The ROI of Simplicity: HTMX vs React

The industry standard for the last decade has been: build an API in Python/Go, then build a completely separate SPA in React/Vue/Angular. This "separation of concerns" often becomes a separation of sanity.

Double the Code, Double the Bugs

When you render logic on the client, you duplicate state. You have your database state, your API transport layer, and your React "Store." Keeping these in sync requires complex state management (Redux, Zustand) and infinite `useEffect` hooks. This bloats complexity and creates classes of bugs that simply don't exist in server-rendered apps.

Enter HTMX: HTML as a Hypermedia

HTMX allows you to access AJAX, CSS Transitions, and WebSockets directly in HTML attributes. You write Django templates, and HTMX swaps in the new HTML partials dynamically:

• One Language: Your team only needs to know Python and HTML/CSS. No Webpack hell.
• Zero State Sync: The server dictates the UI state. What you see is what the database says.
• Instant Load Times: We send kilobytes of HTML, not megabytes of JS.

Complexity is a Cost

React is great for Facebook. But you aren't Facebook. You need velocity.