Reference

FAQ

Answers to common questions about Bascik.

How do you pronounce Bascik? Where does the name come from?

Just like "basic." The idea is basic, the implementation is basic in theory, and the usage is basic. It felt like the right word.

The spelling comes from my maternal grandmother's maiden name. So the name is unique and means something personal.

Isn't BASIC already a programming language?

Yes. In fact some of my earliest exposure to programming was to TI-Basic on my friends calculator. BASIC is an old programming language and enough time has passed. It can take on new meaning.

What is Bascik?

Bascik is a build tool for HTML components. You write reusable components in plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. At build time, Bascik resolves your custom tags to their component source, scopes CSS and JavaScript so they never collide across instances, and outputs a directory of plain HTML files. Zero JavaScript is added to your pages — every script in the output was written by you.

By default the output is fully static and can be hosted anywhere. If you need per-request dynamic content, the production server lets you run server-side scripts that inject into specific sections of a page at request time, while everything else stays static.

For a deeper look: Components, Scoped CSS, Scoped JavaScript, Getting Started.

Who made Bascik?

Bascik was created by Collin Thomas.

Why did you build Bascik?

I wanted the fastest websites and dashboards but I needed components. I just wanted to use the foundational languages and not have some abstraction layer, and I didn't want to have to learn a tool, and I didn't want JavaScript at runtime as a bottleneck.

Components have always been a JavaScript thing. Web Components tried to make it native but it's still JavaScript, and there's always Shadow DOM or virtual DOM involved. We don't need any of that. You can write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and use it in multiple places on a site, you just need to copy it and scope it. That's really all it is, just a bunch of regex to make it happen.

It seems like a big undertaking but the web standards are so well defined that you have an obtainable target. It'll just take some effort. So that's what I did.

Then I saw the rise of AI-assisted coding and thought, this tool I've been building is going to be perfect for that. Tooling exists for humans to use. AI doesn't need React, humans need React. Giving AI a tool that doesn't impose its own rules and just lets you write the fundamental web languages is going to be great for both humans and AI-assisted coding.

What happens if I name a component after a native HTML element?

If you create a file like nav.html or div.html, Bascik will print a warning in the terminal when starting the dev server or running a build, and still load it:

warning: Component "nav" has the same name as a native HTML element.
This may cause unexpected behaviour, consider a hyphenated name like "my-nav".

The component will conflict with every occurrence of that element in your pages. All your <nav> tags would be replaced by the component content, most likely breaking your site entirely.

Always use a hyphenated name for components, for example site-nav.html instead of nav.html. This follows the HTML custom element convention: a hyphen in the tag name is how browsers (and Bascik) distinguish a component from a built-in element.

What happens if I use uppercase letters in a component filename?

Component names are normalized to lowercase when loaded. My-Card.html registers as my-card and is used as <my-card> in pages.

If you have two files that differ only in case (for example my-card.html and My-Card.html), they both map to the same my-card component key and the last one loaded wins. Avoid this situation by using consistent lowercase filenames.

Can I use Bascik with JavaScript libraries like Alpine.js or HTMX?

Yes. Bascik's output is plain HTML. Any library that works with HTML works with Bascik. Drop a <script> tag in and it loads like it always has. See the JavaScript Libraries page for examples.

Does Bascik add any JavaScript to my pages?

No. Bascik is a build-time tool. The output is plain HTML, CSS, and exactly the JavaScript you wrote. No runtime script is injected into your pages.

Do I need to restart the dev server when I add a new component?

No. The dev server watches the components directory. Drop a new .html (or paired .css) file in and all pages that use that tag are automatically re-transpiled and reloaded. No restart required.

Can Bascik components be nested?

Yes. Components can use other components inside their markup. Bascik resolves nested components recursively at build time.

What does Bascik output?

A directory of plain .html files (and your assets). No client-side JavaScript framework, no special server required. Any static host (Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, S3, or a plain Nginx server) can serve it.