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htmlcat.net: A Reference for Native Web UI Without Libraries

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A new reference site called htmlcat.net catalogs ways to build UI and interactivity using only the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that browsers already ship with, no external libraries required. It covers CSS features like :has(), @scope, and Container Queries alongside native components like the dialog element and the Popover API. For developers who reach for a library every time they need a modal or a tooltip, the site is a reminder of how much has quietly moved into the browser itself. What the site actually is htmlcat.net is organized around a simple premise: before installing a UI library, check whether the browser can already do it. The site lists concrete techniques, grouped by CSS and by HTML/JS, for building components that used to require third-party code. On the CSS side, it highlights the :has() selector, which lets a parent element be styled based on what it contains, effectively enabling parent-based conditional styling that was previously impossible without JavaScript. I...