Thursday, August 07, 2025

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Reinventing HTML: Fixing the Web’s Outdated DOM and CSS

A critical analysis of HTML, DOM, and CSS limitations with future directions

From Hacker News Original Article Hacker News Discussion

The article argues that the DOM, HTML, and CSS have become overly complex, bloated, and outdated for modern web applications, suggesting the need to rethink or replace these foundational web technologies with simpler, more robust systems. It highlights fundamental design flaws and stagnation in web standards while proposing new approaches like WebGPU-based layout engines.

Why it matters: The current web platform struggles with complexity and inefficiency, limiting UI innovation and performance in modern web apps.

The big picture: The web’s legacy architecture, inherited from document-centric models, clashes with today's dynamic, application-focused needs, causing stagnation and bloat.

Quick takeaway: Reinventing core browser APIs and layout models could enable simpler, more powerful, and multi-threaded web UIs beyond the DOM and CSS.

Commenters say: Many agree with DOM and CSS bloat critiques, call for a new, app-oriented web standard, and debate the balance between backward compatibility and innovation.