On Whether I Prefer Vanilla JavaScript or Frameworks?

Today someone on twitter asked this question, and rather than be reply: 320 of 10,000, I chose to write a blog post about it. The TLDR answer is Vanilla JS because if you learn how it works without the help of a framework you understand the language. This doesn't mean that I don't have an interest in learning to take full advantage of frameworks.

As I listen to JavaScript Jabber one thing is clear. Whereas if we listen to courses and twitter discussions we are tricked into thinking that we should either use React or Angular we see, through JavaScript Jabber that frameworks are as diverse as they are flexible. One app will be excellent for one type of task and another will be awesome for something else. If you spend time learning Vanilla JavaScript, and then you learn about the diverse choice of frameworks then you can either write concise and effective code that does what you need with little to no bloat.

I don't want to just learn a framework and be inflexible. I want to learn how it works, behind the scenes. Before WordPress, I was learning about navigation using Server Side Includes and other such tricks. When I played with PhpBoards, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, wiki software, and more I managed to use them as a user, and they did want I wanted, but I never looked behind the curtains so I could use WordPress, but I couldn't create my own themes, etc, and to some degree, I still can't.

I have spent time trying to make it so that I can share my instagram archive on my website without using Instagram, and I managed with WordPress. Recently I tried using Vanilla Javascript and I found manipulating the DOM to be challenging. This is precisely why learning to code with Vanilla JS is so important. It shows you the complexities, and with time you learn how things work together.

One of the jokes is that if you get stuck you should RTFM and with frameworks that's often quite easy. With Vanilla JavaScript RTFM doesn't mean read just one manual. It means read about a variety of concepts until you understand enough to get it to work by yourself.

So far I can show a random post after each reload, or show the ten most recent posts and their caption. The next three challenges are:

Go through the posts at a time

Add crud capability using JavaScript. At first I will try with an empty json file, and then move on. CRUD requires understanding of the fs library (I need to double check the term)

Add the ability to transfer data from the json to an SQL or NoSQL database.

Experiment with Houdini and responsive design with a wall of pictures.

We'll see what else I can think of. The point of this is to take skills I learn in courses and apply them to a project without having someone else provide me with the list of necessary steps.

That's it for now.