Is the Knit Framework still reliable?

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#1

As many of you know, Knit has stopped receiving updates. It’s an awesome library.

I wanted to ask if Knit is still reliable, or if there are any forks or alternatives currently being developed?

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#2

I didn’t get any answers, so I’ll talk on my own.

This post was from 2 days ago, and I had to choose between creating module scripts myself or using Knit.

I preferred to use my own module scripts because the IntelliSense situation is pretty bad. Also, I saw many comments mentioning that it’s outdated.

I would still like to hear other opinions, though.

#3

I’m facing the same dilemma, but it looks like the creator wrote an article addressing this topic: Knit, its history, and how to build it better. | by Stephen | Medium

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#4

Yes, instead of Knit, require ModuleScripts. There’s really not much more that needs to be said.

If you still believe in frameworks, I’m only aware of one worth using right now: Prvd 'M Wrong (type-safe API, so you’ll get Intellisense). However, it’s not production-ready, and I would prefer to just use my own ModuleScripts, anyways.

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#5

Yes, instead of Knit, require ModuleScripts. There’s really not much more that needs to be said.

Seems like this is what everyone is saying about this matter recently, but quite frankly this is an unhelpful non answer.

Knit provided not only a framework with useful tools like a end to end networking library, but also served as a standard paradigm for inexperiened devs to follow. Albiet the usage of singletons it imposed was not the most optimal solution to every devs’ needs, it was still a useful crutch.

“Just use module scripts” provides none of that. It lacks the clear structure Knit provided and is the main reason why people are still writing posts like this to this day, despite its creator deprecating the framework and chanting the same unsympathetic line. It’s like taking fire away from a neanderthal because it’s “dangerous” and giving him electricity with no means of harnessing it.

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#6

If you are so keen on the structure that Knit provided, You could always just use RbxUtil’s Loader and Comm module to achieve the same if not better effect.

#7

The problem is that this “standard paradigm” is based on Java frameworks and the MVC (model-view-controller) pattern, which makes sense to use with the classic way roblox games are developed (static UI placed in StarterGui).

But as the ecosystem has matured, it has begun migrating towards using UI Frameworks (React, Fusion, etc), in which knit doesn’t make as much sense anymore due to the former’s declarative nature. (mostly the “view” and “controller” don’t really mix well with it anymore).

Adding onto this is are the intellisense problems, so you can see how as a whole you can’t really recommend this as the way to make games going forward, let alone THE standard for making games.

more arguments against knit you can also argue that controllers aren't a good fit for *classically developed* roblox games either, since you can just parent localscripts directly under the Gui instances and it's more convenient for beginner developers.

with regards to the networking tools, I don’t think its a strong argument in favor of knit the fact that it uses an external networking library, Comm. It includes a bunch of boilerplate to set up and is barely any more useful than using the Net library. (both by the same creator).

Regardless, I don’t think there’s anything inherently bad about using and/or learning Knit. I understand and agree with the need for a standard and/or structure to follow, specially for people who’s only background for programming is roblox. When you first learn Knit it makes you feel powerful and spend less time figuring out the networking, and more time actually developing your game.

But this definitely can’t be the industry standard in its current state. It’s simply outdated and contradicts the direction the development environment is heading towards. (Roblox themselves kickstarted this change by porting React to Luau)

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#8

It’s best to write your own code with module scripts and programming concepts

Also iirc Knit worked on single-script structure which doesn’t support parrarel luau, very usefull tool for optimization

Frameworks only advantage to modular programming is having logic for tools like clearing, UUID, OOP and stuff like that already made, so you don’t need to write it again, but really most of them are usually not used that much, and writing them takes little to no time