What web technology will be outdated in the next couple of years?

[Dani]

Any predictions for the next Macromedia/Adobe Flash?

[rproffitt]

For now it's LLMs and GPT. We don't have AI or AGI yet. While there has been a pause in NVDA chip development and META's workforce, this is still the place to go. "Aug 3, 2025 — Big Tech has cut over 100,000 jobs this year — and the AI revolution is just getting started."

It's bad news for jobs.

[Dani]

Naa, I don't think LLMs are going to go the way of the do-do bird. I think quite the opposite, actually. I think this is just the beginning of natural language AI, and that the technology will only improve and continue to permeate industries in the years to come. It might not look exactly the way it looks today, but I don't think it will go extinct anytime soon.

Or, wait, am I misunderstanding you? You say it's bad news for jobs because the AI revolution is just getting started and taking over the workforce. That's the opposite of you replying to this topic with AI being the next web technology to go away.

[Dani]

I used LLM and AI interchangeably here as it’s colloquially known. I agree that we aren’t living in the era of true artificial intelligence, or artificial consciousness as it were.

[rproffitt]

Paul Klugman and many others are pointing out cracks in the "AI" bubble. I've shared some of these thoughts here and there but not all in one place.

We have an administration that is pro "AI" but against any solar, wind or green energy developments. If you need examples, just ask.

This is at odds with the need for my electrical generation. It's driven by his visual nature and the oil and gas industry that wants to do trillions of more business.

So where the US get the electric power for these data centers? And why aren't the pollution controls on Xai's generators?
"None of the 35 methane gas turbines that help power xAI’s massive supercomputer is equipped with pollution controls typically required by federal rules."

THIS IS NOT POLITICAL. It's an assault on our rights and our economic well being that enriches the few.

[Dani]

THIS IS NOT POLITICAL. It's an assault on our rights and our economic well being that enriches the few.

On the contrary, it definitely is political. Politics, by definition, is anything having to do with any government, administration within the government, powers that be in the government, the activities of any such person or group within the government, or people or parties hoping to achieve power within the government. You spoke multiple times on the current administration, the motivation of people within the current administration, disparagement on the current administration, etc. That is as political as it gets. Or is the assault on your rights being performed by your friends and family, and absolutely nothing to do with the government or any trickle-down effect from the government?

[rproffitt]

The assault is on all of us as the Xai generators spew pollutants.

Call that political if you wish.

[Dani]

So what does that have to do with which web technology you think will be oudated in the next couple of years?

[medonasteve]

Honestly, tech moves so fast that a few things we use today won’t be around for long. Stuff like jQuery is pretty much on its way out because modern frameworks do the job better. AngularJS is already deprecated, and even older versions of Angular are slowly losing ground to React, Vue, and newer options like Svelte. Anything like Flash or old browser plugins—yeah, they’re history. Also, those basic static HTML sites with zero optimization won’t cut it anymore since speed and mobile experience are a big deal now. Basically, if it’s slow, outdated, or hard to scale, it’s not going to survive the next few years.

[Dani]

Perhaps you're unaware that I'm one of the very few eagerly awaiting jQuery 4 :)

Yes, yes, I know.

[john_111]

Talking about things like React, Vue, CodeIgniter, Laravel and all other all in one packages taking over is unrealistic.

You can only use these things properly if you already know other things inside out (programming languages for example) and can dig into them to find how to do something that you want. Security features are the big thing that most of them push. But the average small site builder can happy work along with their club's web site or their hobby web site or their one man business site, built by simple html, css, and JQuery (and PHP with MySql / MariaDB if it pulls stuff from a database). They all still work. You don't need a site with the security levels of a bank if you don't actually sell anything or handle money or other people's personal details in any way through the site. Yes, some programming with PHP might help you, but something that is effectively a six page advert for your self employed job as a plumber, or gardener, or boat repairer that doesn't involve money changing hands through the site doesn't need state of the art code and security. And remember, not every PHP powered site needs a personal, onsite, login system.

Do you really think we should all dump all JQuery or PHP sites and rewrite all our sites from scratch to do what they already do just now?

[Zinavo]

Interesting thread It seems the consensus is that older, unoptimized tech like Query and legacy frameworks are on their way out, while modern frameworks like React and Vue are here to stay. However, a simple HTML/CSS/JS stack is still relevant.

[fabwebstudio]

In the fast-changing world of web development, some technologies naturally phase out as better alternatives emerge. For example, jQuery is already seeing a decline since modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular handle DOM manipulation more efficiently. Similarly, older PHP versions and traditional monolithic CMS platforms are gradually being replaced by headless CMS and Jamstack architectures, which offer more flexibility, speed, and scalability.

That said, “outdated” doesn’t always mean “useless.” Many of these tools will still exist in legacy systems, but businesses looking for future-ready solutions will increasingly adopt modern frameworks, cloud-native applications, and microservices over the next few years.

[Reverend Jim]

The problem with the technology changing so quickly is that it becomes hard to decide what platform to commit to. Do you go with something that has been around a while (and may become obsolete) or do you commit to a relatively new technology that will be abandoned when something "better" comes along?

[Salem]

or do you commit to a relatively new technology that will be abandoned when something "better" comes along?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

When the cycle time reaches the point, that by the time you've finished reading about it, it's already out of date.

On the plus side, with the rate of enshittification of the online world, even the AI's will give up reading it. 99% of the stuff "out there" will be the collective hallucinations of all the bots. None of them will be able to tell what is true, or just hot garbage.

[fabwebstudio]

Predicting exactly which technologies will become obsolete is tricky, but we can look at current trends and industry adoption:

Flash – This is already largely phased out. Modern browsers no longer support it, and HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript provide better, faster alternatives.

jQuery (in some cases) – While still widely used, many of jQuery’s features are now native in modern JavaScript (ES6+), and frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular are replacing jQuery in large-scale applications.

PHP (legacy versions) – PHP itself isn’t going anywhere, but older versions and outdated CMS plugins (like old WordPress PHP plugins) are becoming a security and performance risk. Modern web development increasingly favors Node.js, Python, or serverless architectures.

Table-based layouts & older HTML standards – These are no longer industry-standard; modern CSS (Flexbox, Grid) and responsive frameworks dominate web design.

Traditional multi-page reload websites – With Single Page Applications (SPAs) and Jamstack architectures gaining popularity, websites that rely heavily on full-page reloads may feel outdated.

Conclusion:
Web development is always evolving. Technologies that are slow, insecure, or fail to meet modern UX expectations will gradually phase out. Staying updated with frameworks like React, Vue, Next.js, Node.js, and Jamstack can future-proof your skills.