No. Why the hell would I use Angular 1.x style directives in 2026? For the simple contact form and todo apps, why would I even use client side scripting? Go away.

This guy lives in extremes! His option 1 is pure HTML the only other option 2 is React! But it seems he never heard about VanillaJS to drive a button click.

Are there any server-side frameworks that look like HTMX in the browser but allow writing functional-style code for managing all that HTML mutating itself?

Maybe, I say maybe, native HTMX by default maybe the key for Gemini to become a viable alternative to the hell we are in.

I would recommend https://data-star.dev instead.

i tried it, its great if you want a jquery replacement, but if you are AT ALL used to react svelte etc you are going to be SORELY disappointed at how much ui manipulation and state management coordination you are going to need to reinvent from scratch. not worth it

If you are purist, try uajax and uajax button. Imo it will cover 90%+ projects.

I don't get why people don't just use vue... with no build step, just including it.

> Most teams don't fail because they picked the wrong framework. They fail because they picked too much framework. HTMX is a bet on simplicity, and simplicity tends to win over time.

I've built enough stuff in my time to know this is hyperbole at best and an outright lie at worst. I've never seen a team fail due to complexity. Team fails because the thing they built was wrong.

You should spend 99% of your time paranoid that the thing you're building is useful enough to justify its existence. Whatever tool you use along the way makes up the last 1%