Re:I Switched from Htmx to Datastar
by troupo on Friday October 10, 2025 @08:28AM
(#45538196)
Both Datastar and HTMX try to lay claim to being "the one true hypermedia" just because they both are vaguely HTML-like. And they gladly misappropriate Ted Nelson, too: https://dmitriid.com/hypermedia-is-a-property-of-the-client
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in reality, neither of them make any such claims. And they are not html-like - they're literally html. Especially datastar, which doesnt add any non-html-spec attributes.
Yeah, yeah, they "literally add nothing" except these small things like "custom Javascript-like DSL" (datastar), custom DSL and custom HTTP-headers (htmx).
But it's "just html", so it's all fine
Edit: Oh, don't forget that " Especially datastar, which doesnt add any non-html-spec attributes" in reality ads two custom DSLs. One in the form of HTML attribbutes, and the other in the form of a JS-like DSL:
<button data-on-click__window__debounce.500ms.leading="$foo = ''"></button>
But as long as it's superficially HTML-spec compliant, this is nothing.the spec is literally just data-* (hence the name): you can add whatever you want to it and remain in spec. And they're meant to be read by javascript (like datastar)
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/How_to/Use...
At least you're living up to your profile! "Opinions on things I know nothing about"
> At least you're living up to your profile! "Opinions on things I know nothing about"
I've had this pinned on my twitter profile for a few years now, for people like you: https://x.com/dmitriid/status/1860589623321280995
I never argued that those attributes weren't compatible with HTML.
Hey, that was a low blow, you can do better than insult another user!
On the topic: it might be in spec but it’s still a DSL inside an attribute