The Nuejs Kid on the Block

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Stories of the Week

The Nuejs Kid on the Block

The JavaScript ecosystem can be like the weather. If you don't like your current framework, just wait a minute and there will be a new framework to try.

This past week saw a bunch of discussion around Nuejs, a new framework that's kind of like if Htmx and Vue had a baby. It combines the ease of use and reactivity of Vue with the HTML-first development model of Htmx. As is de rigueur for a new framework, Nuejs promised not just a simpler approach but also a much smaller and faster library compared to {insert your favorite framework}.

Knives quickly came out against some of the triggering statements, including being anti-Typescript and anti-Tailwind. Until Ryan Carniato publishes an analysis, the best level-headed take on Nuejs was from Ben Holmes. Meanwhile, a vibrant discussion broke out on Hacker News, with users pointing out how it repeats past design mistakes other frameworks have learned and moved on from.

It's worth remembering of course that the biggest framework at the moment, React, met a hostile reception when it was first launched and questioned the existing best practices at the time. But technical issues aside, the biggest challenge any new framework faces is simply getting attention amongst all the noise. In that sense, maybe the controversy is actually marketing strategy.

Quick Links

ViteConf (Oct 5-6, Virtual) — The virtual conference for the Vite ecosystem is happening this week and boasts an impressive lineup of speakers.
State of HTML Survey — Now is your chance to contribute to the cousin of the successful State of JS and State of CSS surveys.
Web Push is almost usable with iOS 17 — One of the web development highlights of iOS 17 is the support for Web Push. Unfortunately, the author describes the challenges of getting a workable implementation.