I think the instability is a byproduct of what it is. Today we have https://caniuse.com https://caniuse.com but this sort of tool in one form or another has ex

I think the instability is a byproduct of what it is. Today we have https://caniuse.com https://caniuse.com but this sort of tool in one form or another has existed for a long time - I think that mobile, and native mobile have only compounded the problem. Frameworks, and ecosystems (Node, and what it spawned) are practically a requirement to get things done. But abstracting issues away from front end developers, hiding them behind hacks and fixes only serves to make things worse, and harder. The foundation of the front end isn't just broken, it is a fuckstorm... and we keep piling more stuff on top of that foundation trying to make it make sense, make it rational. With each layer we add creating new sets of issues that only get worse over time. Then someone "smart" enough to build something a bit better does just that, and we get this: https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/ The reality is that the fish stinks from the head and in this case, blame google, apple, MS, and Firefox - https://medium.com/@dmitriid/ok-w3c-and-whatwg-dont-die-but-7952221fcbe4 https://medium.com/@dmitriid/ok-w3c-and-whatwg-dont-die-but-... Javascript isn't much better https://ariya.io/2014/05/the-curious-case-of-javascript-nan https://ariya.io/2014/05/the-curious-case-of-javascript-nan --- (Note the above links are just my favorite "examples" of these issues not even a good indicator of the real problems therein, everyone has their own grievances) And this IS the heart of the issue. Any one sane, any one with a high level of skill isn't going to want to work in an environment where they aren't in control where someone can yank the carpet out from under them at any given moment. No one is going to stay long when new browsers and missing packages create more work, or work that has to be re-done to deal with some edge case or issue that literally came out of nowhere. Front end people see those of us working on server side code where we have a HIGH degree of control (orders of magnitude) and realize how bad it is for themselves. Simply put any one who is good invests the time and energy to get OUT of that line of work. Tallent will quickly migrate away from the broken foundation of the front end. This only serves to exacerbate the situation, as a new "smart" person onboards thinking "I can do this better" and being right to some degree.