It is, of course, facile to say that Developer Experience doesn't matter (which is why I don't say that and never have).
At the same time, we can clearly see that a frontend culture that has decided that Developer Experience should win tiebreaks is morally bankrupt.
At this limit, this *should* trend towards "fsck DX", but only to the extent that DX has fsck'd users first.
@slightlyoff "Developer Experience" is a misleading term.
The reason DX-focused frameworks are so popular is the same reason that scripted customer service call centers are so popular: they allow the bigwigs to farm out formerly-highly-paid roles to cheap low-talent assembly-line hacks for pennies on the dollar.
If companies can buy a product once (or better yet, get it open-source for free!) and save on payroll and training costs forever, 99% of them will take that option every time.
User complaints about this will fall on the same deaf ears as user complaints about call centers. The mass market will always take the cheapest route.
But, the silver lining is that there will always exist a niche fringe trying something better. And sometimes, every once in a while, a fringe idea gains enough traction to break through to the mainstream and become a dinner-table-subject for the masses.
@LouisIngenthron to expand slightly, for the offense of being slightly sour, and at the risk of being pulled into a vortex of meaningless word-stew, know that what we are talking about here is a question of *values*.
"DX" isn't a technology, or even a science. I pillory it for having no rigorous data to back up its claims, while the teams I sit with daily have horrible stories to tell about how the "DX"-dominated world has failed them compared to previous generations of technology.
@LouisIngenthron what this ends up at is a question of focus: do we focus *primarialy* in our R&D in the pursuit of better user experiences, and discover along the way that there is value to also be had in that pursuit be making the lives of developers betters?
This seems uncontroversial in the history of CS.
Or is the agenda to put developers before users, so that we can sell into their choices as a market, independent of the actual outcomes, and divorced from accountability?
@LouisIngenthron cards on the table, I come from the JS framework world. I helped build a proto-framework (Dojo) back in the dark ages of the web, and did a decade on TC39 for my sins. After that, I have worked tirelessly to expand the web's potential to improve life for users by handing developers better tools.
From that vantage, I can tell you that what my consulting reveals is a deep cultural rot. And that machine is worth raging against.
@slightlyoff I'm not disagreeing with any of that. I totally agree with you on every point.
My (somewhat hyperbolic) point was: The reason this stuff proliferates is not necessarily because developers want a better experience, but rather because of what executives want. They hear "tools with better DX make developers' lives easier" and what they internalize is "tools with better DX make the job easier so I can hire cheaper engineers".
As an indie software engineering consultant, I know React only because the market demands it of me. I try to steer clients to better frameworks, but most already "know" what they want, end up making a huge mess with cheap labor, and have to call someone like me to clean it up.
We developers have shockingly little control over the market for our own tools.
@LouisIngenthron It's difficult for me to explain, even at length, how thoroughly you have missed the point.