Harish .’s Post

React vs. Backbone in 2025: did we actually get simpler? I rebuilt a tiny “password rules” UI twice—once in Backbone (2010 vibes) and once in React (2025 powerhouse). Surprise: both are ~the same length and do the exact same thing. Backbone/jQuery model: brutally honest. Event fires → handler runs → DOM updates. Verbose, but traceable—even for juniors. React model: looks clean… until it bites. - Flip keys from `id` → index? Remount + wiped state. - `useEffect` with a fresh object in deps? Loop city. - Stale closures? Handlers reading yesterday’s state. Cue `useMemo`/`useCallback`/identity Tetris. Powerful? Yes. Simple? Not always. My take: React nailed scale (concurrency, DX, ecosystem). But for the other 99%—forms, dashboards, CRUD—we traded explicit simplicity for abstraction complexity. What I want for “small apps”: - DOM-honest, event-first mental model - Reactive state without identity games - Easy to “view source” + hack in devtools - Batteries-included ergonomics without ceremony TL;DR: Event + state = UI. For massive apps, React’s magic is worth it. For small apps, we deserve something Backbone-hackable with React-level DX—minus the magic tax. 😄 What’s your go-to small-app stack in 2025—and why? (Real war stories welcome!) #frontend #reactjs #javascript #webdev #DX #simplicity #htmx #svelte #solidjs #preact

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore content categories