Web Components, Personal Publishing, and Foundational Skills Drive 2026 Web Development
TL;DR
- AI-generated code requires a baseline understanding of quality attributes like performance, security, and accessibility to discern its suitability, as users lack the expertise to evaluate generated code's effectiveness.
- The "move before" JavaScript API preserves DOM element state, including playback and focus, when moving elements, preventing interruptions and simplifying complex DOM manipulations.
- The new Sanitization API offers controlled HTML injection via
setHtml, allowing explicit approval of elements and attributes to mitigate cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. - The shift away from single-page applications towards multi-page architectures, supported by browser features like view transitions and speculation rules, enhances user experience without SPA complexity.
- Self-publishing and personal websites are gaining traction as a counter-movement to algorithmic content, emphasizing direct audience connection over algorithmically driven engagement.
- Writing, particularly for documentation and RFCs, remains critical for clear communication and alignment, especially in large organizations, by creating a shared, asynchronous understanding.
- Learning fundamentals alongside frameworks is essential, as effective AI code generation requires a foundational understanding to critically assess and refine the output.
Deep Dive
The year 2026 in web development will likely see a surge in web component-first frameworks, a renewed focus on personal publishing over algorithmic content, and a growing understanding of the critical role of fundamental programming knowledge when leveraging AI tools. While AI can accelerate development, its output requires a discerning eye for quality, performance, security, and accessibility, particularly for larger, data-intensive projects.
The landscape of web development in 2026 is poised for significant evolution, driven by the increasing maturity of web component technology. A key prediction is the emergence of frameworks that prioritize web components at their core, offering a more integrated and streamlined development experience compared to current solutions that offer partial support. This would ideally encompass features like file-system routing, modern state management, server-side rendering, and robust TypeScript integration, all built around the concept of reusable, framework-agnostic components. This shift is also expected to influence the perception of single-page applications (SPAs), as the inherent benefits of multi-page architectures, enhanced by browser APIs like View Transitions and speculation rules, become more apparent and less reliant on SPA routing complexities.
Beyond framework evolution, a cultural shift is anticipated in content creation and consumption. The pervasive influence of algorithmic content is expected to foster a counter-movement towards more direct, personal publishing. This includes a resurgence of personal websites, RSS feeds, and platforms that prioritize user control over algorithmic curation, driven by a desire for authenticity in an era of increasing AI-generated content and the perceived decline of mainstream social media. This trend will likely be supported by easier-to-use tooling, making it more accessible for individuals to establish their online presence and share their unique perspectives.
Crucially, the integration of AI in development will necessitate a deeper understanding of foundational programming principles. While AI can generate code, discerning its quality--in terms of performance, security, and accessibility--requires a solid grasp of these fundamentals. This is particularly true for complex applications involving user data and critical functionalities, where poorly structured or insecure code generated by AI can lead to significant downstream problems. The ability to recognize and correct such issues, rather than blindly trusting AI output, will become an increasingly valuable skill.
The implications of these trends are far-reaching. Developers who embrace web component-first frameworks may find themselves building more maintainable and performant applications. The move towards personal publishing could lead to a more diverse and authentic online content ecosystem. Most importantly, a strong foundation in programming fundamentals will become a critical differentiator, enabling developers to effectively leverage AI as a tool rather than a crutch, ensuring the creation of robust, secure, and high-quality web experiences.
Action Items
- Audit AI-generated code: For 3-5 projects, verify performance, security, and accessibility before deployment.
- Create a runbook template: Define 5 required sections (setup, common failures, rollback, monitoring) to prevent knowledge silos.
- Implement a personal website: Publish 1-2 articles per month on technical topics to build a public knowledge base.
- Track user navigation patterns: For 5-10 core user flows, measure soft navigations to understand SPA effectiveness.
- Draft RFCs for major changes: Document proposed solutions and justifications for 2-3 significant technical decisions.
Key Quotes
"I would i you know tried to tried to see as many family members as we could we could we i you know i'm from wisconsin so uh we were back wisconsin trying to make the round a little bit there's been a little like health stuff in my family so it was kind of it was all a little shaded by that and made a little bit more difficult you know with uh you know ruby being like why are we in this hotel or in this hospital i want to go you know like she's yeah yeah yeah eight and and and sympathetic and understanding but not really you know right right it was eight she's eight that it's not yeah yeah like it's like you know we went to like a church service and it's like my daughter's like laying on me to leave that's the queue like you know like hey dude like there's still like a lot left you know i get it bud but we gotta totally"
Dave describes the challenges of family visits during the holidays, particularly when health issues arise. He highlights the difficulty of managing a child's understanding of serious situations, illustrating how even a young child can sense the underlying stress and desire to leave. This demonstrates the emotional toll such events can take on family dynamics.
"i think we got to get rid of a holiday dude i think i i you know it's got what's got to go like christmas easter we're trying to pull the same heist twice dude it's like you know hey celebrating the same dude right okay fine that's fine but like we're doing the santa claus and the easter bunny man that's the same grift we can't do that right i mean i love christmas as a kid of course but i really i really did put easter really high up i think i probably even said at the time that it was my favorite holiday even though you know any proper kid you know like obviously you're you're banking a lot better from christmas you know christmas is the best like christmas from a kid perspective christmas is the top top tier of course you're out of school it's has this full vibe to it logistically logistically um like we just did super meat holiday in november and now we're doing super meat holiday again no man we can't run the same grift can't do it can't you know it's it's a and then like i this is i'm turning into the grinch can i just say that dave turns into the grinch okay episode title yeah it's okay"
Chris expresses a humorous frustration with the perceived redundancy of holidays like Christmas and Easter, particularly regarding their commercial aspects. He suggests that the repetition of celebratory themes and figures like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny feels like a "grift," indicating a desire for a more streamlined or perhaps less commercially driven holiday season.
"i feel this is me i feel like amazon has also killed christmas because christmas used to be oh i wait and i ask my family for the thing i've been waiting for you know i don't i don't wait anymore chris i want it two days later it's at my house like like well it's the immediate gratification and you i have a friend who's really good at it and parting it into his kids i don't know how he pulls it off they're just a little more strict of a household than than i am you know but he can he does really good and if they want something there's all kinds of waiting and there's all kinds of earning every dang treat every dang thing they buy has some degree of of waiting for it because i think they feel even extra strong about i mean here we are talking about it but probably not practicing it as good as we can but i do think that's important that things feel better they taste better they're more satisfying when there is a wait when you're forced to think about it and not get what you want immediately you know i don't i do not think i'm imparting that into my child it is a failure of my fatherhood yeah"
Dave reflects on how immediate gratification, facilitated by services like Amazon, has diminished the traditional anticipation and value associated with Christmas gifts. He contrasts this with a friend's approach to teaching children about waiting and earning, suggesting that this delayed satisfaction makes experiences more meaningful and that he feels he is failing to instill this in his own child.
"what i do like about christmas and maybe we can save that piece of it okay is i like gifts where it's like i got this thing like in june and it was awesome and like my my my uh brother in law got one of those you know we have those little air horn air blower things you know like blow off your desk you know um he got one that's like a tire inflator usb tire inflator right yeah yeah and i'm like and it i'm like this is awesome because you don't want to carry around a big old air compressor in your car or whatever you just want this little you know uh little coke can sized thing to like pump up your tires and get a digital readout so you're not like isn't it it's like that's like new that did not exist i don't even five years ago i mean definitely not 10 like i feel like something changed in like battery power that makes these small devices much more capable i got i mean you convinced me to get the nickelodeon one remember that bad boy it's so awesome yes yes it is it's a handheld air blower that has almost i'd say the power of can air yeah but you you you the last one you ever buy because you just charge it and it goes again you know unlike can air that you throw in a throw in a landfill yeah landfill and it freezes your hands and gives you frostbite yeah yeah that's just full of all kinds of weird that not i'm sure the the creation of this thing wasn't exactly like an environment"
Chris appreciates gifts that are thoughtful and useful, like a USB tire inflator he received. He highlights how these types of gifts, discovered and acquired in advance, represent a more satisfying form of giving and receiving compared to last-minute purchases. Chris emphasizes the innovation in battery technology that enables such compact and powerful devices.
"i think what should exist is a web component based framework that's as good as any of the rest of them astro 11d nextjs whatever but none of those put web components first they're not like this one is the you you work with it with web components they're like oh we sort of support them or we're forced to support them or oh yeah those work or in 11d's case they're like well because we needed to do ssr we invented our own way of doing it or something you know like but none of them are just like just straight up web components and but it's got everything it's got file system based routing it's got signals for talking to each other it's got state management it's got ssr it's got um great documentation and a discord and i'll remember dave's list of
Resources
External Resources
Books
- "A website to destroy all websites" by Henry -- Discussed as a beautiful opus to the indie open web.
Articles & Papers
- "The big mystery at the heart of whatever is how you're about to do" (Web Perf Calendar) -- Discussed in relation to the low number of soft navigations in Single Page Applications.
People
- Amy Poehler -- Mentioned as an example of someone who could teach a MasterClass.
- Bramus -- Mentioned for a demo of the
moveBeforeJavaScript API. - Frederick -- Mentioned as the guest who will discuss the sanitization API.
- Henry -- Mentioned as a top social media follow for web development content.
- Jake Archibald -- Mentioned as someone who could provide insight into specific use cases.
Organizations & Institutions
- MasterClass -- Referenced as an educational platform with various courses.
- Stripe -- Mentioned as the payment processor integrated with StudioWorks.
- Superbase -- Mentioned as a backend service used in an AI-generated recipe site example.
- Walgreens -- Mentioned as the location where a charitable act occurred.
- WordPress -- Mentioned in the context of managing comment sections and sanitization.
Websites & Online Resources
- Astro -- Referenced as a web component-based framework.
- Blue Sky -- Mentioned as a social media platform to follow and message the show.
- Codepen -- Mentioned as a platform that will be launching soon.
- Discord -- Mentioned as a place for cool kids who support the show to hang out.
- Eleven Twenty-Two (11ty) -- Referenced as a static site generator.
- Figma -- Mentioned as a tool used to create a recipe site idea.
- GitHub -- Mentioned as a platform for issues and discussions.
- LinkedIn -- Discussed as a platform for career brags and professional networking.
- Mastodon -- Mentioned as a social media platform.
- Nebula -- Mentioned as a streaming service.
- Netlify -- Referenced as a platform for deploying websites.
- Patreon -- Mentioned as a way to support the show.
- Pro Football Focus (PFF) -- Mentioned as a data source for player grading.
- ShopTalkShow.com -- The website for the show.
- StudioWorks -- Mentioned as an invoicing app.
- X (formerly Twitter) -- Described as a "garbage land."
Other Resources
- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) -- Discussed as a condition related to attention management and executive function.
- INCUR (Interest, Novelty, Challenge, Urgency, Passion) -- Presented as an acronym for how the brain prioritizes tasks.
- JavaScript -- Discussed in relation to learning fundamentals versus frameworks.
- Web Components -- Discussed as a core technology for a desired framework.
- View Transitions -- Mentioned as a browser API that holds paint during navigation.
- Sanitization API -- Discussed as a new browser API for safely inserting HTML.
insertAdjacentHTML-- Referenced as a JavaScript API for DOM manipulation.moveBefore-- Mentioned as a JavaScript API for moving DOM elements while preserving state.setHTML-- Discussed as a new browser API that uses the sanitization API.display: contents-- Compared to thereplaceElementWithChildrenmethod.insertBefore-- Mentioned as a precursor to themoveBeforeAPI.innerHtml-- Discussed as an insecure way to insert HTML.gsap(GreenSock Animation Platform) -- Mentioned as an animation library.vete-- Mentioned as a tool used for a mini-project.astro-- Mentioned as a framework that could be involved in a web component-based framework.11d-- Mentioned as a framework that invented its own SSR approach.nextjs-- Referenced as a web framework.react-- Mentioned in the context of learning fundamentals versus frameworks.jquery-- Discussed as a JavaScript library and the debate around learning fundamentals first.rss-- Mentioned in the context of personal websites and publishing.html includes-- Discussed as an objectively bad idea for managing repeated code.tailwind-- Mentioned in the context of code quality and subjective choices.wp posts-- Used as an analogy for a single table data structure.iframe-- Suggested as a potential solution for music players during page navigation.service worker-- Mentioned in relation to using the Navigation API for routing.speculation rules-- Discussed as a browser feature for pre-loading pages.xss(Cross-Site Scripting) -- Explained as a common web security vulnerability.llm(Large Language Model) -- Discussed in the context of generating web components and potential security risks.qa(Quality Assurance) -- Mentioned as a necessary component for large projects.hr separator-- Mentioned as a conversational element.