Today I learned

Have you used Web Components?

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I have never used Web Components before. Iā€™ve heard of them, for sure. Iā€™ve seen several blog posts and coding examples about how to build web applications with them. But I never actually used code that included Web Components.

I never considered choosing them for a new website instead of React or any other JavaScript Framework. I always thought: they seemed to be a general approach for building web applications so we, as developers, wouldnā€™t need to rely on independent frameworks anymore. But the point where they would overtake never came.

Ever wondered why they havenā€™t succeeded yet? Dave Rupert has a lot to say about this. He wrote a blog post, ā€œIf Web Components are so great, why am I not using them?ā€ Opens in new tab where he shares his opinion on why web components havenā€™t taken over yet, and what heā€™d done differently if he could turn back time.

Iā€™ll summarize his key takeaways here, but make sure youā€™ll check out his whole blog post and the included links because reading his take on the topic is super interesting.

In general, Dave says Web Components have a marketing problem. Thatā€™s the biggest problem. This can be broken down into the following points:

  • Web Components were designed for framework authors, not the average WordPress user. But Framework authors declined to use them because their problems were already solved otherwise.
  • They were marketed as a Google thing and a bit too heavy on bashing other frameworks and selling Web Components as the only true thing.
  • It was hard to convince others to use Web Components without the ability to refer to popular products built with them.
  • They have been around for a few years but only became indeed supported recently.
  • Their development is slow. If youā€™re waiting for a new feature for them available in every browser, you have to wait a couple of years.

Dave made many interesting points, which made me understand better why Web Components are not there yet where they were supposed to be. Iā€™m curious how they will evolve in the future!


I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via Email Opens in new tab.

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I wish you a wonderful day! Marco