In this episode, we talk about optimizing your Livewire applications by using AlpineJS for simple UI interactions instead of always relying on Livewire states and network requests.
We start by discussing how toggling a simple state like 'editing' using Livewire actually triggers a network request, which isn't always necessary—especially for basic UI behaviors. As an example, we go through creating a new toggle component the usual Livewire way, and then show what really happens under the hood: each toggle sends a roundtrip to the server.
To illustrate a better approach for these little bits of state, we rebuild that same toggle interaction but this time using AlpineJS. With Alpine, all the editing state is kept on the client, so toggling something like Edit mode becomes instant—no network calls, no waiting, and things stay super smooth.
You'll see exactly how to set this up with Alpine, and why it's worthwhile for things like toggling visibility or showing edit forms in-place. We also chat about where the line is: a couple Livewire toggles don't hurt, but if your app is heavy on interactivity (or needs buttery transitions), leaning on Alpine can really help.