June 20, 2026
Framework fight club
Show HN: Domphy – plain-object UI for tool apps, AI-correctable output
One coder’s ‘React is too confusing’ rebellion gets instantly roasted as ‘basically Preact’
TLDR: A developer built Domphy after finding React too hard to read, aiming for a simpler way to make app screens with plain JavaScript. The community’s instant reaction was a sharp, funny reality check: some saw it less as a revolution and more as a reinvention of tools already out there.
A solo developer rolled into Hacker News with a very relatable confession: “I tried React and my brain said no.” So instead of wrestling with modern app-building tools, they made their own framework, Domphy, built around plain JavaScript objects and simple state updates for work apps in architecture and construction. The pitch is pure anti-chaos energy: fewer layers, clearer code, and something a human can still read when the AI assistant gives up.
But the comment section wasted zero time turning this into a mini tech soap opera. The loudest reaction wasn’t “wow, neat,” but essentially: isn’t this just another version of stuff that already exists? One deadpan commenter sliced through the launch with a brutally efficient line: “so preact sans jsx?” In normal-person language, that means: “Did you just reinvent a lighter version of a thing people already use?” Ouch.
That one-liner became the whole vibe of the discussion: part roast, part genuine curiosity, part the internet’s favorite pastime — spotting reinventions. There’s also a very 2026 melancholy hanging over the post, because the creator openly wonders whether their work matters now that AI can already spit out user interfaces. And that may be the most relatable plot twist of all: build a tool to escape confusing code, only for the crowd to reply with a meme-worthy “bro, isn’t this just the other thing?”
Key Points
- •The author created Domphy as a UI framework after struggling to understand React and React ecosystem code.
- •Domphy represents UI with plain JavaScript objects that reflect HTML and uses functions for state management.
- •The framework includes a reuse mechanism called a Patch, described as a way to add props to a main object without relying on deeply nested components.
- •The article provides a code example using `@domphy/core`, `@domphy/ui`, `ElementNode`, `toState`, and a tooltip helper to build and render a counter interface.
- •The author says they have been the sole user of Domphy for about a year, using it to build SketchUp and Revit plugins in the AEC industry.