Htmx: Access Modern Browser Features Directly From HTML
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
htmx.orgTechstory
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Front-End DevelopmentJavascriptHTML
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Front-End Development
Javascript
HTML
Htmx is a library that allows developers to access modern browser features directly from HTML, sparking discussion on its potential to simplify front-end development and reduce JavaScript reliance.
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Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
also, I find your headline misleading. htmx uses javascript, there's no accessing anything "directly from html". you could say that about any framework with directives, ie vue, but we all know better.
a framework using a neat piece of technology isn't really a boon for the framework -- the technology of streaming itself is great, sure, but you can do that with any stack.
If a part of the page needs to change, the server figures out what it should change to and sends that page fragment.
At least, that's my cursory understanding from reading https://hypermedia.systems
In a video game the "server" doesn't figure out what's changed (that's too much work) it just redraws the frame. So rather than the complexity of working out what has changed you can just send down the whole page again whenever something changes.
This gives you view = f(state) over the wire and has great DX. It's called immediate mode in games.
Here's a basic google sheets clone that does just that:
https://cells.andersmurphy.com/
HTMX Sucks mug: https://swag.htmx.org/products/htmx-sucks-mug
I really appreciated the library of examples; they cover a lot of common use cases. Between that and the docs I had no trouble figuring out how things worked.