[cmjqol]

> I've noticed this spirit of "learn everything" all over the React and JavaScript community, and I don't think it's a good thing.

I strongly disagree there. The only way for an engineer to make good decisions as to what tools / framework to pick from is to know and understand as much tech as possible.

It is fundamental for an engineer to do this job of tech-watching in order to not become religious and blinded by the tool it's currently using.

React is good , but it has it's own issues. If you don't do the effort of learning other tech ( Angular , Vue ) you have absolutely no idea what those issues are, and you will just learn how to work with them ( Atomized ecosystem , Heavy Boilerpate ) and basically accept them as a normal thing.

They aren't.

Learning other tech makes you more encline to try new things and to criticize the tool you are working with and how to improve them.

[whatyoucantsay]

I'd much rather work with a developer proficient with C, Java, JS, React, DDD and a deep knowledge of Unix than someone who has spent the majority of their time on JS, Backbone/Knockout/Angular/Ember/React/Vue/Mithril, Redux/MobX/Vuex and Grunt/Gulp/Brunch/Webpack.

Knowing how a technology works is important. Knowing technologies needed to accomplish tasks to be done is important. Knowing seven different technologies that accomplish the same thing is at best a marginal benefit.

[tuesdayrain]

Your entire JS ecosystem should be narrowed down to React, Webpack, and maybe Redux. Easy

[whatyoucantsay]

My "JS ecosystem" no longer includes any of those three.

[misthop]

Strong disagree to your strong disagree. I understand right tool for the right job, but for the job of"front end framework" React vs Angular isn't hammer vs screwdriver, or even sledge vs ball peen - it's like Dewalt vs Milwaukee, claw hammers both. For a given class of problem, your comfort with the technology will outweigh the edge cases you hit with one choice vs another. So pick your favorite hammer, screwdriver, saw, and tape-measure. If someone else hands you theirs sure, use it, but the time you spent learning the ins and out of everything is _way_ more than any time you will save.

[trb]

React is a view library that doesn't even provide a way to do XHR requests. Angular is a complete framework. They are very much hammer and screwdriver, completely different and incomparable tools.

There seem to be a lot of people thinking front-end is just a mess of different options all doing the same thing. And the same people show little understanding of the complexities and nuances of front-end solutions.

[misthop]

OK, to be explicit: React ecosystem vs Angular. The difference between to two is how to separate the concerns - inside on large package or into an ecosystem.

I work primarily in Django. I could have given the same comparison of Django vs Flask. The pedant would say flask doesn't have an ORM, and would be correct.

Given the context of this article and HN in general I thought the shorthand referring to React generally would be understood.