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Clips from my DEV AMA
20.12.2019
I recently did an AMA over on DEV. Just taking the opportunity to port over some answers here like a good indiewebber.
If you were starting out as a front end dev in 2020, what would you say is the first thing you would learn and why?
You need to put yourself in a position where it's your job...
How to the Get Current Page URL in Gatsby
20.12.2019
This seemingly simple task had me scratching my head for a few hours while I was working on my website. As it turns out, getting the current page URL in Gatsby is not as straightforward as you may think, but also not so complicated to understand.
Let’s look at a few methods of making it happen....
Raw GraphQL Querying
20.12.2019
GraphQL has all kinds of awesome tooling built around it. But like everything on the web, it ultimately comes down to data shootin' across the ol' network and responses coming back. If you need to talk to a GraphQL API endpoint, you don't absolutely have to use some kind of framework or library...
Create a Static Site Using Angular & Scully
20.12.2019
The team at HeroDevs has just released the alpha version of Scully, a static site generator for Angular. That's right, Angular didn't have an intuitive way to create JAMstack applications before, but now it's possible!
Scully uses a node CLI application to run Angular schematics so you don’t have...
Make a smooth shadow, friend.
19.12.2019
One box-shadow is cool and all, but check out Philipp Brumm's tool for building out comma-separated multiple box-shadows, which result in a much smoother and more natural look.
This reminds me very much of the idea for easing linear-gradient. In a gradient, this smoothing effect is handled...
Zenserp
19.12.2019
(This is a sponsored post.)
There are plenty of rank tracking software tools out there that allow you to track the position of your website inside the search results pages (SERP) of search engines for certain key phrases. However, these tools are definitely not enough when you are trying...
Two Lessons I Learned From Making React Components
19.12.2019
Here’s a couple of lessons I’ve learned about how not to build React components. These are things I've come across over the past couple of months and thought they might be of interest to you if you’re working on a design system, especially one with a bunch of legacy technical decisions and a lot...
Print-Inspired Layout on the Web
18.12.2019
I always love seeing people get inspired by print design and trying to port it over to the web. There is a much deeper history of interesting print work to draw from, and still a ton of modern work happening that eclipses most digital design work today. The web is fully capable of bold, interesting...
The Making of a “Special Series” on a WordPress Site
18.12.2019
We just ran a fancy article series here on CSS-Tricks with a bunch of different articles all answering the same question. By fancy, I mean two things:
The articles had a specially-designed template just for them. (Example)
The series has a specially-designed landing page.
One of the reasons...
css.gg
18.12.2019
I'm not sure what to call these icons from Astrit Malsija. The title is "500+ CSS Icons, Customizable, Retina Ready & API" and the URL is "css.gg" but they aren't really named anything.
Anyway, their shtick is:
The 🌎's first icon library designed by code.
The idea is that they don't...
Design APIs: The Evolution of Design Systems
17.12.2019
A clever idea from Matthew Ström:
[...] design APIs don’t seem like a stretch of the imagination. An API-driven approach is the natural extension of the work currently being done on design systems, including tokens and standardization projects.
If you buy into the idea of design tokens, that...
The Order of CSS Classes in HTML Doesn’t Matter
17.12.2019
That’s right! And I can prove it, too. Let’s look at some CSS first:
.a {
color: red;
}
.b {
color: blue;
}
And now let’s look at some markup:
<div class="a b">Here’s some text</div>
The text is going to be blue because .b is defined last in the CSS, right? But what if we...
The JAMstack Landscape
17.12.2019
It's no big secret that Netlify invented the term JAMstack. While it's possible to embrace the JAMstack without using Netlify, it's notable that Netlify is at the very heart of the whole "JAMstack landscape."
What does "JAMstack landscape" even mean? I like the term because it sets the stage that...
The Origin Story of Container Queries
16.12.2019
Container queries don’t exist today but a lot of web developers have been arguing in their favor lately. At first, the idea sounds relatively simple: whereas media queries allow us to make style changes based on the width of the browser, container queries would allow us to make style updates when...
“Link In Bio” is a slow knife
16.12.2019
Anil Dash:
If Instagram users could post links willy-nilly, they might even be able to connect directly to their users, getting their email addresses or finding other ways to communicate with them. Links represent a threat to closed systems.
On CodePen, we have a TextExpander snippet we use...
Domain-Driven Design With React
16.12.2019
There is very little guidance on how to organize front-end applications in the world of React. (Just move files around until it “feels right,” lol). The truth is that we can do better. Let’s take a look at one pattern you might consider using to architect your site.
At first, you might split...
Now You See It
16.12.2019
I recently accepted a teaching position at a local college here in SoCal where I'll be spouting off whatever I know (or more likely don't know!) about HTML and CSS. It's suffice to say I was all ears (well, actually eyes) when Rachel Andrew recently published a post on teaching CSS.
The display...
Blue Beanie Day 2019
13.12.2019
November 30th, the official "Blue Beanie Day," has come and gone. I'm not sure I ever grokked the exact spirit of it, but I've written about what it means to me. Last year:
Web standards, as an overall idea, has entirely taken hold and won the day. That's worth celebrating, as the web would...
Adam Argyle’s 2020 CSS Predictions
13.12.2019
I think Adam's first prediction is his boldest, even beyond his Hail Mary prediction. CSS grid is awesome and gap is perhaps one of its best qualities, but gap superseding spacing things out in other ways (e.g. margin) is a bold prediction indeed, especially with Firefox being the only browser...
Yap
13.12.2019
Interesting idea for a "chat room" from Postlight:
Create a Yap chat room.
Invite others to join and talk.
Share a URL of just about anything.
Everyone gathering can comment on what you’ve shared.
If you think your conversation deserves an audience, share the URL of your chat publicly.
Only...