I smell NIH all over the post. This guy probably:

- Hasn't been through hard deadlines, proof-of-concept software, silly client requirements (like IE8 support) and other things that need to be done quick and dirty.

- Hasn't written against monolithic frameworks, legacy code or enterprise software. The web scene is fast moving, these software don't. You have to make do with what is available, most of which are old code and frameworks.

- This guy probably hasn't seen the horrors of the web past and hasn't been burned for failing to make some functionality cross-browser friendly.

- Doesn't have an idea of cross-browser support. How do you AJAX when `fetch` isn't cross-browser yet? How do you deep-clone when Object.assign isn't IE-friendly. Are you willing to waste time writing what libraries already do for you?

- Hasn't written a large scale app. I've seen terrible things written in jQuery. How much more terrible would it be without it?

It's not jQuery's, or Bootstrap's fault. It's all about using the right tools at the right time the right way.

Besides, jQuery and Bootstrap both can be custom-built to what you need and not include everything. But then, the author probably didn't know that.

There are also lighter libraries like Zepto and Pure, but the author may have not known those as well.

jQuery brought us cross-browser compatibility at a time when dealing with multiple browsers was a big PITA.

It also made it simple to interact with the DOM and provided capabilities in animation and such that were not yet available in css.

Bootstrap made it easy for non-designers to build nice looking sites. Sure, they all looked the same and it's bloated, but it helped to handle layout for those who didn't know better (the author could take some tips there).

So, if we look at these tools as introductions too, and provide people to quickly develop working sites better than they can without, is that so bad?

For high-quality production websites, these libraries and frameworks should be used in moderation, if at all.

I for one am thankful for jQuery, Bootstrap, Backbone and many others for continuing my education and helping me build sites that people enjoy using.

We're now ripping out a bunch of Angular and Backbone on a project at work and going back to plain library free javascript and css (though we're using sass, so not sure if I can say it is completely free).

Bootstrap and jquery? When was this written, five years ago?