Friday Issue No. 158

This week brings major tooling milestones and exciting platform additions. Rolldown 1.0 hits production readiness, with claimed 10x - 30x performance gains over Rollup, all thanks to a Rust core built specifically for Vite. Tanner Linsley shares a fascinating experiment reinventing React for TanStack after seeing Cloudflare rebuild Next.js with AI in a week, complete with a brilliant analogy about remixes and the Linux kernel. There is also a thorough postmortem on last week's TanStack npm supply chain compromise, a refreshed Express website and a superb resource covering 33 core JavaScript concepts in plain language with runnable examples.

On the HTML and CSS front, the new HTML install element finally gives PWAs a browser-controlled installation path without JavaScript, marking real progress after years of incremental steps. There is a proposal to render HTML in Canvas that could reshape how we think about the web, CSS gap decorations arrive to eliminate countless workarounds, and a thoughtful post about moving away from Tailwind and learning to structure CSS properly. Mixed in are obs.js for adaptive UX based on user connection and battery signals, a reminder that Dr Axel's 2ality blog went offline due to AI crawler overload (go buy his books!), and a perfectly timed Friday read about the boring internet and old protocols. Happy reading!

JavaScript News

React for TanStack

A few weeks ago, Cloudflare shipped Vinext. A plugin that reimplemented Next.js API, built by one engineer with AI in about one week. Tanner decided to try the same approach for TanStack. For now, it is an experiment, and only his own websites are running on it, but he did reinvent React and made it much smaller for his own needs. However, the most valuable insight comes near the end, where Tanner draws a brilliant analogy between remixes and the Linux kernel.

https://tannerlinsley.com/posts/projecting-react

TanStack npm supply chain compromise

This happened last week, but serious enough to warrant inclusion alongside this excellent postmortem.

https://tanstack.com/blog/npm-supply-chain-compromise-postmortem

Rolldown 1.0

High-performance bundler for JavaScript reaches 1.0 and production readiness. Rolldown is written in Rust, claims to be 10x-30x faster than Rollup, and is built with Vite in mind.

https://voidzero.dev/posts/announcing-rolldown-1-0

Learn JavaScript

This is a great resource for any level developer. There are 33 concepts explained in plain language with examples you can run, diagrams, additional articles and so on.

https://33jsconcepts.com/

Valibot or not Valibot?

To be honest, the Zod schema feels friendlier to me.

import * as v from 'valibot';

import * as z from 'zod';

const ZodSchema = z.string().email().endsWith('@example.com');

const ValibotSchema = v.pipe(v.string(), v.email(), v.endsWith('@example.com'));

https://valibot.dev/blog/why-migrate-to-valibot/

Obs.js

Tiny inline script that tries to read the real user environment, such as connection, battery status, CPU and more, to help deliver better UX based on different signals. For example, if the user has a poor connection, provide lower-quality images.

https://csswizardry.com/2026/05/meet-your-users-where-they-are-with-obs-js/

Express

I think it is worth mentioning that Express, one of the foundational frameworks in the Node.js ecosystem, just launched a refreshed website.

https://expressjs.com/en/blog/2026-05-18-a-new-look-for-express/

HTML & CSS News

HTML install element

I guess if not for the Apple Store, PWAs would have become standard long ago. After years of slow, incremental progress, this represents a solid leap forward. Now we have the Install element, which is browser controlled and requires zero JavaScript.

<install installurl="https://awesome-app.com/"

  manifestid="https://awesome-app.com/?source=pwa">

</install>

https://developer.chrome.com/blog/install-element-ot

HTML in Canvas

So, there is a proposal to render HTML in Canvas, and the post explores what this means and how this could change the web.

https://tympanus.net/codrops/2026/05/13/exploring-the-html-in-canvas-proposal/

Oh, there is CSS

I was never a fan of TailwindCSS, and the whole concept felt like backward thinking to me. However, I like the post below because it kind of shows the full development cycle. I learned jQuery, and that hooked me into JavaScript. Someone discovered Tailwind, then rediscovered that CSS itself is pretty great.

https://jvns.ca/blog/2026/05/15/moving-away-from-tailwind--and-learning-to-structure-my-css-/

Gap Decorations

This would be a great improvement for the web. All the workarounds needed today to create some separation between flex items using pseudo-elements, borders, and padding hacks would be moved to the past.

https://developer.chrome.com/blog/gap-decorations-stable?hl=en

Mixed News

2ality blog is offline

Dr Axel Rauschmayer's essential JavaScript blog had to go offline due to aggressive AI crawlers, but you can support his work by purchasing his books.

https://2ality.com/

The boring internet

A refreshingly thoughtful post about old protocols and perfect Friday reading.

https://www.terrygodier.com/the-boring-internet/ascii

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