This is a proof of concept JavaScript project to try out The Stackless Way, an optimistic approach to client-side JavaScript development that proposes we “use the platform” (modern features built into the language) instead of build tools and frameworks.
As such, there is no build command to run or dependencies to install to view this project locally. Spin up a server in the src folder and point your (Custom Elements, ES6 modules, modern CSS capable) browser to localhost:3000.
python3 -m http.server 3000
In 2011, I bought Schematics: A Love Story, a collection of scientific diagrams paired with short pieces of poetry by Julian Hibbard. I don’t read much poetry and I’m sure some of the hidden narratives are lost on me. But it’s a beautiful book, and the figures always seemed like they would be fun to replicate as animated graphics.
This project combines my take on the motion design for Schematics with my curiosity about "stackless" web development.
I did my best to reproduce the vibe I got from Schematics (with kind feedback from the author). The diagrams are SVG created programmatically with JavaScript and animated with SMIL. I’ve enjoyed working with SVG in the past and wanted to learn about the more complex aspects of SMIL animation beyond what can be done in CSS.
Those familiar with JavaScript know it’s not a language that you dip in and out of. You’d never keep up! I recently came across The Stackless Way, an optimistic approach to client-side JavaScript development that proposes we “use the platform” (modern features built into the language) instead of frameworks and build tools that inevitably keep getting replaced by the next one.
As a software engineer who’s spent the last decade trying to navigate the ecosystem all over again each time a project came up, the idea resonated. Using Schematics as a proof of concept playground, going stackless has been a way of rediscovering exactly what I get for free in 2021, and what value I'm adding by bringing frameworks, transpilers and bundlers to the mix.
I captured the experience of working on a framework-free, zero-build codebase in this blog post.
In the spirit of The Stackless Way, I initially wanted to bite the bullet and, as with JS, only use vanilla CSS in this project. It was tedious, though manageable, until the first media query came along. At that point I gave up and added PostCSS because I cannot overstate the value of nested statements in responsive design.
Because CSS needs to be preprocessed, it's not technically a matter of spinning up a server and opening localhost (I've committed the built main.css file into the repo to make the point, though).
If you'd like to take a closer look at the codebase locally...
> npm install
> npm run dev
This processes CSS files when changed, and fires up a local server with livereload at port 4000.
Installing npm dependencies also means you can run the Jest tests (npm test), linters (npm run lint:js, npm run lint:css), and create minified builds (npm compress).