The Digital Press

Many modern web apps overuse JavaScript to generate HTML, causing slower load times and complexity, while simpler HTML-first approaches often work better. Using native HTML forms and server-rendered HTML responses can improve performance, accessibility, and maintainability.

Why it matters: Over-reliance on JavaScript complicates apps, making them slower, harder to debug, and less accessible.

The big picture: Shifting more rendering work to the backend can create faster, simpler, and more predictable apps by leveraging native HTML features.

The other side: Some developers prefer JSON APIs and client-side rendering for flexibility, offline support, and reusability across platforms.

Commenters say: Many appreciate the simplicity and nostalgia of server-rendered HTML but warn real-world needs often require richer client-side logic and JSON APIs.