HTML All The Things - Web Development, AI, and Developer Careers

Failure is a hard pill to swallow, but it's failure that allows us to grow as developers. When you're learning a language like JavaScript, there are a lot of concepts to take in, and even more ways to accomplish the same task. Sometimes, you'll choose a method that works...only to find out later that it's the "wrong" way to do it because of security, or efficiency. When that happens, many JavaScript developers will take the failure hard and let imposter syndrome take hold. In reality, these things will happen to you, and they should seen as a steppingstone as you work your way through junior developer all the way up to senior developer and beyond.

Thanks to this episode's sponsor Clio Websites: https://cliowebsites.com/

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/failure-will-make-you-a-better-javascript-developer

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Next.js is a popular React framework that recently made some controversial changes with its 13.4 update. App router was moved to stable in this release bringing React server components, nested routers & layouts, simplified data fetching, streaming & suspense, and built-in SEO support. Unfortunately, some web developers are not excited for this release, with a few questioning if these changes align with what React initially aimed to solve. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the Next.js 13.4 update, covering the difference between client and server components, and the community drama that stemmed from these changes.

Thanks to this episode's sponsor Clio Websites: https://cliowebsites.com/

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/next-js-13-4-app-router-client-components-vs-server-components

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HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are foundational web development technologies that Matt and Mike recommend web developers learn before trying out a framework (ie React, Svelte). Out of these three pillars, JavaScript is the most difficult to learn, especially for people that have never been exposed to programming before. Learning how to think and solve problems like a computer (programmatic logic) coupled with writing and understanding a brand-new syntax is no easy feat. These difficulties have sparked several guides, courses, and bootcamps all aimed at teaching people JavaScript and other web technologies using unique combinations of theory and project-based learning. Some people, however, will skip taking in any theory at all and go straight for project-based learning, referring to documentation and other written material only when they're really stuck. With such a difficult learning curve for junior developers, can they learn JavaScript through only project-based learning?

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/can-you-learn-javascript-through-only-project-based-learning

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Full-stack development is one of the most difficult web development positions as it covers both the frontend and backend of a website. The frontend is responsible for the user interface, including any logic that powers that interface (ie animations, show/hide elements). The backend is responsible for features working from a server, typically handling security-heavy functions (ie credit card usage), and data manipulation (ie saving your profile changes). Luckily the combination of Svelte on the frontend and SvelteKit on the backend can make full-stack development easier than you might think with a fast development server, easy-to-follow file structure, and syntax that is easily picked up if you're coming from another JavaScript framework. This week Matt and Mike discussed how Svelte and SvelteKit can help you develop full-stack websites and apps faster than some of the other tools out there.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/how-sveltekit-makes-full-stack-easy

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

The tech world moves quickly, and web development is no exception...except that it seems like web development keeps re-inventing the wheel. Us web developers can make a blog in WordPress, Svelte + SvelteKit, React, Webflow, and many more. It seems like we spend most of our time arguing and creating new tools to develop the exact same end products, when we could be innovating and creating the next best thing. For our non-techie customers, they see no difference and form no opinion on whether their blog should be created using Svelte or React - yet we waste tons of hours learning different technologies that can pump out the same projects, with little difference. While the rest of the tech world looks to Apple for what they're calling "spatial computing" with the Vision Pro, and Meta for their affordable AR/VR experiences...websites remain large the same as they were a number of years ago. Does this mean that websites are being left behind, are they old news? 

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/are-websites-old-news-are-they-going-the-way-of-the-newspaper

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Learning JavaScript from scratch can be a real challenge, but once you're through it, your newfound programming knowledge will pay dividends for years into your career. JavaScript is one of the foundational technologies on which the web is built, alongside HTML and CSS. Knowing it gives you insight into how to "think like a computer" and offers a running start when you're ready to learn a JavaScript framework like React, Vue, or Svelte. This week, Matt and Mike discussed how to get started learning JavaScript as an absolute beginner looking to work their way through junior developer and beyond.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/learning-javascript-from-scratch

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Coming back to a web development project after a long hiatus is difficult enough for a senior developer, let alone a junior developer. As a newbie when it comes to Svelte and SvelteKit, Matt tried to return to his passive income app weeks after his last visit, only to find himself stumped on what to work on next, and how everything he already had worked. This led him to question whether he should be restarting from scratch, re-engineering everything with the knowledge he remembered up to that point, or to start up a Udemy course to get situated with Svelte and SvelteKit again. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the course of action that Matt took to get himself unstuck on his coding problem so he could continue programming and learning Svelte and SvelteKit.

Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/full-stack-struggles-2-i-was-at-the-gates-of-tutorial-hell

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On top of the growing collection of "must-know" tools in a web developer's arsenal is the famous (or maybe infamous?) TypeScript - a high-level programming language that adds static typing with optional type annotations to JavaScript. Developed by Microsoft, TypeScript can improve the developer experience by allowing the data that is passed around the code to be typed to something specific (ie Boolean), with TypeScript ready to throw an error if the types don't match appropriately through the program. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss TypeScript at length discussing whether you need to learn TypeScript and how to learn it whether you're a beginner, or veteran coder.

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Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/do-you-need-to-learn-typescript-in-2023