That's the problem with web development today. Something that not only should be straightforward, but used to be straightforward, is now very complex. Partly because it involves connecting a large number of complex and constantly changing packages.
The last time I wanted to do something with an API, I coded up the API in Go and ran it from FCGI to get multiple copies. Easier than all those "frameworks". Probably faster, too, since Go is hard-compiled.
As someone who remembers having to do weird CSS tricks for really basic layouts (negative margins? hidden extra elements that don't make any sense, but cause other elements to move?), manually modifying the UI made up of jQuery plugins that require a very specific prescribed HTML structure to even work, or doing significant adjustments for 3 or 4 different browsers, I definitely dispute that claim.
Web development right now (at least the frontend for sure) feels like a breeze compared to about 10-15 years ago.
Steps 1 and 2 of the whole process may have gotten more difficult, but steps 5 through 100 are a lot easier these days.
except maybe if status is a sufficient payment?
mayyybe good if altruistic ideas are more likely to propagate under those incentives?
I hope that after this crisis we will care less about making people click ads than about learning how stuff works in biology.