Frontend Research Institute
Investigate the web. Break things. Understand why.
- Product
- Frontend Research Institute
- Status
- Active
- Stack
- Next.js, TypeScript, React, Tailwind CSS
- Updated
- 2026-09-22
The problem
Most frontend knowledge is passed on as rules without reasons. Understanding why something works is what lets you fix it when it does not.
The answer
What we built instead.
A research institute for frontend engineering with real content: twenty-two interactive experiments, five research dossiers, three case files and a myth archive covering browser rendering, CSS layout, the JavaScript event loop, React reconciliation, Core Web Vitals, networking, security and accessibility. Every claim is cited against a specification, reproducible in a bench, or labelled as a simplified model.
22 interactive experiments
Each one has a briefing with a prediction step, an instrument you operate and an observation log.
Research mode
Technical write-ups with a scroll-spy table of contents and numbered references.
Case files and myth archive
Real-world performance mysteries solved step by step, and common frontend myths tested.
Cited or reproducible
Every claim is backed by a specification, a bench on the site, or labelled as a model.
How it behaves
From input to result, in 4 moves.
Predict
Say what you think the browser will do.
Operate
Run the instrument and push the model.
Observe
The log records what actually happened.
Explain
Read why, with references.
Try it
Try the idea without leaving the page.
A small playground built with browser APIs. It shows the principle; the real tool does far more.
Style & layout
Styles resolve, then boxes get sizes and positions. Most jank starts here.
Under the hood
Under the hood.
- SiteNext.js App Router · TypeScript
- BenchesPlain React, code-split and client-only · No UI, animation or 3D library
- StylingTailwind CSS v4 design tokens
Who it is for
Frontend engineers
Understand the platform underneath the frameworks.
Teams
Settle debates about rendering and performance with a reproducible bench.
Put Frontend Research Institute to work.
Works alongside