Sinuous

Sinuous — tiny reactive UI library with observable-based reactivity.

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FrameworkSinuous 0.x

Why

Sub-3kb, no virtual DOM, fine-grained reactivity via observables. JavaScript is used by 62% of developers per the Stack Overflow 2024 survey, and React holds 40% framework market share (State of JS 2024).

Vite replaced Webpack as the default bundler, cutting dev server startup from 30s to <1s.

When

Use for ultra-light interactivity. Avoid for complex component trees.

How

1. npm install sinuous 2. Create observable state 3. Compose with template literals 4. Mount 5. Add environment configuration — cp .env.example .env && edit values 6. Run tests — npm test or pnpm test to verify setup 7. Deploy — git push to trigger CI/CD or manual deploy

Example

import { o, html } from 'sinuous'; const count = o(0); const app = html`<button onclick=${() => count(count() + 1)}>${count}</button>`;

Common Problems

⚠Observable not tracked — ensure read happens in render context
⚠Memory leaks — dispose observables on unmount
⚠Configuration drift between environments — use infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Pulumi) to keep dev/staging/prod identical

Best Practices

✓Use computed() for derived state
✓Batch updates for performance
✓Set up health checks and graceful shutdown — handle SIGTERM to drain in-flight requests before exit

FAQ

What is Sinuous and what projects is it for?

Sinuous — tiny reactive UI library with observable-based reactivity. It pairs layered technologies for end-to-end type safety and out-of-the-box deploys, fitting everything from MVPs to production SaaS.

How do I spin up a working demo with Sinuous in 10 minutes?

Two steps: (1) npm install sinuous; (2) Create observable state. Get the local dev server running, then wire one real data source to verify the end-to-end loop.

What is the most common pitfall with Sinuous and how do I avoid it?

The most common pitfall is: Observable not tracked — ensure read happens in render context. Avoid it by adding the matching checklist to your PR template and running type-check + lint + unit tests in CI — three gates before merge.

What are the best practices for Sinuous?

Best practices for Sinuous include: Use computed() for derived state; Batch updates for performance; Set up health checks and graceful shutdown — handle SIGTERM to drain in-flight requests before exit. The first one — "Use computed() for derived state" — should be set up at project init to avoid costly rework later.

When should I NOT choose Sinuous?

Pick something else in three cases: (1) the team has zero experience with the core framework and the deadline is tight (learning-curve risk); (2) it's a pure content/marketing site (Astro is lighter); (3) you need very high throughput (>10k RPS) or strict-consistency microservices (Go/Rust). Sinuous shines for mid-to-high complexity full-stack and API work — don't over-engineer simple static pages with it.