January 14, 2026
When HTML says “hold my beer”
Show HN: HyTags – HTML as a Programming Language
Turning web pages into apps — hype meets “but is it safe?”
TLDR: HyTags tries to merge website front and back into HTML so you build everything in one place. The crowd loves the simplicity but argues over security, tooling, and debugging, with jokes about “HTML as Lisp” and cautious approval for prototypes and internal tools.
Show HN woke up to HyTags, a daring pitch: make web pages act like apps by writing behavior right in HTML, so the front and back of a site live together. The crowd split fast. One camp cheered the simplicity — “just build in one place!” — while pragmatists clutched their toolchains. User scatbot drew a line in the sand: they’d rather stick to regular tags and switch behavior with attributes, claiming it plays nicer with existing tools. Meanwhile, catapart liked the vibe but confessed they’re “too enamored with web components” to switch. Translation: cool demo, but don’t touch my favorite toys.
Then came the spice. A product manager sounded the alarm about security: “what happens to login, validation, and trust if the logic lives in markup?” Others shrugged, saying it’s perfect for internal tools, prototypes, and quick hacks. Nerd theater peaked when velcrovan declared HTML is “LISP in disguise,” triggering jokes about summoning 90s internet spirits. The CSS crowd chimed in with warnings about verbosity, DOM bloat, and gnarly debugging. Verdict from the thread: HyTags is a bold experiment that could slash complexity — but expect debates, memes, and cautious side‑project tinkering before anyone bets the company. See discussion
Key Points
- •Modern web frameworks often split backend and frontend, connected via an API.
- •This split adds complexity such as duplicated routing, API contracts, and data transfer layers.
- •HyTags aims to unify backend and frontend into a single application.
- •In HyTags, UI behavior and markup are defined together within small, composable components.
- •The project’s goal is to reduce complexity without compromising user experience.