Web Developer Monthly š»š May 2019
11th issue! If you missed the last few months, check them all out here.
If itās your first time hereā¦(otherwise skip this part)
Being a web developer is a fantastic career option. You have many job opportunities, you can work around the world, and you get to solve hard problems. One thing that is hard, however, is staying up to date with the constantly evolving ecosystem. You want to be a top performing web developer, coder, programer, software developer, but you donāt have time to select from hundreds of articles, videos and podcasts each day.
This monthly newsletter is going to be focused on keeping up to date with the industry, keeping your skills sharp, without wasting your valuable time. I will be sharing the most important articles, podcasts and videos of the month. Think Tim Ferriss and the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) meeting the Software Development world. Whatās the 20% that will get you 80% of the results?
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What you missed in May as a web developerā¦
Whatās Coming Up Next in JavaScript š¤Æ
A really good talk from Google I/O event where we learn what new features JavaScript language has, and also what is coming down the road. Worth the full watch.
Free Tools For Web Developers āļø
Some tools and assets to help you build your next project since we are best friends by now (unless this is your first time reading my articlesā¦ in that case letās take things slow):
- Lorem Picsum for photos. Placeholder photos for your MVP
- Ever wanted to code your own file uploader? Donāt. Use this instead
- A nice free way to host your own websites under 1MB
- Creative Commons Search: find images that you can freely use
- Use the fonts from some of the top websites
- Coolest CSS effect I have seen in a long time
- Tornis library which allows you to react to different viewport events
How Not To Mess Up Git š
A funny quick article on the commands you should use anytime you mess up git commands in your career (probably a weekly occurrence for most developers including myself). Sometimes itās nice to have articles that donāt take themselves too seriously.
Security. Security Issues Everywhere š¦¹āāļø
Letās just say this month was not a great month for security on the web. Why? Where do we beginā¦.
- Docker Hub databases were accessed and some user information was stolen. Same happened to StackOverflow.
- WhatsApp vulnerability allowed spyware to be installed on iPhones.
- ZombieLoad attack really messed up Intel chips (updates on devices with Intel chips will make them slower).
- Facebook probably did something bad again (citation needed)
Electron 5.0 and Hyper 3 are Out! š§āāļø
If you ever wanted to build your own desktop application that runs on all Mac, Windows, and Linux computersā¦and also while using JavaScript, then this library is all you need. With this new version, it is now easier than ever.
Hyper 3, a javascript based terminal that is surprisingly fast is also out (and built with Electron). I know a lot of web developers are using it and loving this tool.
React News š
It wouldnāt be a monthly recap without some React news. What crazy things did they get up to?
- A great article on how and when to use the useReducer hook
- Windows announced their official React Native for Windows. You can use react native code to now have apps on PCs, Augmented Reality devices, and even Xbox.
- A new React component library with accessibility in mind.
Most Important Skill of a Programmer š©āš» šØāš»
Sometimes less is more, and this article make a great point on why you should think about every line of code you write. The rule is simple: Write less code, donāt be clever, keep it simple.
Simple Design Guide š©āšØ
Just because you are a programmer, it doesnāt mean that you shouldnāt think about design. Even if you already have a designer on your team, it never hurts to understand the simple principles that may make you stand out. Check out this article.
If you want to keep going, here is a complete resource guide.
Do We Like the VirtualDOM? š„
A great discussion about the topic of VirtualDOM really popularized by libraries like React. Now, new frameworks like Svelte say that it isnāt necessary. This thread is a great read to understand some of the issues surrounding web development currently (noā¦performance isnāt the only thing we care about)
Powering up your .reduce() š§Ø
reduce() function is always a tough one to wrap your head around. This article does a nice job of giving you some examples of where you may want to use reduce() beyond just summing numbers (but remember the tradeoff in readability of your code).
Clean JavaScript Code š
A nice quick guide on some JavaScript clean code best practices. Iām continuing to type here so this looks more like a paragraph instead of a one liner, and now you can see that I put some effort into thisā¦
I still donāt get WebAssembly š¤·š¼āāļø
Are you ever confused by what WebAssembly can do? This article by eBay engineers shows a great example of where you might benefit from WebAssembly. If you have a problem similar to this at work, you may be able to benefit from WebAssembly and get all the praise from your boss.
Server Side Rendering is Dead? š„¾
A few details are missing here, but the google bot now renders JavaScript when indexing websites and can also render the latest JavaScript features. I hope that in the future the argument that Server Side Rendering is the only way to get good SEO is no longer the case.
Github Makes Moves š
Github had an exciting month with 2 big announcements:
- Github Package Registry allows you to keep your packages on Github. Think of it as NPM on Github.
- Github Sponsors allow you to donate to your favourite open source contributors!
Copy Paste CSS šØ
Not much to say here. Find something that you like, click and copy, and use it in your own project. A great way to use beautiful design effects even if you are terrible with CSS.
While we are at it, here is also a way to visually create Flexbox layouts and copy the CSS: https://git.hwll.design/flex/
Ok, youāre still here? Check out this light weight css framework that will make you more productive than Bootstrap.
Big Tech News š¢
- Googleās ad revenue growth is slowing. But on a brighter note, they had the Google I/O conference and announced some exciting things: A new <portal> tag for chrome browsers, New Pixel Phone, Nest Hub, Android Q, and a few other key announcements. But probably the most significant in my books is TCAV which may allow machine learning models to be more transparent.
- Apple had to pay a tiny amount in a settlement with Qualcomm. $4.5billion dollars to be exact.
- Windows is finally introducing a way for your command line tool to be able to use UNIX commands: Windows Terminal. This means if you are on windows, you can still follow along videos that show terminal commands on the Mac. Hooray!
- Facebook held their annual F8 event with a few notable announcements: They are moving away from the newsfeed and focusing more on private groups, instagram is focusing more and more on e commerce, and there will be a facebook blockchain based payment method coming soon.
- Uber and Lyft had their much anticipated IPO. Things did not go as well as planned. Here is my opinion on it (donāt take this as financial advice, I probably donāt know what I am walking about): All of these startups that have been private for so long and have had no issue raising money, IPO at a time when they have maximized their growth potential and some of the early investors want their money out since they donāt foresee the growth that they have seen in the past.
- Google Android, and ARM have cut ties with Huawei. This means that Huawei canāt use ARM chips, nor Android software on their phones. Keep an eye on this story.
Completely useless to your career but still great š
SpaceX just received approval from the FCC to launch 4,425 satellites into space to build a low earth orbit network of satellites to sell home internetā¦itās called Starlink.
Also, this story is absolutely wonderful and shows that sometimes it may be better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission (but if you get fired doing it, donāt blame me).
Best Resource of the Month ā
Donāt let the title fool you. This isnāt a post about Java. Itās about the importance of making sure that you look outside of your community silos and remember that not everybody is using React, GraphQL, Kubernetes, AWS, for their latest mixed reality Starbucks barista review machine learning model app: IT runs on Java 8
Ok, one last thing: This is a little advanced, but if you know about data structures (if you donāt you should probably take my course on it), this is a great example of thinking like a software engineer and understanding how to use data structures properly.
Trick of the Month š
The trick this month shows you how to spend countless hours looking at Fluid Simulations: https://paveldogreat.github.io/WebGL-Fluid-Simulation/
Still there? See you next month!
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