Chapter 9 of 10All chapters
Chapter 9 of 10
Tools and frameworks
When to add them, and when not to.
What frameworks buy
React, Vue and their relatives manage the relationship between state and the DOM, which is genuinely hard once an application is large. They cost bundle size, build steps and churn.
- A content site rarely needs one. An application with heavy interaction usually benefits.
- Learn the platform first, so you can tell what the framework is doing for you.
The build step
Bundlers combine and minify files, and transpilers convert modern syntax for older browsers. Both are worth it at scale and are pure overhead on a small static site.