So glad to see this article, I've long wondered how this "virtual DOM is faster" myth got accepted as gospel when clearly it's pure overhead, compared to a well written app that updates the DOM directly only when needed (which I find is easy to accomplish in most apps).

Can't speak to the svelte approach due to inexperience with it, but good to see this myth challenged - react.js is fine but I worry there's been a cargo cult mentality around it, that it's The One True Modern Way To Do Web Apps, when really it's a tradeoff that involves some extra layers and performance baggage, and like any tool you need to weigh the pros and cons.