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Adding Search to Your Site with JavaScript
20.3.2019
Static website generators like Gatsby and Jekyll are popular because they allow the creation of complex, templated pages that can be hosted anywhere. But the awesome simplicity of website generators is also limiting. Search is particularly hard. How do you allow users to search when you have...
I Don’t Hate Arrow Functions
19.3.2019
TL;DR Arrow functions are fine for certain usages, but they have so many variations that they need to be carefully controlled to not break down the readability of the code. While arrow functions clearly have a ubiquitous community consensus (though not unanimous support!), it turns...
The Whole Spreadsheets as Databases Thing is Pretty Cool
18.3.2019
A spreadsheet has always been a strong (if fairly literal) analogy for a database. A database has tables, which is like a single spreadsheet. Imagine a spreadsheet for tracking RSVPs for a wedding. Across the top, column titles like First Name, Last Name, Address, and Attending?. Those titles...
Write Your First Service Worker in 5 Minutes
18.3.2019
What is a service worker? A service worker is a little file that will allow you to cache files and other assets on a user’s machine. How is this different from server-side caching? Because the assets are stored on a user’s machine, rather than a server, there is no need to go across...
Former Crypto Skeptic Purchases Bitcoin, Tron Leader Calls Bitcoin an Excellent Investment
15.3.2019
Another former Bitcoin skeptic has added his name to the list of “Bitcoin converts.” Thai-based stock market investor Marc Faber revealed in an interview with Cash that he had bought Bitcoins “for the first time 10 days ago” so that […]
The post Former Crypto Skeptic Purchases Bitcoin, Tron...
How to Set Commit Author
13.3.2019
I’ve worn dozens of hats on a dozen different teams during my time at Mozilla, but none has been as rewarding and challenging as community management. Whether it’s mentoring students, welcoming new contributors, or reviewing pull requests, there’s always so much to be done....
Get File MIME Type from Command Line
28.2.2019
I’ve gotten skilled at shell scripting over the years. I love a good GUI but knowing how to automate makes you a much more powerful engineer. Much of my scripting requires recursing over directories and processing a file if it meets a given criteria, which is often file extension or MIME...
List USB Devices from Command Line
27.2.2019
I was recently creating a Recalbox with my 5 year old son and it was an awesome experience; I saw the excitement and curiosity in his eyes while helping him put together a video game machine. We added NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games to the device but it became apparent that the N64 controller...
JavaScript Proxy
26.2.2019
I’ve always loved the flexibility of Objects and prototypes in JavaScript, but for a long time, I felt that a level of dynamism was lacking. JavaScript eventually added get and set methods for object properties, which was an awesome step, but there was still room for improvement....
Chris Coyier’s Favorite CodePen Demos IV
25.2.2019
Did you know you can triple-heart things on CodePen? We’ve had that little not-so-hidden feature forever. You can click that little heart button on any Pen (or Project, Collection, or Post) on CodePen to show the creator a little love, but you can click it again and again to heart it just that...
Awesome Analytics with Keen.io (Sponsored)
21.2.2019
As a young developer, I would often make decisions based on what I considered to be common sense or what I would envision appealed to users. What a mistake. As I’ve become more experienced as a developer and a businessman, I’ve realized that analytics are the best way to make...
Building a Landing Page Fast Using the Visual Composer Website Builder (Sponsored)
20.2.2019
What if it were possible to build a landing page from top to bottom, including a header and a footer, and do so without any need for writing code? And even if it was possible, could you reasonably expect to do so as easily and quickly as putting together a puzzle designed for children...
Welcome to My New Office
19.2.2019
My first professional web development was at a small print shop where I sat in a windowless cubical all day. I suffered that boxed in environment for almost five years before I was able to find a remote job where I worked from home. The first thing I told myself when leaving that first...
Using Slack Slash Commands to Send Data from Slack into Google Sheets
18.2.2019
Since I work from home, most of my daily work interactions happen through Slack. It’s my equivalent to the water cooler. A place to hang out and discuss ideas with friends. I’m part of a book recommendations channel. People share books all the time, but they disappear quickly, lost in a sea...
Script & Style Show on iTunes!
11.2.2019
Last year Todd Gardner of TrackJS and I debuted our YouTube web show (podcast): The Script & Style Show. It was an amazing first year of guests, including Chris Coyier, Kyle Simpson, Jason Laster, Max Lynch, Dylan Schiemann, and more! And the show will only get better! I’m happy...
CSS :placeholder-shown
4.2.2019
One of the first plugins that would hit a new framework in the early days of JavaScript frameworks was a placeholder plugin, which is why we were so excited when HTML5 brought us the placeholder attribute. Then CSS lovers like me were thrilled when the CSS spec allowed us to style placeholders....
Set Desktop Wallpaper from Command Line on Mac
31.1.2019
Whenever I need to accomplish a basic task that typically calls for interacting with a UI, I challenge myself to complete the task from command line. After all, most UIs are simply a mask over basic commands, especially when it comes to the operating system. Suddenly I feel like an automation...
Mac Dark Mode from Command Line
30.1.2019
One of the best professional decisions I ever made was switching to a dark text editor theme. I suffered from horrible headaches for years, partially caused by late night coding sessions with blindingly bright computer screens. Recently Apple implemented a dark OS theme which helps my eyes,...
How to Change Animated GIF Speed
29.1.2019
Comedians would tell you that timing is the most important part of any joke. The same could be said about animated GIFs; whether they’re used as a meme or to illustrate a process, the speed of an animated GIF can effect its effectiveness. With that idea in mind, I set about trying to figure...
prefers-color-scheme: CSS Media Query
28.1.2019
One device and app feature I’ve come to appreciate is the ability to change between light and dark modes. If you’ve ever done late night coding or reading, you know how amazing a dark theme can be for preventing eye strain and the headaches that result. macOS recently implemented...