Component Archaeology
An interface dig · est. 1984

Front-end history, read in cross-section.

Component Archaeology traces a single interface component — the dialog, the button, the select — straight down through every era of front-end history. Each study runs the real thing as it was built in its time, beside the original source and the reasoning behind it. Dig where you like.

Start with the Dialog → 3 studies published · 8 layers each

The strata

One time axis, every component. Row height is proportional to how long each approach dominated. The hatched bands are pre-web context layers. Read downward — oldest at the bottom.

3 studies published Start with The Dialog →

The studies

Long-form, with runnable demos of every era and the original source.

Every study runs the real component as it shipped in its era — a period recreation you can click — beside the original API and a written argument about what each generation gained and gave up.