It still works exceptionally well in 2026 and generally creates better and faster experiences than an SPA with far, far less code.
It still works exceptionally well in 2026 and generally creates better and faster experiences than an SPA with far, far less code.
You don’t need an SPA for that; Wikipedia has client-side sorted tables for example.
I hate what it does to my back button
HTMX is the solution
So instead of using JS to sort the table directly, now you make a JS fetch() request to sort the table?!
It does make sense in one situation, if the table is a large server-side paginated one and the sorting is really an ORDER BY clause. But for a basic table that fits entirely on the client, it doesn't make sense at all. There are tiny JS libraries that will make <table>s sortable when you add a particular class name.
> tiny JS libraries that will make <table>s sortable
What are some good ones?
Trading one javascript for another?