Why I Still Start Projects Without a Framework

There’s clarity in starting small and vanilla.

A framework can be an excellent foundation, but it should not be the reflexive first line of every project. Starting with the browser helps reveal what the product actually needs before the dependencies begin making decisions on its behalf.

Starting without a framework keeps the first decisions visible. Sometimes the project grows into needing more structure; sometimes it never does, and I am pleased not to have paid for complexity in advance.

There is a practical tension underneath this topic: we want enough structure to move confidently, but not so much that the structure becomes the work.

Front-end work has a habit of looking simple from a distance. The browser then introduces real content, small screens, old devices, keyboard navigation and somebody using the product in a way nobody drew in the design file.

There will always be exceptions. The trick is to make them deliberate exceptions rather than habits nobody remembers choosing.