Vidact – a compiler that turns React into direct DOM operations

Join the discussion

• Hacker News
• React code looks so ugly to my taste. Try reading it: "use state zero". What does it even mean? And why "const" is used for a value that changes?

    const [count, setCount] = useState(0)
  

  I didn't understand how the compiler works completely, but I assume it tries to figure out the dependencies during compilation time ("The text of node Y depends on variable x"). This approach is closer to Vue's approach which uses proxies to find these dependencies in runtime, than React's approach which renders the new tree, diffs it against the DOM and applies changes. So it is unclear why React was used for input instead of Vue here. Furthermore, as I remember, Vue has templates implemented as HTML (including attributes for branches and loops) so it would be easier to parse than raw JS code used by React.

  Another problem is that those dependencies are often unknown at compilation stage. For example, imagine a form which is generated dynamically based on list of fields received from the server and should show error boxes when invalid values are entered. The compiler won't be able to pre-compute the dependencies here because it doesn't know what DOM nodes will exist at runtime. I assume the compiler would figure out a dependency between a variable with list of fields and "form" DOM node, but not dependencies between entered data and error boxes visibility.

  Sadly the website doesn't provide examples of generated code so I cannot confirm my guess.

  Anyway, interesting idea. Sometimes I draft reactive frameworks on paper so I understand the challenges a little bit.

  Also what I do not like in reactive frameworks as that they are invasive and require you to adapt the code for them. For example, I might have my object model (let's say a TextDocument class with lot of nodes inside), and all I need is a "View" that would display it. But React requires you to move the data into props and state, and sometimes use a giant immutable object that gets rebuilt on every user action, and Vue wraps everything with proxies which causes lots of small issues and confusion (like putting a proxy into the Set instead of original object). And also React requires installing Node and compilation which is too much for a one-page quick project. So what I want is that I pass my Document Object Model and framework just displays it without making me adapt to its architecture. For example, I pass a model of a text document and it just displays it. Without immutability, without proxies, and without writing a giant switch with all possible user commands (I think they call the approach with a large switch and immutable objects "redux"). I do not need redux, I just want to use classic MVC from 80s and not modern dubious ideas. I have M and C and only need a V.

  by codedokode
• "use state zero". What does it even mean? And why "const" is used for a value that changes? const [count, setCount] = useState(0)

  are u being serious rn?

  by slopinthebag
• Missed opportunity to call this Rawact
  by Rauchg
• Side-question if you don't mind answering: What are you using for your docs portal? Is that docosaurus?
  by nullbio
• Compiling React to direct DOM operations is exactly the direction the ecosystem needs to reduce overhead. It reminds me a bit of Svelte's philosophy. Will definitely keep an eye on this project!
  by abosalehworld
• Interesting project. Direct Tanstack integration would convince me to give it a go. No users are going to swap over to your bespoke routing API
  by isaachinman
• If the goal is to use JSX and avoid the complexities of React checkout https://github.com/wisercoder/uibuilder

  Sample application: https://github.com/wisercoder/eureka/tree/master/webapp/Clie...

  by petilon
• Do you see Vidact becoming something teams use in production, or is it mainly a way to explore how much of React can be compiled away?
  by boldaxolotl
• something that i realisr with LLM-generated content is that I just get more confused every sentence. HOW does it work? WHAT does it do?

  When I see technology I want to figure out what it CAN'T do. For example, Rust can do web, but I wouldn't use Rust if I get to choose a simpler language.

  by ramon156
• Airbnb has this project with the same name as well , https://viaduct.airbnb.tech/, for a second I was confused if that got changed somehow
  by sandeepkd
• Close but it's Vidact vs. Viaduct
  by psolidgold
• If I’m understanding this right, you’re aiming at something like Svelte, but with React syntax?
  by didgeoridoo
• I was about to comment this. The selling for svelte has always been that the compiler will output just the needed instructions for the expressed transformation. No virtual DOM.
  by vmsp
• What Svelte used to be pre version 5 I think? They now also have a runtime with hooks, etc
  by fnimick
• Please don't use LLMs for landing pages. Regardless of how long you've been developing the project, many people base their first impressions on whether a real person curated the documentation and website. And if you didn't, then they might never even get to evaluating your code at all.
  by LoganDark
• Please use it, so i don't have to read sloppy article and sloppy code and I can block the website and its author.
  by cute_boi
• Thanks. I totally hear you and that makes sense. Content is not my forte and I get lazy when it comes to that. Will improve it.
  by mohebifar
• Not sure what this project is for... the only way to statically compile JSX into direct DOM mutations is to either castrate React's dynamic runtime flexibility and closure model, or break its semantics like SolidJS does (in this case worse because the lack of templating/syntax constraints just shifts the burden from the compiler to the developer).
  by mg1c
• Maybe a decade ago there was chatter in the Purescript land about FRP in an applicative context.

  There's ways you can write your code such that you _know_ that certain blocks of code are going to be unaffected by input changes, and you can then use that information to reduce the scope of changes that need to be done, with only minimal costs to expressivity.

  I think with a decently smart compiler (and of course the compiler simply treating a lot of stuff in a black box way) you can totally shrink down the amount of work a client needs to do to render React components, all without changing the semantics.

  Of course any performance trick might change the actual sequence of events that happen, and in particular for libs doing fancy DOM manipulation, it's easy for those to rely on React's incidental behavior in a non-spec-confirming way.

  But the main point her is that you can totally get to useful improvements on a subset of your React, while still leaving the rest of your components intact

  by rtpg