> Even if you use React in small areas where it pulls its weight but generally try and stick to simplicity of sending plain ol' HTML
The reason why so many apps use React/Vue/whatever for everything is because this hybrid setup is far from simple. It leaves you with two different ways of rendering views, which creates unnecessary context switching for developers, and the interface between the two is often ugly and complicated and prone to memory leaks if you're not careful. It also prevents you from taking advantage of the most powerful patterns in these frameworks, which rely on the assumption that it's running as a single page app.
The fact is, if your app has functions that require a JavaScript framework to work, the most straightforward answer is to build the whole app in that framework, rather than trying to cobble together multiple front end systems.
I've come to the same conclusion. Heck, as a solo developer, it is quite hard to keep in mind all the different states (server, client, request, session...) and on top of it make it also reactive. Mixing things increases the complexity.
The reason why so many apps use React/Vue/whatever for everything is because this hybrid setup is far from simple. It leaves you with two different ways of rendering views, which creates unnecessary context switching for developers, and the interface between the two is often ugly and complicated and prone to memory leaks if you're not careful. It also prevents you from taking advantage of the most powerful patterns in these frameworks, which rely on the assumption that it's running as a single page app.
The fact is, if your app has functions that require a JavaScript framework to work, the most straightforward answer is to build the whole app in that framework, rather than trying to cobble together multiple front end systems.