What We Lost with PHP and jQuery

There was a time when building a website felt straightforward. You'd write some HTML, add PHP for dynamic content, sprinkle in jQuery for interactions, upload it to your server, and you were done. No package managers, no build processes, no debates about hydration strategies.

My first big personal project was built using both PHP and jQuery. I miss those days. It was easy, write some PHP and JavaScript, copy the files, and refresh the page.