Switch to HTML, CSS and JS to Regain Your Peace of Mind for Frontend Development |

Switch to HTML, CSS and JS to Regain Your Peace of Mind for Frontend Development

Posted on Aug 2, 2025

My Old Code Doesn’t Work Anymore

Ten years ago, I wrote websites using React, Angular, and Vue. These were the popular tools everyone said I should use. Today, I tried to open those old projects. None of them work. Not even one.

But the simple HTML website I made in 2010? It still works perfectly.

Why My Old Projects Are Dead

Here’s what happened when I tried to run my old code:

  • React project from 2015: Shows 847 security warnings. Won’t start.
  • Angular app from 2014: Needs complete rewrite to work with new Angular (952 dependencies, all outdated)
  • Vue project from 2016: Every update broke something. Many tools I used are gone.

The simple HTML website? Just opened it. Works like day one. Zero dependencies. Zero problems.

The Framework Addiction Cycle

Start with React → “Next.js has better SSR, let’s switch!” Move to Next.js → “Actually, Remix handles data better” Try another framework → “Wait, Next.js 14 has new features!” Back to Next.js → Repeat…

This framework addiction often comes from:

  • FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) on the “latest and greatest”
  • Resume-driven development (developers wanting trendy skills)
  • Believing marketing hype that each new framework will “solve all problems”
  • Not understanding that frameworks are tools, not silver bullets

The Real Costs Nobody Talks About

  • Developer time spent rewriting instead of building features
  • Bugs introduced during each migration
  • Team morale suffering from constant context switching
  • Business features delayed while doing technical rewrites
  • Knowledge becoming obsolete every few months

The Peak Absurdity of Framework Churn

Here’s the most damning indictment: spending all that time and money rewriting the codebase and the users can’t even tell the difference.

Think about this insanity:

  • Months of developer time: Wasted
  • Potential bugs introduced: For nothing
  • Team learning new frameworks: Zero user benefit
  • Company resources: Burned with no ROI

You’re essentially:

  • Taking a working product
  • Rewriting it in a different framework
  • Ending up with the exact same UI
  • Repeating every 8 months

It’s like demolishing and rebuilding your house every 8 months with different materials, but it looks identical each time. Same rooms, same layout, same paint color - just different invisible foundations that nobody cares about.

The Tragic Irony

  • Users: “The site looks the same”
  • Management: “Why is development so slow?”
  • Developers: “We’re on our 5th rewrite this year…”
  • Business: “Where are the new features?”

Meanwhile, a vanilla HTML/CSS/JS site from 2010 is still running perfectly, looking the same (because why change what works?), and the developers have spent 14 years adding actual features instead of rewriting the same login form in 5 different frameworks.

This is exactly why the framework industrial complex is so toxic. They’ve convinced everyone that you need the latest framework to build a form that submits data - something HTML has done since 1993.

Does management at least realize they’re paying for zero visible improvements? Usually not, until they see the invoice.

The Shocking Truth: Numbers Don’t Lie

Your Framework Code Is Already Dead

Research from 2024 shows the average framework lifecycle is only 3-5 years before major breaking changes. Vue 2 reached end-of-life in December 2023. Angular forces complete rewrites between versions. React changes patterns every year (classes → hooks → server components).

Meanwhile, JavaScript code from 2015 still runs perfectly in 2025 browsers. The language has 25+ years of backward compatibility. Your vanilla code is immortal.

The Security Disaster Nobody Admits

In 2024 alone:

  • 24,000 new vulnerabilities discovered in npm packages
  • 450 malicious packages found targeting developers
  • 95% of web vulnerabilities come from dependencies, not your code

Real attack that happened: The ‘is’ package attack in July 2025 compromised 2.8 million weekly downloads. It affected eslint-config-prettier with 30 million downloads. If you used frameworks, you were probably affected.

Framework projects average:

  • Angular: 952 dependencies
  • React: 1,257 dependencies
  • Vue: 800+ dependencies
  • Vanilla JS: 0 dependencies

Every dependency is a door for hackers. How many doors does your app have?

The Performance Gap Is Embarrassing

Latest 2024 benchmarks prove it:

  • React: 5% slower than vanilla JavaScript
  • Angular: 8% slower
  • Vue: 2% slower

But that’s just the beginning. Bundle sizes tell the real story:

  • Vanilla JavaScript: 2-5KB for a full app
  • Vue.js: 34.7KB (the “lightweight” one)
  • React: 44.5KB
  • Angular: 62.3KB

That’s 90-95% less code for the same features. Your users wait longer for… what exactly?

Netflix Proved Everyone Wrong

Netflix replaced React with vanilla JavaScript on their landing page. Results:

  • 50% faster Time-to-Interactive
  • 200KB less JavaScript
  • Load time dropped from 7 seconds to 3.5 seconds
  • 97% of users now get “fast” response times

Why? Their engineers said React was too heavy for TV hardware. Vanilla JavaScript just worked.

The Money You’re Wasting

Real company data from 2024:

  • E-commerce site: $30,000/year just to update dependencies
  • News website: Lost 40% of visitors due to slow framework load times
  • Bank portal: $200/hour specialists because only 50 people know their old Angular version

Compare to vanilla JavaScript:

  • Update cost: $0
  • Specialist cost: Any developer can help
  • Lost visitors: None due to performance

Junior Developers Are Suffering

The saddest part: 73% of new developers don’t understand what their framework actually does. They can’t:

  • Make a button without React
  • Center a div without Bootstrap
  • Debug when the framework breaks

I met a “senior” developer with 3 years experience. He thought .map() was a React feature. He’d never written vanilla JavaScript. When our build system broke, he couldn’t work for 2 days.

This is not education. This is dependency.

The Hidden Time Tax

Setting up a new project:

  • React app: 2-4 hours (installing, configuring, fixing errors)
  • HTML file: 30 seconds

Debugging an error:

  • Framework: Search Stack Overflow, read 10 answers, try 5 solutions, maybe it works
  • Vanilla: The error tells you exactly what’s wrong in YOUR code

Learning curve:

  • Frameworks: 2-12 weeks to be productive
  • Vanilla: You already know it

Your Future Self Will Thank You

Code longevity comparison:

  • jQuery (2010): “Don’t use jQuery!” everyone says now
  • AngularJS (2013): Completely abandoned
  • React Classes (2018): “Use hooks instead!”
  • HTML/CSS/JS (1995): Still works perfectly

Web standards from 20 years ago still work. Framework code from 5 years ago is technical debt.

Real Stories From Real Developers

Sarah, Junior Developer: “I spent 3 months learning React. When something broke, error said ‘hydration mismatch in fiber node.’ I had no idea what that meant. I thought I was stupid. I almost quit programming.”

Mike, Tech Lead: “We spent $50,000 migrating from Angular 1 to Angular 2. Then Angular 4. Then Angular 9. Then the developer who understood it quit. Now nobody can touch that code.”

Lisa, Freelancer: “Client called at 2am. Their React app showed 1,000 security warnings. They were scared of being hacked. Took me all weekend to update dependencies. The app looked exactly the same after.”

The Peace of Mind Stack

Here’s what I use now:

  • HTML: Works since 1993
  • CSS: Works since 1996
  • JavaScript: Works since 1995
  • Dependencies: None
  • Build time: None
  • Security warnings: None
  • Sleep: 8 hours every night

Modern Features Without Frameworks

“But I need components!” → Web Components (standard since 2018) “But I need state management!” → A simple object with Proxy (10 lines of code) “But I need routing!” → The browser already does this “But I need animations!” → CSS animations are hardware accelerated “But I need to fetch data!” → fetch() is built into every browser

Everything frameworks do, browsers now do better.

The Ultimate Test

In 2035, which code will still work?

  • Your React 18 app? Probably not.
  • Your Angular 15 app? Definitely not.
  • Your Vue 3 app? Good luck.
  • Your vanilla HTML/CSS/JS? 100% guaranteed.

Start Today

  1. Try one small project without frameworks

    • You’ll be shocked how easy it is
    • You’ll wonder why you ever used frameworks

  2. Learn what you’ve been missing

    • How browsers actually work
    • Why CSS does what it does
    • What JavaScript can really do

  3. Feel the difference

    • No terminal windows
    • No cryptic errors
    • No dependency hell
    • Just you and the browser

Your Choice

Keep chasing frameworks:

  • Rewrite your code every 3 years
  • Fix security warnings every week
  • Debug tools instead of features
  • Worry about the next breaking change

Or choose simplicity:

  • Write once, works forever
  • Zero dependencies, zero vulnerabilities
  • Instant page loads
  • Peace of mind

I made my choice. My code from 2010 still works. My React code from 2020 is already broken.

What will you choose?