Rethinking the Complexity of Software Dev

These days, I've been pondering how modern business software development has gotten pretty crowded with all sorts of tools, frameworks, project managers, external libraries, you name it. It feels like it's time to streamline things a bit, you know?

Do We Truly Need to Hold Onto All Those Familiar Tools We’ve Been Relying On?

Back when web browsers were rapidly evolving, there wasn't a consistent set of standards, and universal features supported equally across all browsers were scarce. This gave rise to a variety of tools like bundlers, preprocessors, and task runners.

These tools essentially aimed to enhance the standard capabilities and streamline the process of ensuring compatibility across different browsers.

For instance, CSS preprocessors enabled the use of variables, the creation of reusable code blocks (mixins), style imports, and the handling of prefixes for older browsers.

Fast forward to today, and modern browsers natively support an array of impressive features. In essence, all browsers now operate on a shared engine, differing mainly in user interface design and additional functionalities.

The era of universally supported advanced technologies by browsers is upon us, signaling a sort of global standardization. It's pretty exciting!

Now, in the realm of web development, we can categorize it into two main branches: Single Page Application (SPA) development and commercial development.

The latter places a stronger focus on design solutions, followed by fundamental layout work and integration with any Content Management System (CMS).

Speaking specifically about commercial development (excluding application creation), CMS platforms come fully equipped with tools to optimize code, images, and other assets right out of the box or through plugins and add-ons.

Furthermore, most CMSs make use of jQuery, rendering extensive manual JavaScript coding unnecessary.

While it's possible to adapt complex starters for platforms such as WordPress, customizing the logic of the CMS's inherent functionalities, and even incorporating technologies like Vue.js, it's not necessarily a fruitful endeavor. It often feels like venturing into unfamiliar territory.

The primary focus when utilizing any CMS should be on harnessing its built-in documentation capabilities for seamless and painless development of commercial websites, while optimization should primarily occur within the CMS itself.

It's essential to recognize that after project migration, support for the Node.js environment is often discontinued, leaving behind a project laden with patches and overrides.

Prioritizing the native implementation of documentation features is the key to ensuring the project's longevity and smooth development process.