Htmx, Raku and Pico CSS

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

HTMX adoption and use cases

  • Several commenters use HTMX successfully for internal tools and dashboards (order monitoring, management UIs, etc.).
  • Reported benefits: less client-side JS, no separate SPA/API, faster iteration, simpler deployments, and smaller codebases.
  • Common pattern: start with full server-rendered pages, then progressively replace parts with HTMX-driven partials.

Comparison with SPAs and frontend frameworks

  • Many view HTMX as great for “simple to medium” apps, especially internal dashboards and CRUD workflows.
  • For highly interactive, optimistic, or complex UIs (popovers, modals, rich state), some still prefer React or similar SPA frameworks.
  • Others argue that React/Next.js overcomplicate rendering, state, and tooling compared to HTMX + server templates.
  • Disagreement over whether HTMX truly reduces code vs. just moving complexity into backend templates.

State management and architecture

  • One camp emphasizes HTMX’s benefit: most application state lives on the server; the browser merely represents it via URLs/HTML.
  • Counterpoint: many UX flows are easier with client-side state, and server-side state can be painful in modern backends.
  • Debate over keeping state URL-addressable vs. richer client interactions and offline behavior.

Alternative hypermedia / “HTML-over-the-wire” tools

  • Mentions of Unpoly, Twinspark, Alpine AJAX, HTMZ, and PHOOOS as related approaches.
  • Some find Unpoly’s update model requires fewer special endpoints than HTMX but note heavier responses and sparse tutorials.
  • HTMZ + Spectre.css touted as ultra-light alternative (tiny JS footprint) vs. HTMX’s ~45–48KB.

CSS and styling approaches

  • Pico CSS praised as a simple “classless” default; others mention Spectre.css and BeerCSS.
  • Classless frameworks can conflict with embedded components (e.g., Leaflet maps) due to global styles.
  • Tailwind sparks mixed reactions: seen as winning in React ecosystems, but some lament less “clean/semantic” HTML; others say semantics are unaffected.

Raku and backend stacks

  • Raku + Cro templates highlighted as a pleasant backend pairing with HTMX, similar in spirit to Go templates or Quarkus+Qute.
  • General theme: HTMX pairs well with languages that have strong templating systems.

Frontend fatigue and web history

  • Strong frustration with frontend churn; some developers retreat to backend or server-rendered approaches.
  • Others enjoy experimenting with modern FE stacks (Astro, Solid, etc.), accepting rapid obsolescence as part of the field.
  • Side discussion on early web history (JS vs CSS timing) and proper semantic HTML, including criticism of href="#" patterns with HTMX.