs would be zero or extremely minimal over time since there was basically no dependency on anything external. Since inception (over 2 years), the benefits have held true. The disadvantage of course is that it took longer to finish the service and offer it.

So, I'm an old timer. I've been doing software development professionally for 25 years. For me, new development is stimulating; maintenance - not so much.

Andrew, here is what I would suggest - create and finish a small project and code it in ReactJS. Then code the same one using only raw javascript. With the experience, you'll have your answer whether the cognitive load is worth it.

[huhnmonster → andrewstuart]

> Full stack development means building everything from the OS to the cloud to the database, the back end web server and front end.

Well, I hope you are not building a full RDBMS everytime you get a new project though.

[stockkid]

I understand why you are curious, because I too often feel encumbered by the complexity of frontend development. I came to conclusion that I can't do much about fighting off the tooling since I have already bought into those. But I can reduce complexity in other ways like reducing dependencies and instead building simple things in-house.