975: What’s Missing From the Web Platform?

Scott and Wes run through their wishlist for the web platform, digging into the UI primitives, DOM APIs, and browser features they wish existed (or didn’t suck). From better form controls and drag-and-drop to native reactivity, CSS ideas, and future-facing APIs, it’s a big-picture chat on what the web could be.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
  • Wes Tweet
• 00:39 Exploring What’s Missing from the Web Platform
• 02:26 Enhancing DOM Primitives for Better User Experience
• 03:59 Multi-select + Combobox.
  • Open-UI
• 04:49 Date Picker.
  • Thibault Denis Tweet
• 07:18 Tabs.
• 08:01 Image + File Upload.
• 09:08 Toggles.
• 10:23 Native Drag and Drop that doesn’t suck.
• 12:03 Syntax wishlist.
• 12:06 Type Annotations.
• 15:07 Pipe Operator.
• 16:33 APIs We Wish to See on the Web
• 18:31 Brought to you by Sentry.io
• 19:51 Identity.
• 21:33 getElementByText()
• 24:09 Native Reactive DOM. Templating in JavaScript.
• 24:48 Sync Protocol.
• 25:52 Virtualization that doesn’t suck.
• 27:40 Put, Patch, and Delete on forms.
  • Ollie Williams Tweet
  • SnorklTV Tweet
• 28:55 Text metrics: get bounding box of individual characters.
• 29:42 Lower Level Connections.
• 29:50 Bluetooth API.
• 30:47 Sockets.
• 31:29 NFC + RFID.
• 34:34 Things we want in CSS.
• 34:40 Specify transition speed.
• 35:24 CSS Strict Mode.
• 36:25 Safari moving to Chromium.
• 36:37 The Need for Diverse Browser Engines
• 37:48 AI Access.
• 44:49 Other APIs
• 46:59 Qwen TTS
• 48:07 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

• Scott: Monarch
• Wes: Slonik Headlamp

• Scott: Syntax on YouTube

Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads

Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads

Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads

Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads