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The Best React Extension for VS Code
10.4.2019
When working with React, there's lots of code that gets repeated over and over....and over and over again. Eventually, you start to think, "there's got to be a better way". Don't w
You probably don’t need input type=“number”
29.3.2019
Brad Frost wrote about a recent experience with a website that used <input type="number">:
Last week I got a call from my bank regarding a wire transfer I had just scheduled. The customer support guy had me repeat everything back to him because there seemed to be a problem with...
A Gutenburg-Powered Newsletter
28.3.2019
I like Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor. I'm not oblivious to all the conversation around accessibility, UX, and readiness, but I know how hard it is to ship software and I'm glad WordPress got it out the door. Now it can evolve for the better.
I see a lot of benefit to block-based editors. Some...
Podcasts on The Great Divide
24.3.2019
Nick Nisi, Suz Hinton, and Kevin Ball talk about The Great Divide in JS Party #61, then I get to join Suz and Jerod again in episode #67 to talk about it again.
Dave and I also got into it a bit in ShopTalk #346.
Direct Link to Article — Permalink… Read article
The post Podcasts...
Creating a Custom Element from Scratch
20.3.2019
In the last article, we got our hands dirty with Web Components by creating an HTML template that is in the document but not rendered until we need it.
Next up, we’re going to continue our quest to create a custom element version of the dialog component below which currently only uses...
Stackbit
12.3.2019
This is not a sponsored post. I requested a beta access for this site called Stackbit a while back, got my invite the other day, and thought it was a darn fine idea that's relevant to us web nerds — particularly those of us who spin up a lot of JAMstack sites.
I'm a big fan of the whole idea...
Should I Use Source Maps in Production?
1.3.2019
It's a valid question. A "source map" is a special file that connects a minified/uglified version of an asset (CSS or JavaScript) to the original authored version. Say you've got a filed called _header.scss that gets imported into global.scss which is compiled to global.css. That final CSS file...
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the JavaScript
12.2.2019
Around this time last year, I wrote an article about the JavaScript learning landscape. Within that article, you’ll find my grand plans to learn JavaScript — complete with a link to a CodePen Collection I started for tracking my progress, and it even got dozens of comments cheering me on.
Like most...
Who is @horse_js?
22.1.2019
Many of us follow @horse_js on Twitter. Twenty-one thousand of us, to be exact. That horse loves stirring up mischief by taking people's statements out of context. It happened to me a few times and almost got me in trouble.
I wonder how many people hate CSS because their experience with...
JavaScript to Native (and Back!)
14.12.2018
I admit I'm quite intrigued by frameworks that allow you write apps in web frameworks because they do magic to make them into native apps for you. There are loads of players here. You've got NativeScript, Cordova, PhoneGap, Tabris, React Native, and Flutter. For deskop apps, we've got Electron....
JavaScript Replace All Instances of a String
1.12.2018
I've started building out our JavaScript Glossary and when I got to the rep
Find and Change Default App for File Type from Command Line
23.10.2018
There are few things more frustrating to any computer user than files opening in an unwanted application. Sure you can use the Open menu item in the desired application but we all just want to double-click a file and see it open in the application we expect. I recently got to thinking about this...
Create the Google Button Effect with CSS
27.7.2018
I always found Google’s branding simple but grew to realize that was the beauty in their design; there’s something about “just enough” that is the perfect balance between bland and over the top. GMail’s design grew old over the years and Google just got around...
Teaching Your Clients How to Use The Website You Built Them
27.7.2018
I share my own thoughts on how you might go about educating someone you just built a site for. But it turns out I had a lot of fun putting together a ton of other people's thoughts as well. I tweeted about it and got a flood of responses, so this article is an amalgamation of all that.
Direct...
What bit of advice would you share with someone new to your field?
18.7.2018
The most FA of all the FAQs.
Here's Laura Kalbag:
Find what you love. Don’t worry about needing to learn every language, technique or tool. Start with what interests you, and carve your own niche. And then use your powers for good!
And my own:
Buy a domain name. Figure out how to put an HTML file...
8 Digit Hex Colors
16.7.2018
One of the most requested capabilities in my early days of web development was the ability to set opacity on elements and even PNG images without the need for browser-specific CSS or hacks. Eventually we got native opacity support and even enjoyed rgba(), the ability to cite an opacity level with...
Random Day in the Life of a Developer
11.7.2018
Yesterday, I started going through my email as soon as I got to work. I always start my day with email. I kinda like email. I read some interesting things in keeping up with the industry. I deal with some business things. I handle with some personal things. I make a note of the most important stuff...
Advanced Document Conversions with Filestack
22.6.2018
You might know Filestack from being an incredible service to add file uploading, storage, and management to your own web apps.
There is another thing Filestack can do for you: convert documents into different formats.
For one thing, it can manipulate documents. Take images. Perhaps you would...
UTC is Enough for Everyone, Right?
20.6.2018
A good candidate for the Blog Post of the Year from Zach Holman. I think Eric Portis' "w descriptors and sizes: Under the hood" is up there too, but perhaps even nerdier. Ooooh, also Frank Chimero's "The Good Room" is up there. But I digress.
Zach's article is as educational as it is funny.
But...
Creating a Bar Graph with CSS Grid
12.6.2018
If you’re looking for more manageable ways to create bar graphs, or in search of use cases to practice CSS Grid layout, I got you!
Before we begin working on the graph, I want to talk about coding the bars, when Grid is a good approach for graphs, and we’ll also cover some code choices you might...