2022 Predictions

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Wes and Scott review their 2022 web-dev predictions, highlighting likely growth in Svelte, web components, Rust/WASM, serverless, CSS innovation, GraphQL tooling, Temporal, and remote/cloud coding. They also debate Tailwind versus CSS-variable-based alternatives, the future of Next.js and Cloudflare, and whether Node/Deno/TypeScript ergonomics will improve. The episode mixes optimism, skepticism, and practical tooling recommendations.

Main Topics: Framework and platform evolution: They predict Svelte’s continued rise, Next.js expanding its data/story around components and CMS-like tooling, and more framework-platform convergence via web components and Open UI. Web components and Open UI: Scott argues web components are due for a glow-up, but says authoring is still awkward and inconsistent. They point to Open UI as a promising effort to standardize common UI primitives. Rust, WASM, and performance-sensitive tooling: Both hosts expect Rust to gain popularity, especially in WebAssembly and infrastructure tools, while noting development complexity, bridge overhead, and community drama as obstacles. Serverless, cloud functions, and server comeback: They foresee continued adoption of serverless across platforms and a broader shift back toward server-side rendering and server-driven experiences through Remix, React Server Components, Astro, and similar tools. CSS methodology and modern styling: The hosts predict Tailwind adoption will continue, but Wes is more excited by Open Props/subatomic styles and a broader wave of CSS ergonomics improvements like container queries, layers, and subgrid. Developer tooling, terminals, and remote dev: They highlight next-gen dev tools such as Warp, Fig, Starship, Gitpod, GitHub Codespaces, and StackBlitz, predicting more cloud-based, thin-client development workflows. TypeScript, Node, Deno, GraphQL, and Temporal: They expect smoother TypeScript-in-Node workflows, better GraphQL tooling and code generation, possible Deno influence on Node, and strong optimism for the Temporal API as a replacement for Date.

Key Arguments: Svelte should keep growing because Vercel/Rich Harris gives the ecosystem credibility and support, making it a safer bet for startups. Web components are valuable to consume, but authoring them remains inconsistent and cumbersome without better library abstractions. Rust will spread further in WASM and tooling, but developer experience and team/community issues may slow adoption. Serverless is becoming mainstream across multiple vendors, and Cloudflare is emerging as a major competitor to AWS because of its breadth and ease of use. Tailwind’s success suggests many developers value constrained design systems, but CSS variable-based systems like Open Props may better match how some people already write CSS. Cloudflare, Vercel, and other companies are bundling more services together, implying the future platform may be more integrated and opinionated. TypeScript support in Node should become simpler; running TS directly would remove friction for scripts, build tooling, and quick experiments. GraphQL’s ecosystem will keep improving, especially around code generation, typed schemas, and alternative servers beyond Apollo. Temporal is viewed as a major quality-of-life improvement over Date because it is immutable and easier for time-zone-aware work. Remote dev/cloud coding will grow because it shifts heavy compute to servers and makes local laptops thinner clients.

Data Points: Podcast reference: episode 350 - Scott references their prior episode "Hasty Treat: Styling the Unstylables" when discussing Open UI. LogRocket trial: 14 days free - Ad read mentions signing up at logrocket.com/syntax. Hashnode pricing: free to start - Hashnode is promoted as a free developer blogging platform. FreshBooks trial: not specified - FreshBooks is advertised for small-business accounting and invoicing. Wise referral benefit: first $800 fee-free transfer - Sick pick and sponsor discussion about Wise’s international transfer and currency tools. Cloudflare capabilities mentioned: DNS, caching, pages, serverless functions, database/key-value storage, images, video - Used to illustrate Cloudflare becoming a broader infrastructure platform. TypeScript/NODE tooling: multiple 3-letter tools mentioned - They reference several TS runtime helpers such as ts-node alternatives and esbuild-based runners. Open UI component examples: alert, avatar, badge, breadcrumb, card, skeleton, slider, table, tabs, toast - Scott lists component categories being researched by Open UI.

Pivotal Quotes: "I think this is the year for web components." — Wes: Prediction that web components will have a major resurgence in 2022. "I love Temporal. ... I honestly really love the Temporal API the more and more I work with it." — Scott: Explaining why the Temporal API is a major improvement over JavaScript Date. "Cloudflare will do the same stuff as Amazon, but it's so much more approachable than a lot of the AWS stuff." — Wes: Why Cloudflare may become a major infrastructure platform.

Implications: Listeners should expect more server-side, typed, standardized, and cloud-driven workflows. The biggest winners may be tools that reduce friction: better CSS primitives, simpler TS/Node execution, improved web component authoring, and more integrated hosting/dev platforms.