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Comment by kome | Hacker News Reader

I believe that most of the "web developers" have absolutely no idea of how to build a website using bare html+css. Actually, I worked with "web developers" that are basically not touching code much, but using all sorts of tools and framework - without fully understand what they are doing. And that's also why website looks like each other more and more. And that's the silent majority of the industry.

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There is no way to be a modern web developer without knowing everything you need for raw html/css unless you are talking about square space or basic Wordpress work.

Things like react are purely extra knowledge needed over the top of the basic website building blocks.

Back when I was consulting pretty much every customer I visited had people who weren't proficient with the technology they used. The corporate world is particularly prone to this. You would work with a team of ten and find two people were doing the bulk of the work. I doubt this has changed since then.

ok, html maybe, because html if anything is easier than the one in 90/00s (no more tables, or divs everywhere)

But in my experience 80% react developers could not layout a page with raw css. I am not even talking anything "fancy" like transitions or animations. They just import libs and frameworks and customize a bit.

Websites look like each other because of Jacobs law[1]. Not sure how good the web developers you work with are if they don't understand HTML/CSS/JS.

[1]https://lawsofux.com/jakobs-law/

As someone who came up during the late 90s and coded many a page in apps that were barely more than Notepad, I often have the same sentiment. (I get the same feelings about the backend and writing SQL) However, the web then was very simple. I wonder if I was a 24 year old today, trying to get a handle on all the various front-end frameworks, all the security vulnerabilities, and having to target mobile screens and giant 4k displays at the same time, if I wouldn't consider the basics low-hanging fruit to abstract away.

As I suggested in my other comment, how many backend developers don't know SQL? I would also suggest that highly skilled cabinet installers aren't always master carpenters.

> As I suggested in my other comment, how many backend developers don't know SQL?

I mean that isn't acceptable to me either.

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