Midjourney engineer Cheng Lou unveils Pretext, an open-source standard designed to eliminate expensive layout recalculation processes that have plagued web development for decades.

Cheng Lou, known for contributions to React, ReScript, and Midjourney, announced the new 'Pretext' standard on March 27, 2026

The web currently suffers from 'layout reflow' — an invisible but expensive operation where browsers must recalculate entire page geometry whenever developers need layout information

The new open-source standard aims to address the architectural mismatch between the web's original design for static documents and its current use for complex, interactive, generative interfaces

The solution could significantly improve web performance by eliminating the need for constant DOM geometry recalculation, analogous to a city redrawing its entire map each time a resident opens their door