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The Descent — What Happened to the Frontend While You Weren't Watching

davidpoblador.com · 3,255 words · saved by 2 readers

The last time you wrote one it was a <button> and an FTP upload — spare twenty minutes and get up to speed on everything the web did while you looked away.

THE DESCENT · what happened to the frontend The last time you wrote a frontend, it looked like one of these — server-rendered · 2009 <?php foreach ($cart as $item): ?> <li> <?= $item->name ?> <button>Buy</button> </li> <?php endforeach; ?> or just hand-written <!-- styled by hand, no build --> <button class="buy">Buy</button> <style> .buy { padding: 4px 10px; border: 1px solid #999; } </style> either way: 0 build steps · 0 dependencies worked in every browser, forever Then you looked away. What the hell happened? Two decades, forty-four meters of build tools, and one very…

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