Writing Maintainable JavaScript Without a Framework

Not every page needs React. For small sites, vanilla JavaScript is fast and has no build step. The trick is keeping it organized.

A few habits help:

1. Wrap page scripts in an IIFE so nothing leaks into the global scope.
2. Use addEventListener with event delegation instead of inline handlers.
3. Check that an element exists before you attach a listener to it.
4. Keep DOM selectors in one place near the top of the file.

These rules are simple, but they make a script easy to read six months later.