For the past decade, the web development world has been moving at a pace that often feels unsustainable. Frameworks appear every few months, each promising to redefine productivity, simplify complexity, or introduce a new standard for building applications. While some of these tools genuinely solve problems, many developers slowly drift away from the core technologies that power the web.

In my own work, I have learned that focusing on fundamentals gives far more long-term stability than chasing whatever tool becomes popular. I am Mashraf Aiman, and this is why I deliberately lean on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript before reaching for a framework.

The Cycle That Never Ends

Every generation of developers sees a new library or framework rise to fame. Most of them arrive with a familiar pitch: better performance, improved DX, or reduced boilerplate. But when you look closely, the learning curve grows, the dependency tree expands, and the build steps become essential for even the simplest project.

We have reached a point where creating a basic interface often requires a bundler, a transpiler, a package runner, and dozens of indirect dependencies. That added complexity rarely benefits the browser. It only benefits the framework.

Browsers Have Become Extremely Capable

Modern browsers handle ES modules, DOM manipulation, structured data, and layout systems with a level of maturity that was unimaginable even a few years ago. Most front-end tasks that earlier required a framework can now be built directly with native APIs that are reliable and well designed.

When the browser can already do the job, relying on a full framework is often an unnecessary commitment. Fundamentals are stable and predictable, while frameworks evolve constantly and sometimes break the simplest workflow.

The Hidden Cost of Dependencies

A typical project using a popular framework pulls hundreds of packages into the node_modules folder. Most of them do not relate to the logic of the application. They exist to help the framework run at all.

If eighty percent of the dependencies are unrelated to business logic, the project becomes harder to maintain and more vulnerable to breaking changes. This problem disappears when you build closer to the platform instead of on top of multiple layers.

A Simpler Way to Build

Over time, I shaped a workflow that reduces this complexity while still keeping development flexible.

Server Rendered Pages

Rendering HTML on the server removes the need for complex hydration systems. It is fast, avoids unnecessary JavaScript on the client, and keeps SEO effortless.

ES Modules

Native imports and exports eliminate the need for bundlers during development. The browser handles modules natively and consistently.

Utility-First CSS

Using lightweight utilities or a minimal framework like Bootstrap keeps styling organized without relying on large CSS architectures or complicated build pipelines.

Components Without Heavy Abstraction

Components are a mindset. You can structure your backend to reuse HTML fragments or use web components without adopting an entire framework ecosystem.

What Beginners Should Know

If you are new to web development, learning fundamentals is not optional. Frameworks come and go. The actual platform changes slowly and remains the foundation for everything else. Once you understand the core technologies, picking up any library becomes much easier because you can see what problems it solves and what trade-offs it introduces.

Frameworks are powerful, but they should enhance your understanding, not replace it.

Final Thoughts

Focusing on fundamentals has allowed me to build more stable, maintainable projects without drowning under layers of tools. The web is still a platform worth understanding deeply. Every year, browsers grow more capable. The simpler your stack is, the easier it is to evolve with the platform rather than chase the next trend.

If you want a long career in web development, invest in the foundations. Everything else becomes optional.

— MASHRAF AIMAN AGS NIRAPAD Alliance Co-founder, CTO, OneBox Co-founder, CTO, Zuttle****