Don't Roll Your Own

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Native vs custom UI controls

  • Many argue against custom implementations of scrolling, link navigation, text selection, context menus, copy/paste, password fields, and date pickers; they usually degrade UX and break user expectations.
  • Browser-native date pickers are seen as bad on desktop (ugly, inconsistent, small), but quite good on mobile. Some claim most custom date pickers are better; others note that almost every custom one fails for some region, locale, or calendar system.
  • Some want “only native everything”: scrollbars, dialogs, pickers, etc. should be treated as browser/OS chrome, not website design elements, with the user in control of look and feel.

User freedom vs web app capabilities

  • Strong sentiment that pages should not see or override scrolling, navigation, selection, clipboard, or history; some want browsers to technically forbid this.
  • Counterpoint: complex web apps (e.g., maps, editors, Google Docs–style tools, SPAs with client-side routing) rely on these capabilities. Removing them would make many web apps impossible or much worse.
  • Underneath is a “documents vs apps” split: for documents like bills or reservations, users want stable, document-like behavior; for games and rich tools, custom interaction is accepted.

JavaScript, complexity, and the web platform

  • Some think “JavaScript in the browser was a mistake” and that complexity has exploded due to corporate investments, ads, tracking, and SPA overengineering.
  • Others argue JS also enabled great games, visualizations, and apps, and that the web as an app platform is hugely successful despite its messiness.
  • Disabling JS improves many sites, but breaks others (payments, some content).

Rolling your own vs using libraries

  • “Don’t roll your own crypto” is broadly endorsed; crypto libs are praised for low dependencies and audits.
  • For UI and app logic, opinions split:
    • One camp prefers small, custom components over heavy, churn-prone, dependency-laden libraries (with AI and npm supply-chain risk as extra motivation).
    • Another warns this produces many incomplete, buggy “mini-implementations” (OAuth, parsers, etc.) and accessibility regressions.

Accessibility and UX conventions

  • Custom controls, date pickers, and image viewers often ignore ARIA and assistive tech requirements, harming screen-reader users.
  • Some say: don’t roll your own standard controls unless you can beat the native ones by a large margin; otherwise you just force users to relearn for no gain.

Economics, extensions, and regulation

  • Some want laws or browser defaults to block scrolljacking, copy/selection hijacking, and hostile keyboard overrides.
  • Others oppose more regulation and prefer technical/user tools.
  • Extensions that “fix the web” (ad blockers, dark mode, anti-hijack tools) are seen as both necessary and frustrating; paying for them feels to some like paying to mitigate problems that shouldn’t exist, yet many still do so.