Frameworkers, Attention! When “Bare” Code is the Real Luxury

Source: Dev.to

Why I Built a Bare‑Bones Site

Last night, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I decided to build a new website at toviszsolt.com — my personal hub. There was no grand plan, no Jira ticket, and most importantly: no framework.
Zero React, zero Vue, zero Angular. Not even a stray Tailwind class.

Instead, I went back to basics: primitive HTML, custom CSS, and a very minimal amount of JavaScript.

The Joy of Pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Why? Because with over 20 years of experience as a Chief Software Architect and Hands‑On Full‑Stack Engineer, I sometimes need to remind myself what development is actually about.

When you’ve been in this industry for so long, you tend to forget the simple, childlike joy that creation brings—the moment you type a line, refresh the browser, and boom, it’s there.

• No build process.
• No npm install downloading half the internet.
• No waiting for Webpack.

It’s just you and the code. This direct connection with technology is like a carpenter using a hand plane instead of industrial machinery. They don’t do it to be slower; they do it to feel the grain of the wood. Using pure HTML and CSS gives you back that control. You know exactly why everything happens, and if something is off by 2 pixels, you don’t dig through a library’s documentation—you just fix the margin.

When Frameworks Are Appropriate

Don’t get me wrong, I love modern tools. Frameworks (e.g., Next.js) are not the enemy. They were created to solve complexity, scalability, and team‑collaboration issues.

If we are building a banking system, a complex SaaS product, or a large enterprise portal at Stacklegend, I would be crazy not to use them. In those cases, the structure, state management, and component‑based thinking are lifesavers.

The Risks of Over‑Tooling

For an introduction page, a landing page, or a simple portfolio, spinning up a framework is often like using a cannon to kill a sparrow. We pile unnecessary layers between ourselves and the user, simply because we can.

I often see developers getting lost in a sea of tools. They become “Frameworkers” instead of engineers. They learn the rules of the framework but forget what powers the engine under the hood.

Staying Grounded in Primitive Technologies

It is crucial to understand that even while using frameworks, you must know the underlying “primitive” technologies:

• If you understand CSS Grid and Flexbox, you won’t be at the mercy of a UI kit’s limitations.
• If you understand native DOM manipulation, you’ll know when the Virtual DOM is slow.
• If you understand semantic HTML, SEO and accessibility won’t be afterthoughts.

Conclusion

Are you asking if I’ve gone mad? I didn’t choose this path out of masochism. I chose it because I simply didn’t need anything else. I didn’t write CSS by hand to suffer; I did it because the task—a fast, clean, informative site—demanded it.

The result is a lightning‑fast website that contains no bloatware and one that I will be able to edit just as easily five years from now without worrying about deprecated dependencies.

So, Frameworkers, sometimes dare to code “naked.” You’ll be surprised at how liberating it feels.

Happy coding!