In defense of polyfills

This article defends the use of polyfills in web development, responding to a comment from WHATWG spec editor Anne van Kesteren that polyfilling is harmful. The author, a spec editor and library author, argues polyfills are a net positive for the Web, emphasizing that developers want native behavior without breakage. They compare polyfill failures to plane crashes, advocating for post-mortems rather than banning the practice. The article explores the trade-offs between polyfill adoption and preserving native API design flexibility, concluding that concerns are well-intentioned but often overlook human factors and developer behavior. It is a technical opinion piece relevant to web standards, JavaScript, and web platform development.