The HTML-First Approach: Why Htmx and Lightweight Frameworks Are Revolutionizin
2 days ago
- #performance
- #web-development
- #htmx
- The HTML-first approach with frameworks like htmx is gaining popularity as an alternative to heavy JavaScript frameworks like React and Angular.
- JavaScript bloat is a significant issue, with modern applications loading excessive amounts of JavaScript, impacting performance and user experience.
- htmx is lightweight (~14 KB gzipped) compared to traditional frameworks, reducing complexity and improving load times.
- Server-side rendering (SSR) with HTML-first frameworks offers faster Time to Interactive (TTI) and Time to First Byte (TTFB) compared to SPAs.
- HTML-first frameworks eliminate the need for duplicate routing, validation, and state management, simplifying development.
- The HATEOAS pattern is naturally supported by HTML-first approaches, enhancing API discoverability and reducing client-side logic.
- Progressive enhancement with htmx allows for gradual improvements without full rewrites, benefiting SEO and accessibility.
- htmx is ideal for enterprise applications, dashboards, and forms where heavy client-side interactivity is unnecessary.
- Delphi developers can leverage htmx for robust backends without complex JavaScript toolchains.
- HTML-first is not suitable for highly interactive real-time applications, offline-first apps, or games, where SPAs remain preferable.
- The future may see a hybrid approach, combining server-rendered HTML with targeted client-side interactivity (Islands Architecture).
- htmx has seen rapid adoption, high developer satisfaction, and is backed by concrete performance benefits.