No build tool? No problem!

MagnoliaConf 2025 - Blake Watson

Modern web development is inundated with dependency management and build tools that, while ostensibly created to make you more productive, introduce complication and technical debt. But while we were busy webpack-ing our way to success, the web platform got good. We can now enjoy such things as CSS nesting, JavaScript modules, and even NPM packages without the need for a build step. In this talk, we’ll explore the exhilarating freedom of forgoing build tools while retaining some of the niceties that they are known for providing.

Slides and script

• HTML version
• PDF

Links and demos

• Dungeons & Dragons
• HTML for People
• Software packages with more than 2 billion weekly downloads hit in supply-chain attack
• You no longer need JavaScript by Lyra Rebane
• Accordion with the <details> and <summary> elements
• Tabbed content with no JavaScript
• JSDoc
• jsDelivr.com
• esm.sh
• download-esm
• Vue.js ESM instructions
• Alpine.js
• htm
• HTML Web Components by Chris Ferdinandi
• <ajax-form> web component
• Tailwind CLI
• Litewind
• Open Props
• iA Presenter - software used to prepare and give presentation

date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
time: 11:54 PM
published: https://blakewatson.com/notes/ba10b901