The framework / tooling bloat is causing a bubble to form; it needs to be simplified, now. It can be done cleanly, but SPA often is not. You are correct in your

The framework / tooling bloat is causing a bubble to form; it needs to be simplified, now. It can be done cleanly, but SPA often is not. You are correct in your assessment, even though the cargo-cultists will say otherwise. It doesn't need to be thrown out, it needs improved standards, focusing on simplicity, http >= 2, and domain-specific concerns, such as state management, routing, etc. The innovation in the space is mostly over, time to give it an injection of standard and boring. And, for the love of God, can we really not do better than the virtual-DOM for updates? In-memory copies? Really?