primitive
CDN
A network of file servers close to visitors. It hands over bytes that already exist. It does not run your app.
Cards, not Wikipedia
What the worksheets are saying.
Two sentences each. If a card is not enough, it becomes a concept page. Dotted terms on result recipes jump here. Hover (or focus) previews the same card without leaving the page.
Where the code runs
primitive
worker
A function that wakes up for one request, runs, and dies. Fine for a form or an API call. A bad home for an open connection.
primitive
serverless
You pay per wake-up, not per month. There is still a server. It is just not yours, and it is not allowed to stay up between requests.
primitive
VPS
A computer you rent by the month. A process you start stays running whether or not anyone is visiting.
primitive
cron
A clock that runs a command even if nobody is visiting. Pages cannot do this. A GitHub Action can, if the job is truly batch.
refuse
hydration
Shipping a JavaScript copy of the page so the framework can attach events. Static HTML does not do this. If you do not have a client app, you do not want it.
Where the data lives
primitive
SQLite
A whole database in one file on disk. Enough for one process and one machine. Leave it when two machines need to write at once.
primitive
Postgres
A database that lives as its own service. Use it when more than one process, or more than one machine, needs the same data.
primitive
ORM
A library that turns tables into objects. Optional. A few SQL queries are a complete architecture.
Getting in
primitive
auth
A way to know who is at the other end of the request. Optional. A shared link is allowed. Accounts are a product decision, not a default.
primitive
magic link
Login by emailing someone a one-time URL. You need mail that arrives. You do not need a password database on day one.
HTML over the wire
vendor · 2026-08-12
HTMX
A library that lets a click swap in HTML from a server. Good when a process returns HTML. Useless on a site that is only files.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Hotwire
Rails and Laravel's version of HTML-over-the-wire. Same job as HTMX. Same requirement: a server that returns HTML.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Alpine
Tiny client JavaScript for show/hide and forms. Fine. Easy to overuse. Under about 150 lines, vanilla wins.
What you are buying
vendor · 2026-08-12
Pages
A host that serves files from a CDN. That is what you are buying. Not a server, not a database.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Railway
A host for a process that stays running. You are buying an always-on box with a git push, not a framework.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Fly
Another host for a process that stays running, with an easy path to more than one region. You are still buying a box.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Stripe
A ledger you can rent. Install it when someone actually pays you. It does not make the rest of the app exist.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Next.js
A React framework that assumes code runs on the server and in the browser, and that hosting is Vercel-shaped. A complete answer for some apps. Not a default for a page of HTML.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Prisma
A popular ORM in TypeScript land. It does not mean you needed a database. SQLite, or no database, is still allowed.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Docker
A way to ship a Linux box as a file. Useful when the app has many moving parts. Not a prerequisite for an HTML file.
vendor · 2026-08-12
Redis
A fast in-memory store people add for cache or queues. A single Postgres or SQLite is allowed to be the only store for a long time.
Things to refuse
refuse
Kubernetes
A system for running many processes across many machines. If you do not have that problem, it is a second job.
refuse
microservices
Splitting one app into many apps that talk over the network. Do this when a specific bottleneck names itself. Not so the repo feels serious.