Compilers in styling web UI
summary
Argues compilers solve two concrete problems: fragile interoperability across frameworks and the runtime cost of CSS-in-JS abstractions. Shows an experimental language, ESS (Element Style Sheets), that compiles to React components, Flow types and a single static CSS file, performs color transforms and dead‑code elimination at build time, and collapses atomic rules when safe. Measures include a cited example where a 170 KB bundle causes 170 KB -> 3.4s fetch plus parse and compile overhead, motivating a compile-to-CSS-and-JS approach that reduces runtime work.
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