I like the Vue/React/Svelte model of the DOM being a function of the data. For example, in a shopping cart, I add two chocolates, the number against the chocolate, the count at top and a banner encouraging me to reach X total all center around a data structure.

I use Django Ninja, Zod, InertiaJS+Vue and its as easy as using Django's templating engine, but static typing ensures my view doesnt emit unrepresentable data, my TS doesnt accept unrepresentable data, Vue+TS dont allow logic errors in template. AI makes it effortless. Again, the loaded page is a function of the data supplied at the view.

With HTMX, I'm writing several server-side functions to mutate the DOM imperatively and using HTML attributes to call them. Its great for forms but that shopping cart example needs code scattered across multiple functions and templates.

> With HTMX, I'm writing several server-side functions to mutate the DOM imperatively and using HTML attributes to call them. Its great for forms but that shopping cart example needs code scattered across multiple functions and templates.

That's a weird way to use htmx. I've built a number of large apps with htmx over the last few years and never done this. Seems a great way to have a bad time.

Yes I don’t see the appeal of HTMX in most cases. Vuejs has less footguns than React, and LLMs can produce it decently well to at least get started and then refactor.