How do you do, fellow web developers? A growing disconnect

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Veteran programmers describe a growing gap between “old school” web development—rooted in HTML forms, HTTP as just one kind of API, and awareness of low-level concepts—and a newer generation that often starts directly with heavy frontend frameworks like React and SPA patterns. Many see real productivity gains and richer UX from abstractions, but worry that developers who never learn basics such as semantic HTML, the filesystem, or network fundamentals produce fragile, overcomplicated systems and struggle when tools misbehave. Others argue this evolution is inevitable and largely driven by economic incentives and user expectations, suggesting the real challenge is teaching fundamentals without rejecting modern tooling.

Perceived Disconnect Between Generations of Web Developers

  • Many older devs feel “out of sync” with newer devs’ mental models: e.g., “API” assumed to mean HTTP+JSON, “framework” and “API” assumed to be web-only.
  • Some see this as cyclical “kids these days” nostalgia; others argue the gap is deeper because modern environments hide fundamentals far more.
  • Several note that early experiences (C64, 286, dial‑up, telnet) naturally exposed the stack; today’s phones and high-level stacks don’t.

APIs, HTTP, and REST Terminology Drift

  • Older participants emphasize that APIs also mean in-process libraries, drivers, DLLs, etc., not just network endpoints.
  • Widespread misuse of “REST API” to mean “RPC over HTTP with JSON” is criticized; HATEOAS is rarely implemented.
  • HTTP is defended as ubiquitous, performant enough, and well tooled; critics say this misses non-network API design.

HTML, Forms, and Static Sites vs SPAs and Frameworks

  • Many report professional devs unable to build basic HTML forms or static pages without React; some teams consider a simple link a “day of work” due to component complexity.
  • Advocates argue lots of apps can be fast, accessible, and maintainable with HTML, CSS, minimal JS, and form submits; cite htmx, Turbo/Stimulus, static site generators.
  • Opponents warn static‑first can become a “one-way street” when product later demands SPA‑style assistants, animations, and persistent state.
  • Others counter with YAGNI: design for current requirements and accept refactoring later instead of preemptive complexity.
  • Debate over whether most SPAs actually deliver better UX, given load times, broken browser conventions, and fragile client state.

Hiring, Education, and Abstraction Levels

  • Market strongly rewards framework experience (React, etc.), so juniors rationally prioritize that over fundamentals like HTML semantics or filesystem basics.
  • Bootcamps and “video-first” learning are seen as producing productive developers who can ship features but often lack deeper understanding (DNS, paths, non-web CS concepts).
  • Some companies explicitly hire for framework‑free, HTML/CSS‑first skills, but this is portrayed as rare.

Performance, Resources, and Low-Level Knowledge

  • Older devs lament that many no longer think about memory usage, cache locality, or clock cycles; others reply that for much of web dev those concerns aren’t career‑relevant.
  • Embedded and constrained environments still demand low-level skills; some self‑taught devs study C and struct layout for personal growth.

Tooling, IDEs, and Developer Experience

  • Some dislike increasingly “busy” IDEs with inline hints, auto-pairing, and aggressive autocomplete, finding them disruptive to flow and muscle memory.
  • Others appreciate modern tooling and frameworks for making complex apps and testing easier, arguing there’s no conspiracy—just productivity and economics.