The Frameworks Paradox

Published on Apr 2, 2020 (updated Oct 3, 2023), filed under development, frameworks. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

This is one of 180 articles that you can also read in an ebook: On Web Development II.

The more complex a website, the bigger the need for a framework, the less effective an external framework.

This is not new, and not even a paradox because an internal—homemade—HTML/CSS framework is always an option. However, it’s an often missed fact that external frameworks, no matter their short-term advantages, come with many problems down the road.

You know best the needs for your projects, and from a certain complexity on, an external framework inevitably means lower quality at a higher cost compared to an internal framework.

At its core, the situation has not changed since 2015, when The Little Book of HTML/CSS Frameworks was released (cf. the updated German edition from 2019). Yet I wonder how much time we have until web developers don’t even write their own style sheets anymore—let alone frameworks.

Update (April 22, 2020)

As I’ve said elsewhere, the frameworks paradox is exactly why at Google we developed Go and Maia (the internal, not well-known HTML/CSS frameworks), why Twitter created Bootstrap, why Facebook developed React, &c. pp.

At a certain complexity you need your own solution—a solution tailored to your needs.

In an ironic twist (or, as this post wants, paradoxically), internal frameworks that were made available externally have blurred the understanding of what frameworks are, what they’re there for, and when they’re needed and not needed. This may not implicate you—but it definitely implicates our field.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).

I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)