# I’m not kidding.

The web is good at exactly one thing: transmitting static text documents that
include minimal formatting and hyperlinks. It’s not even…

* * *

I’m not kidding.

The web is good at exactly one thing: transmitting static text documents that
include minimal formatting and hyperlinks. It’s not even great at _that_. CSS
and Javascript take the easy problem that the web already mostly fails at, and
turns it into a hard, complicated problem by providing poor tools for
simulating native applications.

If you feel like you need CSS, write LaTeX or PostScript. If you feel like you
need JavaScript, write a native app (maybe in JavaScript!). Don’t put a
browser where it doesn’t belong.

By [John Ohno](https://medium.com/@enkiv2) on [January 4,
2017](https://medium.com/p/cc20a124305c).

[Canonical link](https://medium.com/@enkiv2/im-not-kidding-cc20a124305c)

Exported from [Medium](https://medium.com) on September 18, 2020.