A rant about front-end development
Read NoteEvery now and then someone writes a really entertaining and/or interesting critique of the whole modern web ecosystem thing that we are stuck using. This is one of those posts. I don't agree with it …
theAdhocracy
Every now and then someone writes a really entertaining and/or interesting critique of the whole modern web ecosystem thing that we are stuck using. This is one of those posts. I don't agree with it …
It's not so much a resource as a resource of resources; a meta resource. Providing high-level overviews of complex topics and then linking out to more detailed deep dives or explanations (not all …
A brilliant site for comparing common component patterns across most of the major front end frameworks. Want to learn Svelte and already know React? Select both, pick the pattern you're wanting to …
I keep running into the same problem: how to set a style attribute in the CMS and have that be dynamically rendered on the front-end, without relying on inline styles. Turns out it's a great use case for CSS variables!
The infamous frontend divide, the feeling that JavaScript-everywhere has caused a schism in what a frontend developer is. Should they be split into JavaScript Engineer and UI …
Have design systems helped bridge the gap between designers and developers? Probably not. Is part of that potentially the increasing complexity of frontend build tooling? Possibly. Design and …
Some interesting results from the latest Software House frontend survey. Surprised to see that over a third of respondents reckoned CSS-in-JS would be a "fad" and gone in three years; personally …
A fascinating look at how modern front-end architecture and practices can help solve some of the communities issues; even the ones they initially created! Really neat to see how Brad has been using …
Making the case for the title UI Engineer as a meaningful descriptor for those of us that consider our work in front-of-the-front-end terms.
We have seven days in a week, 24 hours in a day – but what does that actually mean when trying to set aside time to work on side projects? Once you take into account work hours, time to eat and sleep, and everything in between, is it all as bad as it feels?
An attempted experiment to replicate the blog layout of ilovetypography.com, which uses floats to great effect, with more modern CSS Grid and Flex techniques. Turned out to not be quite so simple, but taught me a lot about the benefits and limitations of CSS Grid.
Migrating assets to a new CMS can be a complete pain, but working out which files go with each page or article on a website doesn't have to be a nightmare if you start with a solid foundation. For me, that means tightly coupling my folder structure on the server with my content structure on the website, a workflow that Craft is particularly nifty at automating.
Craft CMS has the ability to accept environment variables as well as aliases. It can be worthwhile understanding how these two seemingly similar concepts differ, and when you might want to use one over the other.
A look back and a look forward... it must be the start of a new year. 2019 held a lot of change and personal improvement, but I can't help but feel that 2020 is going to be a big one. So what exactly do I have planned and what am I hoping for the next 12 months?
Notes from the fully remote React Summit 2020 (or at least the talks I tuned in for). Lots covered, from static-site generators and the Jamstack through to React state management and accessibility. What a fun day!
The idea of a great divide in front-end development resonated with me. I'm worried about how the erosion of certain skills could lead to a less inclusive, accessible web, for both users and developers. On the other hand, there are some massive advantages to our new tools. It's a double-edged sword.
Interesting thoughts on the term "Design Engineer", alongside some excellent historical context around Clearleft and carving out a niche doing …
Max has put together one of the best examples of how container queries will fundamentally change the way front-end development works. Better still, they provide extremely clear explanations of …
Baldur has written a wonderfully paced, deeply interesting post on the whole SPA/MPA (AKA normal website) debate with one critical conclusion: SPAs are fine; MPAs are fine; anything will suck if …
As far as years go, 2021 held some pretty big surprises and featured some fairly grown-up decisions. Life will never be the same again...
A fascinating series looking into how to turn a modern React eCommerce front end into as fast a page as possible. The conclusions are not what I had …
An excellent overview from Josh of the pitfalls of using UI frameworks. I particularly enjoyed their focus on why developers often advocate for these tools, and how those needs are often …
With half the year now firmly in the past, how are my 2022 goals coming along?
After over a decade on the platform, the time has come to step away from Twitter, likely for good. What a shame.
A quick (and dirty) way to fetch local data from a JSON file and modify the look of a page in Astro, completely natively.
I've been saying for a couple of years that we are on the brink of a "fluid design" revolution in front-end development, similar to what happened around the late 2000s with "responsive design". …
I'm not sure I agree fully with everything Jared has written here – and there's a strong feeling of bias-tinted vision to some of the claims – but I enjoyed the overall trend of the argument and …
Want to read Tweets from people you follow, without using Twitter? Readwise has a tool for that.
I have used Tailwind on various projects. I think for prototyping and quick proof of concepts, for one-off projects that never need to be updated, it has some advantages. But for code that you want …
Need to self-host your front end away from the "modern" services like Netlify or Vercel? As both continue to get a little sketchier with time, it's definitely something I'm having to …