Breathing New Life into Legacy Web Apps with HTMX

Modernizing legacy server-side web applications often feels daunting, especially when popular solutions like full rewrites with modern front-end frameworks tend to create more problems than they solve. The constant churn of JavaScript frameworks, dependency management, and endless updates not only introduce technical debt but also pull developers away from building the features that matter.

In this session, we’ll explore a different path forward with HTMX—a lightweight library that allows you to modernize your legacy MVC apps without a costly, time-consuming rewrite. With HTMX, you can introduce dynamic, modern behaviors into your existing app, eliminating the need for complex JavaScript frameworks while minimizing the technical debt that comes with them.

We’ll dive into practical examples of integrating HTMX into legacy systems to improve performance and user experience, all while keeping your app simple and manageable. You’ll learn how to avoid the endless cycle of framework updates and focus on what developers truly care about: delivering great features.

This session is perfect for developers tired of dealing with the complexity of modern front-end frameworks and those looking for a pragmatic, pain-free path to modernizing their legacy apps without getting bogged down by dependencies and rework.

About Michael Carducci

Michael Carducci spent years learning to see things as they actually are; first as a magician, then as a software architect, now as both simultaneously. And somehow that’s not even the whole story.

He’s the author of Mastering Software Architecture (Apress, 2025) and is currently writing The Semantic Layer. He has spent over 25 years following interesting problems; through roles from individual contributor to CTO and back again, across industries and continents.

As a speaker, he applies the same toolkit he uses in close-up magic: attention, misdirection, timing, storytelling, and the instinct to take the long way around when that’s where the truth lives. Audiences at hundreds of conferences across four continents have described his talks as the kind that change how you think about a problem rather than just what you know about it.

He also makes YouTube videos about technology and curiosity with his wife Kate, because some ideas are too important (or too interesting!) to leave only in conference rooms.

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