The most popular Frontend links from 2017
Each week Statuscode sends out an email newsletter to over 80,000 frontend web developers, bringing together the best links, articles, tutorials and videos from the past seven days.
We’ve dug through the data and pulled together some highlights from the past tweleve months, including popular frameworks, the rise of CSS Grid and some helpful cheatsheets.
Here, we share what frontend developers have been reading in 2017.
Three New CSS Features to Learn in 2017
Ire Aderinokun | Shared in January’s Issue 273
This article from early 2017 saw plenty of clicks, with developers clearly wanting to looking ahead to what new techniques they can start to learn and implement.
Here, Ire Aderinokun shares her excitement about the opportunity to adopt features such as Feature Queries, Grid Layout and Native Variables.
Have you tried any of them yet? In production?
The Mega HTML5 Cheatsheet
Bradley Nice | Shared in September’s Issue 309
There’s a lot of stuff packed into this huge infographic, covering things like tags and events to canvas methods. A good resource, especially to share with those just getting started.
Bootstrap 4 Beta Release
Mark Otto | Shared in August’s Issue 303
The beta for Version 4 of this popular frontend framework finally arrived this summer, after two years of work. Major changes include the framework now being Flexbox based and a switch from Less to Sass.
Shoelace.css: A Pure CSS Alternative to Bootstrap
Talking of Bootstrap, this alternative offers a more ‘back to basics’ approach, “for when you don’t need the whole boot”.
Debugging Tips and Tricks
Sarah Drasner | Shared in April’s Issue 285
This fantastic round-up from April covers concepts, tools, and things to consider when doing one of a developer’s most important tasks: debugging.
The State of CSS: 5 Things You Don’t Need Anymore?
Ryan Oglesby | Shared in June’s Issue 293
Ryan Oglesby shares five supposedly ‘old-fashioned’ CSS practices that you may not need anymore (like using floats or grid libraries) and offers up ideas on what you can use instead.
Does CSS Grid Replace Flexbox?
Robin Rendle | Shared in April’s Issue 284
CSS Grid articles proved to be very popular this year. Here, Robin explores if it’s an outright replacement for Flexbox — in short, no.
You do not need a CSS Grid based Grid System
Rachel Andrew | Shared in July’s Issue 297
Talking of Grid, here Rachel explains why you don’t need a fancy grid system when using grid, because, well ...it already is one.
The Front-End Checklist
Brandon Morelli | Shared in November’s Issue 315
A really helpful, and exhaustive list of all the elements you need to have in place and tested before launching your site.
HEAD: Everything To Go In Your HTML’s ‘head’
Josh Buchea | Shared in October’s Issue 313
Starts from the usual basics (title, charset, etc.) but works up to a significant number of meta and link tags useful in various situations.
Is it really safe to start using CSS Grid Layout?
Rachel Andrew | Shared in July’s Issue 298
Now Grid has some solid browser support you can consider using it in production, but what about older browsers? Rachel shares some more thoughts on Grid here, covering what to do with old browsers and how to make good decisions about your technology choices.
Enjoyed this roundup? Why not give it a 👏 clap or 👏👏👏 three?
Interested in receving Frontend Focus, our weekly email covering all things HTML, CSS and browser tech? You can sign up here. A good way to stay sharp in 2018. 😉
Thanks for reading!
