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Welcome to this week’s issue of WebDevPro!

Before we get into the updates and tools, let’s start with a familiar moment.

Imagine this. You’re deep in a JavaScript codebase, following a clean map and filter chain, when you suddenly land in a class full of mutable state and lifecycle methods. Same language, different mental model. That shift is easy to miss, but over time, it adds real cognitive overhead.

Modern JavaScript often feels more complicated than it needs to be, even when the syntax itself is familiar. JavaScript doesn’t neatly transition from one programming style to another as projects grow. Instead, it accumulates them. You might begin with step-by-step procedural code, adopt functional patterns along the way, and later introduce object-based structures to manage scale. In practice, most real-world codebases blend all three.

In this issue, we'll start with a deep dive into JavaScript, looking at how that layering came to be, why it can make code harder to reason about, and how to approach those tradeoffs with more intention. Then we will move on to the key updates from the past week, and wrap up with a tool worth adding to your workflow.

For many developers, procedural logic is the starting point. Programs are expressed as a sequence of steps executed in a clear and predictable order. Control flow is explicit, and it is easy to follow how data moves through the program.

Loops and conditional statements play a central role in this style. They make execution order visible and help explain how decisions affect program behavior.

for (let i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
if (items[i].active) {
handle(items[i])
}
}

This approach emphasizes execution order and state changes. It works well when programs are small and logic is linear. Importantly, this style never disappears. Even as programs grow, procedural code remains a valid and familiar tool.

As programs become more complex, functional patterns begin to appear more frequently. Array methods and callbacks provide a more concise way to work with collections and reduce repetitive looping logic.

Instead of describing how a loop executes, this style focuses on what transformation is applied to the data.

items
.filter(item => item.active)
.forEach(handle)

Here, intent is clearer, but control flow is less explicit. Readers must understand how each method behaves and how functions are applied. For some, this improves readability. For others, it introduces a new layer of abstraction that requires adjustment.

Crucially, this style does not replace procedural logic. Both approaches coexist, and developers are expected to move between them as needed.

As functional ideas are reinforced, composition becomes more prominent. Functions are treated as reusable building blocks that can be passed around and combined.

This encourages thinking in terms of data flow rather than execution steps. Logic is expressed by chaining operations together, which can make intent clearer while obscuring the underlying sequence of events.

At this stage, developers are often working with at least two distinct paradigms simultaneously: procedural control flow and functional composition.

As programs grow further, object-based organization emerges as a way to manage complexity. Classes and objects group related data and behavior, providing a structural model for larger systems.

class ItemHandler {
handle(item) {
if (item.active) {
// ...
}
}
}

This approach shifts the focus again. Instead of steps or transformations, code is organized around responsibilities and roles.

Object-based organization can improve clarity in large programs, but it introduces a third way of thinking. Procedural, functional, and object-oriented styles now coexist within the same language and often within the same codebase.

A defining characteristic of JavaScript is that new paradigms are added without removing older ones. Procedural logic remains valid even as functional patterns appear. Functional composition continues to be useful when object-based structures are introduced.

Nothing is deprecated at the architectural level. Every style remains available, and developers are free to choose the approach that fits the problem at hand.

This cumulative nature explains why JavaScript codebases often contain a mixture of paradigms. The language supports each style equally and does not enforce a single architectural direction.

As paradigms accumulate, readers and developers must constantly adjust how they interpret code. Different sections of a program may require different mental models depending on the style being used.

This flexibility is powerful, but it increases cognitive load. Understanding a program requires not only knowledge of syntax, but also awareness of which paradigm is currently in play.

Maintaining consistency becomes more challenging as programs grow. The same language constructs can support multiple architectural interpretations depending on context.

JavaScript is not broken. It is intentionally flexible.

The challenge is not choosing the right paradigm, but navigating multiple paradigms at once. When procedural logic, functional composition, and object-based organization coexist, developers must be deliberate about how and when each style is used.

Understanding how these paradigms accumulate rather than replace one another helps explain why modern JavaScript can feel complex even when the individual concepts are familiar.

Want to go deeper? JavaScript from Beginner to Professional is a solid pick for developers transitioning into JavaScript. It uses more than 100 practical exercises and projects to develop real, working JavaScript skills.

⚡Bun Gets Faster with v1.3.7

Bun shipped v1.3.7 last week with a JavaScriptCore update that brings noticeable performance gains, including faster async and await handling and ARM64 improvements. There’s also a new option to generate profiling data in Markdown for easier sharing, along with native support for JSON5 and JSONL.

If you are curious why Bun keeps gaining traction, this article is still a good explainer on what’s driving its adoption.

That’s all for this week. Have any ideas you want to see in the next article? Hit Reply!

Cheers!

Editor-in-chief,

Kinnari Chohan