I just wanted to echo this sentiment. I also had a similar "aha" moment when a colleague introduce me to React, whereas prior to that I had invariably hacked in

I just wanted to echo this sentiment. I also had a similar "aha" moment when a colleague introduce me to React, whereas prior to that I had invariably hacked interfaces together with very ad-hoc jQuery code. Since backend code is my bread and butter, my intuitions never had a chance to develop beyond "this feels error-prone and wrong" on their own. Further paralleling your own journey, I now reach for Mithril first too, and I can't recommend it enough.