--- title: 2000 modules to render a button. Web dev earned this... description: A viral developer thread about over-engineering in modern web development sparked a broader reflection on why the industry defaults to complexity. The core... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/2000-modules-to-render-a-button-web-dev-earned-this-reputation--gj6ob2wme twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: 2000 modules to render a button. Web dev earned this reputation. | daily.dev og:description: A viral developer thread about over-engineering in modern web development sparked a broader reflection on why the industry defaults to complexity. The core... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/2000-modules-to-render-a-button-web-dev-earned-this-reputation--gj6ob2wme og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/GJ6OB2wme.png og:image:alt: 2000 modules to render a button. Web dev earned this reputation. og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 2000 modules to render a button. Web dev earned this reputation. **[Medium](https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js)** · 4 min read · 1 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A viral developer thread about over-engineering in modern web development sparked a broader reflection on why the industry defaults to complexity. The core argument: stacking bundlers, transpilers, state managers, and routing layers on simple sites isn't solving user problems — it's performing competence. The incentive structure rewards complexity because it looks impressive in interviews and on résumés, not because it serves users. The proposed fix is restraint: choose the smallest tool that solves the actual problem, work backwards from user needs, and be comfortable with boring solutions. The post acknowledges the old days had real problems too, but argues the industry has overshot into self-referential tooling complexity. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@strae** · 1 upvotes > 574 npm packages... and we still can't center a div. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Why Vanilla JS](https://daily.dev/posts/why-vanilla-js-cz2v0zzj5) · Hacker News · 99 upvotes · 25 comments - [nh3.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/nh3-dev-fsykz8tgx) · Lobsters · 5 upvotes · 1 comments - [The hidden cost of front-end complexity](https://daily.dev/posts/the-hidden-cost-of-front-end-complexity-v0ljztnnk) · InfoWorld · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#webdev](https://daily.dev/tags/webdev), [#npm](https://daily.dev/tags/npm) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/2000-modules-to-render-a-button-web-dev-earned-this-reputation--gj6ob2wme) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"2000 modules to render a button. 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