Kevin: Hey, have you tried Vite for Rails 8? It’s insanely fast. John: I’ve heard of it. Isn’t that a build tool? Didn’t Rails already come with one? K: Well, it did, but Vite is like… modern. You’ll need to install Node, npm, and configure a few scripts, but it’s totally worth it. J: Wait, Rails needs Node now? K: Well, yeah — if you want to use React. Everyone’s using React. J: Didn’t Rails have something for that? K: It did, but now you’ll want to use Vite with React Refresh so you get instant component reloads. And if you want TypeScript support, you’ll have to configure that too. J: Sounds… like a lot. K: Oh, not really. Just install Babel, configure your .babelrc, add vite-plugin-ruby, then you’ll want PostCSS for your styles. J: PostCSS? K: Yeah, and then Tailwind, obviously — you don’t want to write CSS like a peasant. J: Of course not. K: Then you’ll probably want to add ESLint and Prettier to make sure your code looks clean, and maybe Husky for pre-commit hooks. J: So... Vite, React, Babel, PostCSS, Tailwind, ESLint, Prettier, Husky. That’s it? K: Pretty much. Oh, unless you want server-side rendering — then you’ll need Next.js or Remix. J: Wait, we’re still talking about a Rails app, right? K: Yeah, but hybrid stacks are the way to go! You could also use StimulusReflex or Hotwire if you want reactive components without JS frameworks. J: StimulusReflex sounds like a Marvel character. K: Ha! No, it’s for real-time updates. But you’ll need ActionCable configured, Redis running, and— J: Redis? K: Yeah, you need a pub/sub layer. Don’t worry, it’s just another Docker container. J: Docker too? K: Yeah, to isolate your dependencies. And if you want everything reproducible, you’ll need Docker Compose, maybe Fly.io for deployment, and a build pipeline with GitHub Actions. J: That’s... quite a setup. K: It’s just modern web development, man. Keeps things simple. What are you doing? J: Just tinkering. (John runs a single command. The app boots instantly, working forms, instant loading times, blazing fast navigation.) K: Wow, that looks like a pretty complex setup. What stack’s that? J: Vanilla Rails. Just F#$%^& use Rails.