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Clever code
17.4.2019
This week, Chris Ferdinandi examined a clever JavaScript snippet, one that's written creatively with new syntax features, but is perhaps less readable and performant. It's a quick read, but his callout of our industry's fixation on cleverness is worth... calling out:
...we’ve become obsessed as...
New ES2018 Features Every JavaScript Developer Should Know
9.1.2019
The ninth edition of the ECMAScript standard, officially known as ECMAScript 2018 (or ES2018 for short), was released in June 2018. Starting with ES2016, new versions of ECMAScript specifications are released yearly rather than every several years and add fewer features than major editions used...
How To Learn CSS
8.1.2019
Outside of my extreme envy of the SEO they are going to get out of this, Rachel is spot on here. Learning CSS has some pillars, like language syntax, selectors, layout, and flow that, once learned, unlock your CSS merit badge.
What I would add is that if you really want to learn CSS, give yourself...
Get Viewport Lines and Columns in CodeMirror
27.11.2018
CodeMirror is an amazing utility for presenting code in a browser environment. Syntax highlighting, widgets, and a number of advanced functions make it a unique, useful tool. When using CodeMirror inside the Firefox DevTools debugger, I found that adding hundreds of column breakpoint widgets...
The peculiar magic of flexbox and auto margins
27.7.2018
In front-end development, there are often times when I know that I don’t know something. I might know enough to know what CSS to search for, but I have absolutely no idea how to use it or what the right syntax is. Somehow, in my head, there appears to be a filing cabinet that’s entirely empty,...
Resilient, Declarative, Contextual
25.6.2018
Keith J. Grant:
I want to look at three key characteristics of CSS that set it apart from conventional programming languages: it’s resilient; it’s declarative; and it’s contextual. Understanding these aspects of the language, I think, is key to becoming proficient in CSS.
Like HTML, unknown...
An Almost Ideal React Image Component
21.6.2018
Yes, this is a React component, but regardless if you care about that part or not, the "ideal image component" part could be of interest. There is a lot to consider with how we put images on web pages these days. This deals with:
Placeholder space (and then flexible responsive styles after...
A Quick Roundup of Recent React Chatter
12.6.2018
Like many, many others, I'm in the pool of leveling up my JavaScript skills and learning how to put React to use. That's why Brad Frost resonated with me when he posted My Struggle to Learn React."
As Brad does, he clearly outlines his struggles point-by-point:
I have invested enough time...
Versioning Interview
11.6.2018
Adam Roberts (who you might recognize from our interview with him), interviewed me for the Versioning newsletter. I'm publishing my answers here for y'alls perusal as well!
Which dev/tech idea or trend excites you the most at the moment, and why?
I love that new JavaScript has arrived. I don’t...
Combining the Powers of SEM and BIO for Improving CSS
4.6.2018
CSS is easy, some might argue, but that "easiness" can cause messy code. This is especially true through power of preprocessors like Sass or Less where, if you aren’t careful, your CSS can become harder to deal with instead of easier. Sass? Harder? This Gist shows a great example of Sass nesting...
Learning Gutenberg: Building Our Custom Card Block
25.5.2018
We’ve got some base knowledge, we’ve played with some React and now we’ve got our project tools set up. Let’s dive into building our custom block.
Article Series:
Series Introduction
What is Gutenberg, Anyway?
A Primer with create-guten-block
Modern...
Learning Gutenberg: Setting up a Custom webpack Config
24.5.2018
Gutenberg introduces the modern JavaScript stack into the WordPress ecosystem, which means some new tooling should be learned. Although tools like create-guten-block are incredibly useful, it’s also handy to know what’s going on under the hood.
Article Series:
Series Introduction
...
Learning Gutenberg: React 101
23.5.2018
Although Gutenberg is put together with React, the code we’re writing to make custom blocks isn’t. It certainly resembles a React component though, so I think it’s useful to have a little play to get familiar with this sort of approach. There’s been a lot of reading in this series so far, so let’s...
Learning Gutenberg: Modern JavaScript Syntax
23.5.2018
One of the key changes that Gutenberg brings to the WordPress ecosystem is a heavy reliance on JavaScript. Helpfully, the WordPress team have really pushed their JavaScript framework into the present and future by leveraging the modern JavaScript stack, which is commonly referred to as ES6 in...
Learning Gutenberg: What is Gutenberg, Anyway?
21.5.2018
Gutenberg is the new React-driven SPA editing experience in WordPress. Oh wait, a string of buzzwords doesn't count for a viable explanation of software? We’re going to unpack that string of buzzwords as we explain what Gutenberg is.
Article Series:
Series Introduction
What...
JSON Schema Validation and Expressive Query Syntax in MongoDB 3.6
10.5.2018
One of MongoDB’s key strengths has always been developer empowerment: by relying on a flexible schema architecture, MongoDB makes it easier and faster for applications to move through the developme
MongoDB 3.6: JSON Schema Validation and Expressive Query Syntax
10.5.2018
One of MongoDB’s key strengths has always been developer empowerment: by relying on a flexible schema architecture, MongoDB makes it easier and faster for applications to move through the developme
Radial Gradient Recipes
26.4.2018
Radial gradients are pretty dang cool. It's amazing we can paint the background of an element with them so easily. Easily is a relative term though. It's certainly easier than needing to create a graphic in third-party software to use as the background, and the syntax is highly learnable. But it's...
JSON Schema Validation and Expressive Query Syntax in MongoDB 3.6
17.4.2018
One of MongoDB’s key strengths has always been developer empowerment: by relying on a flexible schema architecture, MongoDB makes it easier and faster for applications to move through the developme
Destructuring and Function Arguments
3.4.2018
The JavaScript language has benefitted from some really awesome new features over the past few years, including arrow functions, the spread operator, and default function argument values. Even if your browser doesn’t yet support proposed JavaScript API syntax additions, you can use a tool...