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

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss a recent trend in the industry, no-code tools. While no-code tools may seem like they're only for non-programmers, they can be extremely useful for teams of all sizes. No-code tools can help small teams take on more work without the need to scale up, while non-tech savvy folks can try out their ideas for apps and websites which may eventually become something more down the road. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss something that most (if not all) web developers have heard about - JavaScript. JavaScript can take your web pages to the next level with all kinds of cool animations, interactions, and more...but...if you're new to web development you may not know all the power that is behind this seemingly simplistic language. Beyond that first glance JavaScript can do all kinds of things like make mobile apps, run website backends, and even (although in its infancy) power AR and VR technologies. Come learn all about JavaScript and why it has a high potential of taking over our futures by tuning into this episode! Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this mystery episode, Matt quizzes Mike on how he can level up his junior coding skills after years of being a jack-of-all-trades - juggling business administration, podcast editing, client work and more. Without a stable schedule of duties to complete, Matt has fallen behind Mike a fair bit in his coding knowledge, but his knowledge across the board of running a small business have increased slowly, yet steadily. Now that the HTML All The Things website is about to be completed, it's time for Matt to try and upgrade those junior coding skills so that he can contribute more to client work and content on the new website. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss Vue and React, two major web development tools that promise to improve UI development in their own unique ways. However, as a bit of a twist, the duo won't just be discussing these two JavaScript frameworks/libraries, instead Mike has taken the stance that Vue is better than React and will be presenting his case throughout the episode. Let the React versus Vue wars begin! Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this episode Matt and Mike sit down with long-time friend of show, David Lindahl, to discuss all the things he's been up to since his last appearance on the show. From photography, Twitter, freelancing, and being hired again David has been super busy in the last year. After catching up the group discuss being more than just a developer, discussing things like work-life balance, hobbies, and side hustles. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss weekly growth goals with a focus on the soon be released Weekly Growth Goals web app. The duo discuss the concepts and tech stack behind the web app, going through how the app was designed, how decisions were made, and the struggles that were found along the way. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub

In this episode Matt and Mike are back to basics talking all about the roots of all web development - HTML, CSS, and JS. The duo discuss the new and old capabilities of these foundational technologies, discussing what they do, and how to go about learning each of them. They cover topics like flexbox, CSS grid, box model, using specific HTML tags, and much more! Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss how laser focus can help drive you and your projects to the finish line quickly, but with the huge caveat that it's hard to figure out exactly what to laser focus on. Unless you're one of the lucky ones, that knew exactly what they were going to do for a career from high school onward, then the road to your passions and eventually the thing that you're going to laser focus on is a difficult one. While difficult, it is more than worth it as you'll be focusing on exactly what you want to be doing and not something that drives you crazy, or makes you bored on the daily. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss asking for help. Even though it sounds simple, asking for help can be an anxiety-inducing activity because you don't want to bother your fellow co-workers, or be called out for not doing enough research if you ask on an online forum. There can also be hesitation to ask because you want to solve your problem yourself, but sometimes you're just way too stuck to go it alone. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss dealing with large projects with rapidly approaching deadlines. We all know that managing your time and tasks appropriately can really help alleviate stress and concern over large projects, however, all that management takes time - time you don't always have. Rapidly approaching deadlines can force your hand into just diving straight into a large project with minimal (if any) task/project management - which can put a lot of pressure on you and your team. The duo discuss how they deal with this stress and how they can even push that deadline back a bit without raising too much alarm from a client. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode, Matt and Mike sit down with Kilian Valkhof to discuss a browser that he made for developers called Polypane. Polypane lets you, the developer, test your website in various resolutions all at the same time - perfect for making responsive websites. But that is just scratching the surface, Polypane can help your website's accessibility, and offers a unique UI that's tailored for development over browsing. In addition to it's features, Polypane is a SaaS product so there's even some interesting business-oriented goodies inside this episode, as well. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss some of the bad habits that many web developers develop over time. Habits including procrastination, Tutorial Hell, and overengineering. These, among others, can slow down and even stop a web dev project in it's tracks - impacting your growth as a developer and "stealing" precious projects from your portfolio. Luckily, there are ways to help mitigate and correct these bad habits into good ones. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode, Matt and Mike have a special guest on the show - Monarch Wadia. Monarch is an advocate for new developers running online hackathons among other events in countries all over the world. He also runs his own software development firm out of Toronto, Canada. Show Notes You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike do something a little different, Matt prepared the whole episode with Mike knowing, dividing it up into smaller parts and then getting Mike's opinion on each part. The overall topic being how to support a lot of users at once using methods like documentation, phone calls, instant messaging, and more. Supporting users can be a real pain, but it's also a necessity, so it's important that you ensure your business is ready to scale from just supporting a few users, to having to use full on productivity and efficiency hacks to ensure that several (maybe even hundreds) of users are properly supported. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this absolutely packed episode, Matt and Mike discuss a mash up of different topics from advanced data structures & algorithms through third-party server migrations. Data structures & algorithms can get very complex, but should they affect your daily web development journey? Imposter syndrome is something that almost everyone experiences in their life, web developer, or not - the duo discuss what they think might be a big cause of the syndrome. And finally, a rather niche - but important topic - server migrations, specifically those that you don't control yourself, but are instead dumped in your lap by third-party service providers. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode of the Web News, Matt and Mike discuss a UX tip that you can use on virtually any project. When you're in early testing of an app, or website, if you reach for something, and it isn’t there, treat that as if it’s broken. As you test with your family, friends, and colleagues you'll notice that they will instinctually reach for things, like a button, or gesture and when they do - nothing happens. While they can easily be overlooked, you absolutely should not let it slide. Instead, treat this missing functionality like a bug, treating it like an important issue that needs to be resolved (or at least discussed with your team). You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss all the ins-and-outs of APIs including what they are, how they work, what they're used for, and more specifically - how to build them quickly using Strapi. Making your own API can easily get out of hand, as you go down the rabbit hole of functionality and usability, luckily Strapi can help you spin up APIs quickly and easily so you can get started straight away. Built on NodeJS, Strapi has free and paid options, so you can get started for free - and then switch on over to the paid version once you start scaling. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode of the Web News, Matt and Mike discuss the topic that's been taking over the news lately and that is GameStop, BlackBerry, and AMC stock. Basically a war has broken out between short sellers (hedge funds) and the people over on /r/wallstreetbets over these stocks resulting in major losses for some, and incredible wins for others. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the art of becoming self-taught. When you want to learn something new you basically have two options, teach yourself, or go to a traditional school/course. While self-teaching sounds like it's the easier option, it's actually oftentimes found in both. Traditional courses can't get into the weeds on every single topic they need to teach you, and furthermore self-teaching is a skill that they usually want you to learn anyway. The duo discuss the differences between self-teaching and traditional courses, as well as some of the best methods to teach yourself the skills you want to know. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode of the Web News, Matt and Mike discuss the value of time versus the value of money. Many people will put in $100 of effort in to save $10, and whilst there are some situations that call for that sort of imbalance of value, in general all that extra effort just isn't worth the time. Some people treat time like it's unlimited and that money is limited, whilst in fact time is limited, and money is unlimited (you can always get another job, or start another side hustle - you can't make yourself younger). You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the eagerly anticipated topic of web bundlers with a specific focus on Webpack and Snowpack. While making websites with vanilla code can be great, sometimes you gotta call on a bunch of plugins and frameworks to put together something really special in a reasonable amount of time. When all that stuff has to work together web bundlers can make compiling a breeze. This episode features a tonne about web bundlers including what they are from the most basic of examples, through how to use them effectively in your projects. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode of the Web News, Matt and Mike discuss a potential UX problem across the board. As UX increasingly makes things easier in tech, it makes very difficult tasks easy - and furthermore makes easy tasks even easier (or even completely automated). The result of this is a generation of people that grew up with tech, that seem to be "tech savvy" but in reality they're moreso just "familiar with tech" having no idea what's actually going on in the background - even at a high level. Is this a problem? You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss how to avoid being overwhelmed when you're already busy. Almost everyone has been there before - you have a full plate, and the phone calls just keep on rolling in. During these stressful times it's easy to become overwhelmed and break down which isn't good for you, or your work. Luckily the tips, tricks, and tactics discussed in this episode will have you powering through these difficult times. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode of the Web News, Matt and Mike discuss something that's been cropping up on social media, and in the tech news recently - the WhatsApp policy changes. Due to the nature of the changes and of course the affiliation with Facebook, many of you are probably being told to switch to other apps, such as Signal. While Matt doesn't care about the situation, having used WhatsApp and Facebook for a number of years - Mike has done a small amount of research and has a different (yet very similar) perspective on the situation. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss how to start a new side project, with a heavy emphasis on how Mike takes his side projects from concept through production including discussions on free versus paid tools, side projects versus side hustles, and much more. Then in the Weekly Growth Goal, Mike failed to reach his by around 2%, but Matt finished his successfully and will be moving on to yet another section of the new HATT website. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this Web News, Matt and Mike discuss Matt's recent email detox. After several years of having consistent access to his work email, Matt finally took a week away by turning off his work device for the entire holiday season. While there were times of anxiety and desire to turn it back on, he never did. Find out out if it helped, or hurt by tuning in! You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss the technologies that caught their eye in 2020 including things like TailwindCSS, Vue 3.0, Snowpack, and much more. Then the duo discuss their sort of personal/professional year-in-review, focusing on some of the defining moments of 2020. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this edition of Web News, Matt and Mike discuss releasing buggy products to the public including some offerings that Google has released, and of course the very topical Cyberpunk 2077 (especially on PS4 and Xbox One). Iterative design is nothing new in tech, but lately it seems like it has been taken to the extreme, where even very large mega corporations are releasing basically alpha, or beta, software into the public without any sort of "early access" tag that lets people know that it is unfinished. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the difference between side hustles and side projects so you can choose which is right for you! It's easy to assume that a side hustle is something that is "just on the side" and can be ignored whenever you're not feeling it, but a side hustle is a business and ultimately cannot be ignored if you want any consistent success. However, if you're just going for a personal goal, the very similarly named side project might be just what you're looking for. All the technical and product making action of a side hustle, without the commitment of pleasing customers and processing payments. This week changed up the format of the show a bit as Matt and Mike say goodbye to Weekly Pain Points, hello to Weekly Growth Goals, and separate the Web News segment into it's own mini-show that'll be aired right here on this feed! You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss revisiting old projects, whether they be for personal use, or for a longtime client, we all have those projects that are on old codebases, or using a completely different technology from what we use in the moment. Going back to these old projects can be like a time capsule for how we used to code back in the past and while the results may (or may not) be pretty, getting back into the groove can be a real pain. The duo discuss this and much more about old code bases throughout the majority of the episode and then switch over to the Web News to discuss Matt's new two phone life or "Two Fone Lyfe" to be more specific. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss one of the most overlooked requirements of running a web agency - customer support. It's very easy to think that the biggest hurdle to your business will be learning and keeping up with all the new tools and skills that you'll need to deliver modern websites to your clients, but in reality, support can be equally if not more of a challenge especially when it can derail your entire day's schedule and have you helping someone for little to no money. Then in the Web News, the duo discuss a holiday gift guide, with a twist! Instead of the typical, buy this for a person that likes this, instead, Matt and Mike discuss the mentality around gift giving. If someone is a web developer for work, is it in bad taste to buy them a computer chair for their home office as a gift? You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss all that is right with the world of web development. From the flexibility of where you live (working from home), all the learning resources (free and paid), the plethora of available technologies, and so much more - web development has a tonne of great features that may just make it the right career choice for you. Then in the Web News the duo discuss the new M1 Mac with Apple silicon, as well as do a rundown of the new consoles. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss all the issues with web development like rapidly changing frameworks, dealing with customer relations, inconsistency with pricing, and much more! This episode went a little off the rails with tangents so the Web News has been postponed to next week, hopefully tangents won't derail that too. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the idea of the internet's currency in regards to social media and marketing yourself (or your business) online. Every internet entrepreneur has seen self-help business gurus, marketing experts, and more promise that their methods of posting on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook will make you a successful businessperson. While a lot of this advice is real and can absolutely be helpful, the sheer amount of things that you have to do to climb the mountain of success can cloud or even completely cover up the real reason why you wanted to bring your business online in the first place - the content! Content, above all else, is king! Then in the Web News the duo briefly discuss some new tech including the Xbox Series X | S, the PlayStation 5, and of course Apple's new bunch of Macs running on ARM. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss package managers (not webpack). They explore what packages are, how you get them, how they work within projects, and more importantly - what you need to know to use them in your projects. Then later in the Web News the duo discuss standardizing technology and how important it is to keeping your more maintainable. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this (Halo) episode Matt and Mike discuss getting started with web development as a second career. Whether you're going to be keeping your day job, got laid off recently, or are retiring this episode covers the basics on getting started and the different types of web development that you might find yourself doing. Then in the Web News, the duo tackle design trends in 2020 from standard 3-column layouts, to the notifications that we all (not at all) allow. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss their own personal inefficiencies and what they're looking at improving upon. It's very important to know what you do well and what you do not - but it is arguably equally as important to know what you want to (and hopefully will) improve on, and what you will not be working on. It's impossible to learn everything, all the time, and being overwhelmed just makes your learning experience more difficult than it has to be. Then in the Web News, the duo discuss their excuses for using mobile tech, even if there is a lack of travel and even typical outings these days. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss their experiences with an ever-growing amount of stacks, plugins, and technologies in the web development world. As a web developer, you may find it important to know many stacks, or specific pieces of tech, but you can't learn them all. This episode covers the pros and cons of multiple stacks, as well as the stacks that Mike uses in any given day. Then in the Web News, the duo discuss a touchy topic that can be summarized with the phrase "Are we only as good as our last ticket?" You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss whether you should open source your project or not. They discuss what open source is, what the benefits are, and how you can start contributing. Then later in the Web News the duo discuss the Hacktoberfest controversy. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss one of the most common and most dreaded things to ever happen to projects of any kind, scope creep. Whether its your clients changing features or asking for new ones, or even if you're being too hard on a personal project - the duo discuss their experiences with scope creep, how it happens, and how to prevent it. Then in the Web News they discuss the world of minimalism when it comes to developer setups. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss all things Vue 3.0, with the release hot off it's heels, Mike has had some time to dive into the patch notes and even plan to use Vue 3.0 in his current projects. The duo discuss the new features and changes, as well as how you might migrate to Vue 3.0 on your projects, or even if you're currently learning Vue 2.0. Then in the Web News they discuss the tech industry as a whole and how things are evolving so rapidly that we might be in the infancy of reaching "The Jetsons" level tech (minus the space part). You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss some of the things that you may find yourself doing as a web developer, without realizing it was apart of the job when learning the ropes. These hidden, or "untold" parts of web development include technical support, marketing, communications, and much more. Then later in the Web News we will discuss Moment.js becoming a legacy project. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the day in the life of a developer, specifically Mike's schedule during regular work days as well as crunch. Then the duo discuss Matt's more sporadic schedule briefly before switching gears in the weekly Web News where they discuss working for passive income involving reseller hosting, affiliate programs, and more. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss a flurry of different topics that didn't quite make the cut in an episode of their own. Whether the topic was too new to them at the time, wasn't meaty enough to fill discuss a lot, or was too specific to expand upon - these topics all together formed an interesting varied episode that the duo hope you enjoy! You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss plugins - from lightboxes, to SEO helpers, and everything in-between they can be a massive help, but can also cause their fair share of problems. The duo discuss how to determine when you need a plugin, what plugins are good for and so much more. Then later in the Web News, they discuss yet another Apple App Store story, this time affecting WordPress and their iOS app. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss vanilla HTML, CSS, and JS versus Webflow, comparing and contrasting as well as discussing their affect and standing in the industry. Then later, in the weekly Web news, the duo discuss whether or not you should be coding for 8 hours straight while working. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss what a JavaScript framework is and why you'd want to use it over vanilla JavaScript - including some tips and tricks for Vue.js specifically. Then in the weekly Web News we discuss the Samsung ecosystem and game streaming. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss the power and importance of website content when it comes to layout out your website. Websites can fall into various categories like a small business site, or a business card site - that apply not only to the visual layout but also the technical layout. Getting all of your customer's ideas and vision laid out first is critical in planning out a website for it's months, or years of usage. Then in the weekly Web News we discuss budgeting out a small budget website into various categories of work. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss all things code reviews. Whether you love them or hate them, code reviews keep dangerous bugs out of production software, as well as help junior (and senior for that matter) developers progress their knowledge and skills. Then in the Web News, the guys discuss content creation and being overrun/overwhelmed. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss working from home. With many workers across the globe settling into their home offices for the foreseeable future, we discuss our top 10 tips for being productive from home. Then in the weekly Web News, the duo discuss their plans for more Twitch streams and other content. You can find us on... Facebook | Twitter | Instagram RSS | Patreon | Spotify Medium | YouTube | GitHub Reddit | Discord