July 14, 2026
Less JS, more gossip
How I use HTMX with Go
Coders are ditching bloated web tricks and cheering a simpler old-school comeback
TLDR: The article shows how to build smoother web pages in Go using HTMX, a tool that avoids piles of extra browser code. Commenters were wildly into the back-to-basics vibe, though some warned it can struggle when products become complex and highly collaborative.
A seemingly humble tutorial about building interactive web pages with Go and HTMX turned into a full-on comments-section love fest for the "make the web simple again" crowd. The article itself is practical: the author walks through how to add app-like behavior without drowning in JavaScript, using server-made HTML and a tidy project setup. In plain English, it’s about making websites feel smoother without turning them into giant, complicated machines.
But the real fireworks were in the reactions. One camp sounded almost emotional about it, with commenters praising HTMX as a return to the days when websites were, well, actual pages. One reader practically declared independence from the era of heavyweight front-end frameworks, saying HTMX cuts out mountains of boilerplate. Another jumped in with stack-name comedy, hyping a homemade toolkit and inspiring a mini-branding contest: GUS, GUTS, and the crowd-pleasing punchline, "GOTH stack". Yes, the nerds brought jokes.
There was also a note of realism amid the fanfare. Not everyone thinks this approach can do everything forever. One commenter said their team got far with HTMX, but eventually hit the wall when their product needed lots of live, collaborative features. That sparked the thread’s biggest tension: Is simple web tech the future, or just the best tool until things get too chaotic? Either way, the vibe was clear — fans are thrilled to see a calmer, less bloated way to build on the web getting its moment again.
Key Points
- •The article is a tutorial on combining HTMX with Go to build interactive web applications while keeping server-side HTML rendering.
- •It focuses on template organization, returning partial versus full-page HTML responses, handling HTMX redirects and errors, and standard HTMX configuration.
- •The example project includes a small application that implements filtering on a list of users.
- •The setup instructions create a Go module and a directory structure for static assets, HTML templates, and web application source files.
- •The article recommends serving a downloaded copy of HTMX as a static file and uses Bamboo CSS and a gopher image as additional demo assets.