>> Even modest SPAs reach into the tens of thousands of lines.
I still don't get how we got from fifty lines of code for a form with simple client side validation to a React/Vue/Angular/Next version that needs 100 different modules and a thousand lines of code to replicate. Why do people see this as a huge advancement in front-end development?
Because people are writing applications, not forms. As software engineering has gotten easier, customers have demanded more complicated applications.
Modest SPAs do have a lot of code. So does a C++ Win32 application that calls into some central datastore. The complexity is not a byproduct of languages or libraries, but rather the customer's complicated needs.
Those libraries are providing a lot more than just simple validation though. Bunch of advanced validation rules, masking, etc. I'm sure if you dive into any of those modules you'd be able to see why. Not saying there isn't dependency bloat but it's not like people are creating these for the sake of it.
I still don't get how we got from fifty lines of code for a form with simple client side validation to a React/Vue/Angular/Next version that needs 100 different modules and a thousand lines of code to replicate. Why do people see this as a huge advancement in front-end development?