Frontend's Lost Decade - What Can We as Devs Do Now?

Explore the critical challenges facing modern web development in this 23-minute conference talk from JSNation 2025. Examine how the web's promise of universal access has become increasingly exclusionary due to mismatched expectations between developer assumptions and real-world device and network conditions. Discover why the trends that propelled JavaScript's client-side success in the early 2010s have stalled and learn what this means for the future of web development. Delve into Alex Russell's web engineering philosophy and understand how to optimize engineering practices for end-user success rather than developer convenience. Analyze the harsh realities of mobile device hardware limitations, the economics of global device landscapes, and how Moore's Law impacts device performance across different market segments. Investigate the shift in CPU performance trends and how browsers must adapt to these changes, while examining JavaScript compilation challenges on lower-end devices. Understand the intersection of JavaScript performance issues with network limitations and discover strategies for optimizing code performance with a user-focused approach. Learn about the importance of quality-focused development practices and gain insights into addressing the performance inequality gap that affects billions of users worldwide. Master practical approaches for creating more inclusive web experiences that work effectively across the full spectrum of devices and network conditions that real users encounter daily.