Stop Using JS for Everything: Harnessing the Power of Pure CSS

Modern CSS has quietly made huge chunks of UI JavaScript obsolete. Features like :has() for parent-based styling, native popovers, container queries, scroll-driven animations, and scroll-snap now handle what once required jQuery or Stimulus controllers. For Rails 8 developers using Hotwire, this means smaller JS bundles, less client-side state, and more resilient UIs with zero extra code.