Thread between @thekitze and @danabramov

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I’ve always enjoyed following Dan, he brings a dose of reality and empathy to a tech world often awash with exaggerated claims.

@thekitze

If we would start webdev from scratch and had to choose between:

  • CSS vs css-in-js
  • REST vs GraphQL
  • Templates vs JSX

No sane person would choose the first options

@dan_abramov

There are three things wrong with this tweet:

  • Calling people insane for technical choices is an asshole move
  • This paints React community as obnoxious know-it-alls
  • Tech on the right is both overkill for smaller sites (majority of the web) and still far from being “done”

@thekitze

Dan, this has nothing to do with React or frameworks.

What I'm trying to say is: just imagine if these weren't technical choices and we had to invent ways of styling, passing data & writing components.

I don't know if people are trying too hard to misunderstand the tweet.

@dan_abramov

It has to do with React because you are prominent in the React community. Whether you want it or not, people from other communities reading this will think “React developers agree with this person that I’m insane for liking e.g. CSS”.

@thekitze

Sane might have been a wrong word. Maybe "experienced".

Still, people are misunderstanding the "invent" part of the tweet. If we had to invent styling most experienced developers would choose tight coupling of styles to elements (otherwise Sass/Less/BEM/Modules wouldn't exist)

And then this — IMO an incredibly insightful, reasoned response in a technological discussion.

@dan_abramov

Again, you’re implying that the other side of the tradeoff only appeals to inexperienced people. This is super patronizing. Have you considered that maybe you lack the experience to appreciate simpler options that match the problem domain more closely?

I love that phrase: “Have you considered that maybe you lack the experience to appreciate simpler options that match the problem domain more closely?”

I love when someone conjoins just the right words in just the right order. Thanks Dan.