image created by Margaux Peltat for the Chilled Cow YouTube channel
Time for #DEVDiscuss — right here on DEV 😎
Inspired by @quii's Top 7 post, tonight’s topic is...HTMX!
Unlike SPAs, HTMX doesn't throw away the architectural approach of REST; it augments the browser, improving its hypermedia capabilities and making it simpler to deliver a rich client experience without having to write much JavaScript if any at all.
Questions:
- Do you think HTMX is the future? Why or why not?
- Have you had a chance to implement HTMX yet? What did you think?
- If you haven't used HTMX...why not?
- Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?
Top comments (5)
I must have missed something, but why is HTMX coming up everywhere just now? Yes, I used it. It was like 2 or 3 years ago.
Is it the future? Nothing so far pointed to it, so unless something really changed recently, probably not.
Two years ago I tried to use it, but syntax is meh.
So I built uajax (this one even published on github) and js-ajax-button.
I don't think any of these is the future.
If you need a lot of js - use spa framework.
If you need sprinkle of js - write some functions or use uajax or similar.
I’ve used htmx for 2hobby projects
It’s best compared to Alpine.js and Stimulus.
Personally I don’t like overblown SPA sites . They have their place for some use-cases - but are overblown out of proportion, and often misused, creating unwieldy and unmaintanable software .
IMHO 95% of SPA apps would be better off as server-rendered apps with some sprinkle of js . HTMX helps bring interactivity in those cases .
It could be also a great companion tool together with Hyperscript to something like Elixir’s Liveview , making that bit of interactivity on the page that needs to be client based - easier and faster to implement .
I’ve used Htmx in a Rails app as well as Hanami app . Really liked it
Just a tool, there are many other tools…
htmx's ideas can be integrated into new versions of HTML.
Not a future of HTML.