become more obscure in functionality to the point where some names literally describe what they do

There’s several benefits to splitting code into multiple packages, whether it be a library, micro-services or micro-frontends.

But I believe the core philosophy of tiny modules is actually sound and easier to maintain than giant frameworks.

Write modules that are small. Iterate quickly.

Again, this is all opinion-based, and due to the sheer number of developers who rely on this technology as their bread and butter, sub-communities and religiousness forms around patterns, anti-patterns, practices, de-facto standards, micro-packages, polyfills, frameworks, build-tools, etc.

While various shortcomings of the standard run-time library are the obvious, immediate reason for the creation of micro-packages

Each library is maintained in its own repository, allowing decentralized ownership and independent release cycles.

D3 4.0 is modular. Instead of one library, D3 is now many small libraries that are designed to work together. You can pick and choose which parts to use as you see fit.

The default bundle combines about thirty of these microlibraries.

Microlibraries are easier to understand, develop and test. They make it easier for new people to get involved and contribute. They reduce the distinction between a “core module” and a “plugin”, and increase the pace of development in D3 features.

A MicroJS library is a small JavaScript library with a single purpose; you’ve already seen me use a variation of this phrase several times in this article

These applications load faster and foster a good modular development approach.

Another important MicroJS attribute is independence. Ember, Backbone—even Bootstrap to a degree–have hard dependencies on other libraries. For example, all three rely on jQuery. A good MicroJS library stands by itself with no dependencies. There are exceptions to the rule, but in general, any dependency is another small MicrojJS library.

Micro-frameworks are definitely the pocketknives of the JavaScript library world: short, sweet, to the point. And at 5k and under, micro-frameworks are very very portable. A micro-framework does one thing and one thing only — and does it well. No cruft, no featuritis, no feature creep, no excess anywhere.