alt Hacker NewsEverybody who is so upset about the proliferation of so many heavily abstracted, complicated JS frameworks should probably recognize for a moment that we have a horrible backwards compatibility problem with HTML, CSS, and JS. None were ever designed with the idea that they could support apps like freaking Netflix for Smart TVs or React Native apps for virtual reality.
If you want a truly standards first UI development stack, try Flutter. It critically changed how I view UI development: 1 canvas for any screen. Truly a beautiful thing.
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pieix • yesterday at 4:26 PM
Do you have any favorite Flutter projects I could click around? It’s an intriguing concept but I’ve been offput thus far by Google’s lack of adoption of its own framework.
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Flutter fundamentally misunderstands web standards and separation of concerns. It imposes a custom rendering engine and widget system on top of the web platform, creating another layer of abstraction rather than leveraging native browser capabilities.
The web already has a powerful "canvas for any screen" - it's called HTML and CSS. Modern features like container queries, CSS grid, and view transitions provide sophisticated responsive capabilities without fighting against web standards.
Flutter's approach is precisely what we need to move away from - trying to solve web development challenges by building on top of the platform rather than understanding its inherent strengths. True standards-first development means embracing HTML's semantic structure, CSS's systematic design capabilities, and JavaScript's proper role in progressive enhancement.
Creating better interfaces doesn't require new abstractions. It requires deeper understanding of web standards and systematic design principles.