Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - raising your rates, full stack designers, JWT, VS Code tips, and more. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. React in Action - Sponsor React in Action by Mark Thomas from Manning Publications is a great way to learn React. It’s a clearly written, example-rich book, introducing front-end developers to the React framework and related tools. Not everyone likes learning from a video. If that’s you, React In Action is a great book that covers everything you need to know. Also be sure to check out this page for 40% off all manning books and videos. Show Notes 2:29 I listened to your episode on Freelancing and I was wondering how to justify an increase in my hourly rate. You mentioned that you just increased it to $100/hr and nobody griped, but I seem to have a steady stream of clients who want things for free or nearly free and I usually have that fear that if I charge them more, then I won’t get the business. Thoughts? 6:55 I’ve started a YouTube web development channel. Recently, I was approached to produce content for money for another website. For some reason, I immediately thought I might be taken advantage of (I’m pretty new and it’s odd to be offered something like this so quickly, no?) if accepting. What do you think? Should I create content for a (small) website that I never heard of or continue with YouTube (or both)? 14:00 I’ve read on Twitter that React.Context can be a good replacement for Redux. Why? 18:40 What’s it like running a podcast?! 24:03 I’ve seen a rise in the term “full-stack designer”. Is this a title you think will become a real thing? Someone capable of overseeing a project from concept to prototype? Thanks! 27:36 What has been the most awkward situation you’ve been in as a dev? 31:20 Do you have any good resources on JWT? I’m unclear when my front end needs to send what to my back end, to ensure my sites and only my sites can get the data requested from my server. Thanks for everything you do! 35:34 How do you move selected text horizontally (or vertically) in VSCode? I’ve seen it in Wes’ videos and I tried to ask him on Twitter, but I’m sure that is a chore to keep up with. I’ve googled a ton, but the only thing I found was an extension that adjusts indentation, which is not really what I’m after. 38:57 How do you recommend providing feedback on “bad” code to a developer more experienced than you, without coming off as an uppity, know-it-all junior who just read a bunch of textbooks?? 42:39 How do you set up an IP whitelist? I am just getting started managing databases and I am using Mongo Atlas. They require an IP whitelist for all connections. Developing from my computer is fine because I can just add my IP to the whitelist, but what do I do if I actually want to make my API or website public? Just whitelist everything? That sounds like a terrible idea… Links useReducer Full Stack Radio Ep 98: Ryan Chenkie - Securing Single Page Applications ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Jelle’s Marble Runs Wes 1: Good Quality Baking Sheet Pans Wes 2: Pre-cut Parchment Paper Sheets Shameless Plugs Scott’s Pro Gatsby 2 Course Wes’ Advanced React Course - use the code SYNTAX for $10 off Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about how to be well liked at work - dealing with difficult co-workers, being a better co-worker yourself, and general tips for improving your people skills. LogRocket - Sponsor LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session replayer and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free over at https://logrocket.com/syntax. Show Notes 5:01 - Foster a culture of asking “why” and “how” 7:58 - Show your own mistakes 9:26 - Be understanding of people’s life situations and accommodate them accordingly 11:36 - Be okay with people taking your time 13:10 - Don’t take up other people’s time 15:40 - Be nice 15:57 - Share things 16:50 - Respect personal space 18:08 - Respect people’s time Links Adam Grant - Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss React Hooks - what they are, why you might want to use them, their differences with regular classes, and more. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 2:30 Function components 4:50 What are React hooks? 8:12 What problem does this solve? 12:00 State hooks 21:50 Context hooks 26:02 Effect hooks 36:46 Reducer hooks 40:40 Ref Hooks 48:00 Libraries already using React hooks Rehooks → Listing of hook libraries React Spring React Measure Formik Immer 50:30 Resources Dan Abramov’s Talk Harry Wolf Use Hooks Newsletter Awesome React Hooks ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Bad Blood Wes 1: Swindled Podcast Wes 2: Scrub Brush Drill Shameless Plugs Scott’s Pro Gatsby 2 Course Wes’ Advanced React Course - use the code SYNTAX for $10 off Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about stickers and break down Wes’ entire process for creating and selling his sticker packs. Check out Bos.af for more info. LogRocket - Sponsor LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session replayer and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free over at https://logrocket.com/syntax. Show Notes 6:08 Design 9:23 Printing 16:08 Types of Stickers 19:34 Selling 21:43 Envelopes, stamps and shipping 30:47 Returns 32:42 The future Links Bos.af Patrick DePuydt Alibaba Sticker Mule Shipstation Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

This week Scott and Wes are live at JAMstack_conf with games, Spicy JAM Tips, Q&As and more. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntaxfor more info. Show Notes 7:14 - Spicy JAM Tips Set default headers in your request library - this way it comes along for the ride on every request Don’t get hung up on “static” - static sites can be as dynamic as needed Don’t wait to use new tech - progressively enhance and gracefully degrade where needed There are many JAMStack libraries in the sea - there are many different approaches so don’t be afraid to experiment Side projects are key to learning - test out new tech on smaller projects first and get comfortable with it 10:10 - This, That or Both? Evo RX - High end Carbon Fibre Road Bike or Library for composing asynchronous and event-based operations in JavaScript? Jumpsuit - A rap/rock group from Flint Michigan or a minimal React/Redux Framework? Aphrodite - React Styling Library or Best Selling Erotic novel? Yugo - A minimal static site generator built in O-CAML or a super mini hatchback built in the former Yugoslavia? C-Control - A modern state management library for web components or studio headphone mixer? Yakbak - A recordable HTTP testing interface or a popular 90’s electronic toy? Joose - A hip east coast juice bar or a metaobject system for JavaScript? Easy Rooter - A client side object oriented router written in modern Vanilla JavaScript or a drain cleaning plumbing apparatus popular among local plumbers? Aqueduct - A server-rendered ORM and oAuth 2.0 based framework built in Dart or a early 2000’s pop group hailing from Venice Beach? Gort - A 1980’s animated series cartoon villain or a CLI Toolkit for RobotOps written in Go? Raptorize - A jQuery plugin that plays a Velociraptor screech or A popular DIY spray on truck bed liner? 21:13 - Stumped! Question 1: What does “age” console.log to and why? let age = 26; age /= 2; console.log(age); // ?? Question 2: What are all seven types in JS? Question 3: How do you pronounce “specificity”? Question 4: What is event delegation and when might you want to use it? Question 5: What is CSS @supports for? Question 6: An arrow function takes in an unlimited number of arguments - how would you capture them? Question 7: What is the difference between .slice() and .splice()? Question 8: How would you calculate the number of milliseconds since midnight of January 1, 1970? Question 9: What does “age” console.log to and why? const age = console.log(100) || 200; console.log(age); 31:26 - Overrated or Underrated? Arrow Functions Downtown scooters Using Sass inside Styled Components Website that play sound in the interface The amount of JS frameworks Soft close toilet seats GraphQL ES6 Destructuring Instapots Implicit Return CSS Houdini Service Workers and Offline Applications Modern Design Tools - Figma, FramerX, Moudlez, Sketch, Studio Decorators Optional Chaining Proposal 42:35 - Q+A with Scott and Wes Since this is your first time meeting, what was the thing that surprised you the most? If you could create any Tycoon game, what would you create? In 2018, how concerned should we be about no-JS users? How many spaces should a tab be? How important is integration testing and the decentralized ecosystem? What are your thoughts on the new React Hooks API? Are we going to have a serverless function architecture apocalypse? Are you ever going to create an online course together? How will the future look for component-based design? What’s your least favorite jam? What would be your goto headless CMS? What do you disagree on? Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Pro Subscription Wes’ Advanced React Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes are back for another edition of Stumped! where they try to stump each other with interview questions. Today’s questions are from Flashcards for Developers. EmailOctopus - Sponsor Email marketing for less, via Amazon SES. EmailOctopus sends your emails through Amazon’s Simple Email Service (SES), saving money without sacrificing deliverability. With simple setup and all the features you would expect, EmailOctopus is as flexible as you need it to be. Get started today at emailoctopus.com/syntax and get your first three months free. Show Notes 4:03 What’s the difference between synchronous and asynchronous code? 5:56 What’s the difference between .call and .apply? 7:08 How do you share code between files? 8:18 What’s the difference between double equals and triple equals? 10:40 What’s the difference between null, undefined, and undeclared? 14:18 What is the event loop? Philip Roberts - What the heck is the event loop anyway? 16:02 Why is extending built-ins never a good idea? Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss their pre-launch checklists. They talk about performance, accessibility, compatibility, SEO, analytics, and more - all the things you should check before launching something to the world. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. .tech Domains - Sponsor Finding a great domain name is tough with so many names already taken. If you’re looking for a domain name for your startup, side project, or anything at all, check out .tech Domains. Syntax listeners can get 90% off both one-year and five-year registration by visiting go.tech/syntax and using the coupon code “syntax”. Show Notes 1:45 - Overall Let robots do the work for you - use auditing tools Lighthouse SEO Checkers Accessibility checkers like axe 2:58 - Performance Compress those images Build process Cloudinary ImageOptim imgIX Minify Code Splitting Smaller bundles where it makes sense A future where it’s done for us Run page speed tests like Google PageSpeed Insights Don’t service worker on launch Syntax Ep 50 - Progressive Web Apps 11:43 - Compatibility Test on actual browsers that need to be supported Ask people to check on their devices Use a service like Browserstack Browser resolution and ratios Cache busters 16:00 - Sales / Credit Cards Use package.lock Have multiple people test your checkout Make sure your company name is listed on customer’s credit card bills Have a phone number listed for disputes 24:55 - Tips from the Trenches Secure API endpoints Scale up server just in case Early access Soft launch Make sure URLs are correct - no “localhost:3000”, etc. 31:25 - Content Check spelling and grammar A working 404 page Check for leftover placeholder text → launching with lorem ipsum is not good 34:39 - Accessibility Alt text Run color contrast checker Run Lighthouse Correct tab order Use the site with keyboard only and make sure it’s a good experience 37:35 - SEO Sitemap created and uploaded to Google Webmaster Tools SEO checkers Meta tags Correct heading hierarchy 41:55 - Analytics Google analytics Facebook tracking pixel Drip 43:23 - Server config & access .htaccess redirects where needed robots.txt prevent indexing of some pages Enable GZIP Caching Cloudflare or other CDN 46:12 - Company Processes Make sure tests are passing Git issues are closed Merge pull requests Write documentation on processes (readme, etc.) Deploy to staging environment and test production build No unwanted logs or errors left in production build DNS Propagation ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Swindled Podcast Wes: FIFO Bottles Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Pro Wes’ Advanced React Course - use the code SYNTAX for $10 off Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes conclude a three-part series about old browsers, fallbacks and polyfills. In part three, they talk specifically about transpiling and polyfilling. VueSchool.io — Sponsor Check out VueSchool.io’s new subscription plans. Get access to their entire catalog with more than 160 lessons, including The Vue.js Masterclass, for one low monthly fee. New content and courses are added regularly. Visit VueSchool.io/syntax and get your first month for only $5. Show Notes 2:20 - Polyfills and Transpile 5:18 - Back in the day Border-radius htc hack PNG fix for transparent PNGs Flash for custom fonts Cufon and SIFR 10:48 - JavaScript Polyfills Features are polyfilled MDN Polyfill Core-js Polyfill.io HTML5 Cross Browser Polyfills 13:47 - JavaScript Transpile Syntax is transpiled babel-preset-env Babel has plugins and presets Meteor bundle to different browsers on demand There are polyfills for most things, but performance can be an issue Resize observer Intersection Observer Some things can’t be done with either New browser APIs Service workers, device access, inline video on old iOS, etc. Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - working with designers, criticisms of WordPress, avoiding burnout, time management, and more. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. .tech Domains - Sponsor Finding a great domain name is tough with so many names already taken. If you’re looking for a domain name for your startup, side project, or anything at all, check out .tech Domains. Syntax listeners can get 90% off both one-year and five-year registration by visiting go.tech/syntax and using the coupon code “syntax”. Show Notes 5:05 - How can you help a designer understand how styling works and how layouts work in the web? In other words: How do I explain my boundaries as a front-end developer to a designer? Work closely with the designer Allow the designer to push your limits You can help them understand by: Showing them poor performing websites Showing them things that usually are taxing on the GPU to paint - rotations, background images, drop shadows, etc. Don’t be afraid to let a tough design push your boundaries 13:23 - How do you manage your time for learning new things when you have children and a daily full-time job? Those who figure out how to make it a priority will win out Family first - talk to your spouse Ask your boss for time to learn and grow Find ways to get paid for learning 19:45 - How do you deal with burnout in this constantly evolving front end tech ecosystem? Make time for hobbies away from the computer Do projects just for fun Solve your own problems Syntax 035: Keeping Up with the Codeashians Syntax 041: Preventing and Dealing with Burnout in Web Development 25:00 - Do you code at night (past 9pm)? Start your wind-down time earlier Let your brain wok on problems while you sleep Get it out of your head Listen to podcasts, audiobooks, etc. 29:23 - How do you compress your videos/audio for your courses/tutorials? Handbrake Fast 1080 Use presets Output from video editor, rip from YouTube, or compress directly from video editor 33:10 - It seems like in the web dev community, a lot of people give WordPress crap. Any idea why? WordPress is dope - people just like to complain. WordPress is often one of the first things people learn and have bad memories of it It’s easy to write bad code with WordPress It can be slow It can attract a certain type of developer 33:10 - What are some of the biggest mistakes that people make when they are learning programming and what’s the best way to overcome them? Don’t focus on too many things Don’t worry about picking the right technology Focus on the fundamentals Let your curiosity and excitement drive you Celebrate wins 40:29 - What are your best tips for writing documentation? Start with basic API documentation, them move to more “article style” docs Use tools like CodeSandbox and Swagger Syntax 073: Reading Documentation 43:08 - What are some good questions or techniques to better understand a client’s requirements? How does your business work right now? What are people coming to the website for? Questionnaires are good - they get people thinking It’s your job to understand what a client want out of a website - what problems they have and need solved 45:38 - Do you guys have any tips for taking over maintenance and development of existing websites where the previous developer is no longer reachable? Take time to asses the codebase before writing anything Learn what’s there any and why Don’t start ripping out code without understanding what’s really going on Don’t leave it worse than you found it It depends on the stack, but it’s probably worth giving it an honest go before re-writing the whole thing ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott 1: Drillbrush Bathroom Surfaces Tub, Shower, Tile and Grout All Purpose Power Scrubber Cleaning Kit Scott 2: iOttie Wes 1: Sabrent Wireless Charger Wes 2: CD Player Mount Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Pro Subscription Wes’ Advanced React Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes continue a three-part series about old browsers, fallbacks and polyfills. In part two, they talk specifically about CSS Grid, Flexbox, new features and fallbacks, and how to use them. VueSchool.io — Sponsor Check out VueSchool.io’s new subscription plans. Get access to their entire catalog with more than 160 lessons, including The Vue.js Masterclass, for one low monthly fee. New content and courses are added regularly. Visit VueSchool.io/syntax and get your first month for only $5. Show Notes 3:08 - CSS Grid and Flexbox Flexbox old spec Flexbox new spec CSS Grid Some popular options for supporting for supporting CSS Grid and/or Flexbox: Just serve the mobile layout Display block Separate layout that you will eventually delete Can I Use Do websites need to look exactly the same in every browser? Modernizr CSS3, Please! Autoprefixer 12:38 - CSS Variables Double define Just like Grid, unknown def will be ignored and fallback to CSS CSS Houdini 17:00 - Fallback Code @supports Display block then display grid Feature Testing Detect the browser as a last resort Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss fitness for developers. As a follow-up to Episode 20, they talk about the status of their fitness goals from that episode, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how you can be more fit yourself in 2018. DevLifts — Sponsor DevLifts - Thad and JC are on a mission to make web developers healthy. They’re currently offering two options: The first is Fit.Start - perfect for beginners or those looking to get back at it. Use the coupon code “syntax” to get 50% off the fit.start plan. The second is DevLifts Premium - for those looking for a laser-focused approach and maximum accountability. Use the coupon code “tasty” to get 50% off the premium plan. Check it out today! Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 3:30 Why is fitness important as a developer? 6:08 Working Out Update: Wes 14:37 Working Out Update: Scott 25:06 Nutrition Update: Wes 35:12 Nutrition Update: Scott 45:40 Supplement Update: Wes 48:00 Supplement Update: Scott 52:18 Plans for the future: Wes 54:53 Plans for the future: Scott ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Fitness Blender Wes: Dr. Peter Attia - The Drive Podcast Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Pro Wes’ Advanced React Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes kickoff a three-part series about old browsers, fallbacks and polyfills. In part one, Scott and Wes talk specifically about old browsers, how best to support them, and whether or not you should support them at all. VueSchool.io — Sponsor Check out VueSchool.io’s new subscription plans. Get access to their entire catalog with more than 160 lessons, including The Vue.js Masterclass, for one low monthly fee. New content and courses are added regularly. Visit VueSchool.io/syntax and get your first month for only $5. Show Notes 5:10 - How do you decide if you should support an older browser? Google Analytics Data User base / Money earned from that audience IS it worth it? Time vs Money? 11:35 - How do you test your websites and app in older browsers? Actual hardware - there’s no substitution for the real thing Browser Stack Virtual Box Modern.ie Can I Use 18:24 - Supporting and Testing Mobile Browsers Resize your browser Build a device lab Remote Debugging Browser device view Faking Geolocation Emulators in XCode / Android dev tools Browsersync Ghostlab Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott continue the discussion of their favorite top 18 new things in Javascript. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Graph CMS - Sponsor GraphCMS is trying to be the world’s most developer friendly CMS. It’s a great way to build a GraphQL API without having to write a custom GraphQL server. Try out the API-first CMS of the future today at graphcms.com/syntaxfm. Show Notes 3:30 Spread 8:40 Rests 11:54 Arrow Functions 15:48 Default Function Arguments 19:47 Named params 21:26 Modules 35:35 Classes 41:54 Things we never use Links Jake’s Minesweeper ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Trader Joe’s Everything by the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend Wes: Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Hot Sauce Shameless Plugs Scott’s Better Javascript Course Wes’ ES6 For Everyone Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about this year’s Hacktoberfest - a great way to support open source. NativeScript - Sponsor NativeScript is an open source framework for building truly native mobile apps with Angular, Vue.js, TypeScript, or JavaScript. It’s is a great way for front-end developers to get started building native mobile apps. Get started today at nativescript.org/syntax. Show Notes 2:42 Hacktoberfest - The rules 7:35 Things to PR 12:56 Things not to PR 18:05 How Pull Requests work 21:45 Some of our repos Wes’ ES6 course blog posts Syntax Show Notes KeyCode.info CSSCursor.info Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss their favorite top 18 new things in Javascript. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com. Show Notes 6:02 Const / Let 10:00 Template literals / Template strings Toggle Quotes Extension Prettier 14:29 Object destructuring 21:28 Array destructuring 27:25 Function Param destructuring 30:14 Promises Wes’ Async + Await Talk 36:24 Async + Await Syntax Ep 028 - Async + Await 40:59 Object Computed Property Name 43:42 Object Method Syntax Links Denver Startup Week ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Red Bull VC One World Final 2018 Wes: Jura Impressa Shameless Plugs Scott’s Better Javascript Course Wes 1: CSS Grid in 45 Minutes Wes 2: Async + Await Talk Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes are back for a second edition of Stumped! where they try to stump each other with interview questions from 30 Seconds of Interviews. NativeScript - Sponsor NativeScript is an open source framework for building truly native mobile apps with Angular, Vue.js, TypeScript, or JavaScript. It’s is a great way for front-end developers to get started building native mobile apps. Get started today at nativescript.org/syntax. Show Notes 5:05 What are defer and async attributes on a script tag? 7:15 What are the differences between var, let, const and no keyword statements? 8:45 What is a callback? Can you show an example using one? 9:52 What is recursion and when is it useful? 12:06 What is the difference between the array methods map() and forEach()? Syntax Ep 023 14:02 What is Big O Notation? 15:28 What does 0.1 + 0.2 === 0.3 evaluate to? wtfjs 17:44 What is CSS BEM? Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - all things JS, go-to dev stacks, website security and the ever-changing nature of development. Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com. Sanity.io - Sponsor Sanity.io is a real-time headless CMS with a fully customizable Content Studio built in React. Get up and running by typing npm i -g @sanity/cli && sanity init in your command line. Get an awesome supercharged free developer plan on sanity.io/syntax. Show Notes 3:33 - Would you ever consider doing a live Syntax show? Yes! Get tickets at JAMstack_conf 4:31 - What are your thoughts on Flutter? Does React Native have some solid competition now? Google’s answer to React Native. Flutter NativeScript 9:43 - What are your website security essentials for static and dynamic sites? What’s the deal with forms? Is it bad to put a form on my site with no server-side validation? Not cool. Always do server-side validation. Netlify Cloudflare 14:55 - Do you have a ‘go-to’ stack when building new web apps? If so, what is it and how would you go about choosing the right stack for the project? Scott - Gatsby for sites / Meteor Apollo, React, MongoDB for db needing accounts sites Wes - Next.js, Express Backend + either MongoDB, DiskDB or Prisma (or hasura) 21:51 - What are your thoughts on 100 Days of Code Challenge? Consistency and accountability. The best way to get good. 100 Days of Code 25:05 - I really have been learning a lot of React recently and have been wondering what is the difference between Next.js, Gatsby.js and vanilla React? Dynamic vs static. What are your needs, how often does the content change. Next.js Use for dynamic needs It can do static exports too Convert to markdown Nothing special other than Routing and SSR (Server request getInitialProps) Gatsby.js Use for static needs Gatsby has lots of adapters 30:38 - What are websockets and when should they be used? A request that is always open - it responds to events instead of pinging, pushing or pulling data 35:15 - I would love to hear your take on PWAs. Do either of you have any experience with building or using them? Syntax Ep 50 - Progressive Web Apps 40:16 - I’m a nervous newbie who’s concerned about doing a web app that accepts payments or sensitive information. How can I know I’ve done everything to create a secure website and also protect myself from being sued by the client if their website gets hacked? I’m trying to be a jam stack developer so I’m looking at things like Snipcart and Stripe Don’t save sensitive info in plain text. Use services that make it tough to do that until you are confident. Look up PIPEDIA 43:23 - What is a JavaScript generator? I heard that async/await creates a “generator” under the hood. Pausable function that can return multiple values - call .next() on it 46:54 - Are web components worth it in 2018? Web Components Polymer Svelte 49:52 - How soon the designers replace React Developers with the invent of tools like Framer X? Not soon. Your job is changing and will continually change SouthPark - They Took Our Jobs! 56:52 - Have you, or anyone you know ever thought of quitting the industry because of difficulties you have run into? ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: EGO Lawn Tools Wes: B is for Build YouTube Channel Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Pro Subscription Wes’ Advanced React Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about positivity in the web industry - how it can affect you, your work, and the people around you. NativeScript - Sponsor NativeScript is an open source framework for building truly native mobile apps with Angular, Vue.js, TypeScript, or JavaScript. It’s is a great way for front-end developers to get started building native mobile apps. Get started today at nativescript.org/syntax. Show Notes The tech industry is always on the cutting edge and we’re starting to see a shift in how we deal with positivity and negativity. 3:18 - The effects of negativity and how the web industry is improving Mental health awareness is very real Stack overflow sees that it needs to change Linus Torvalds’ apology Negativity is a disease, and it spreads Positivity is a force as well You can be constructive while still being nice Dan Abramov, Addy Osmani, Sarah Drasner are all amazing examples of people pushing the web forward while having a smile on their face 11:50 - Healthy ways to approach disagreements Never assume malice Kill them with kindness Take note of the people you admire and how they deal with aggressiveness 17:08 - The power of positivity Inspire the change you want to see It’s good for your productivity - it makes you feel good Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss specialization vs generalization - the different ways one can be a generalist or a specialist, advantages and disadvantages to both, and, ultimately, which is the better career path. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Dev Lifts — Sponsor Dev Lifts - Thad and JC are on a mission to make web developers healthy. They’re currently offering Personal Training and Nutrition Plans as well as a new program called Fit.Start. Get 50% off with the coupon code “tasty”. Check it out today! Show Notes 4:18 - What is a specialist? Someone who is very good at one or two things Can be very lucrative if you’ve taken the time to become well-known in you’re industry 12:20 - What is a generalist? Two ways to look at generalists: Someone who tries to do a little bit of everything (e.g. a developer who does Wordpress, Drupal, Django, Rails, etc.) Someone who builds related skills around one area (e.g. a JavaScript developer who can code up a backend and a frontend) There will be more jobs available for the dev with tightly integrated skills in related areas than a true “jack of all trades”. 22:22 - Frontend vs Backend Frontend Frameworks (React, Vue, etc.) CSS Performance Animations Backend Web servers Serverless / AWS Scaling Frameworks Performance Databases Docker CI 26:50 - When to widen your focus When you are complacent with your mastery You need a skill to get something done. For fun For a specific job 30:42 - When to narrow your focus You don’t feel control over your skills You are missing out on employment because a lack of skills in one department You feel overwhelmed by the options available You want to be the "go to person” For fun 35:48 - How to master and expand Focus on one skill at at time. Master it and then expand on your skillset Find satellite skills - things that work in harmony 38:47 - Scott’s journey 42:31 - Wes’ journey 44:55 - How to know where to focus Necessity will dictate a lot - what do you need right now? Job postings - you can stack the deck in your favor by learning React. Once you are in, you’re can lean anything you want. Follow your heart - but have a plan 51:03 - Should I be a generalist or a specialist? Wes: There is nothing wrong with having a large skillset as long as you aren’t mediocre at everything. If you’re optimizing for hire-ability I think having a defined focus on either front-end or back-end is best, but still an understanding of how the other works. Ideally you have 1) Very good JS skills, 2) an understanding of how things work on both ends. Scott: You can do either, but whatever you do, do it well. It’s easier to do a few things well than many things well. That said there are some virtuosic devs out there who can be amazing at many things, however those people are not common. Most people have holes in their armor. Links JAMstack_conf ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Great British Baking Show Wes: 1 Pointless Packaging Instagram / 2 Ozark Season 2 Shameless Plugs Scott’s React Testing for Beginners Course Wes’ Advanced React Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about feedback and criticism in the web industry. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 4:00 - Getting Feedback Don’t assume malice - tone is easily lost in digital communication Don’t take it personally Evaluate the feedback through the eyes of who it’s coming from Look for the truth in the feedback Be open to feedback 15:15 - Giving Feedback Don’t be negative - phrase your feedback in positives Don’t give unrequested feedback Explain the why behind your feedback Don’t be rude or an asshole Use Tools and Standards for Code Quality Give an opportunity to improve Explain the “why” behind the feedback Sandwich criticism with something positive When things are heated, try to diffuse the situation Give frequent positive feedback Links Tweet from Dan Blundell Tweet from Dan vs Code Manager Tools’ Feedback Model Elon Musk on The Joe Rogan Experience Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss 11 habits that will make you a better developer - everything from understanding the business goals behind your projects to maintaining work-life balance, staying curious, and developing empathy. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Sanity.io - Sponsor Sanity.io is a real-time headless CMS with a fully customizable Content Studio built in React. Get up and running by typing npm i -g @sanity/cli && sanity init in your command line. Get an awesome supercharged free developer plan on sanity.io/syntax. Show Notes 2:55 - You understand stakeholder and business goals What is the website (or project) ultimately trying to accomplish? How does the business make money? Don’t get caught up in your own “mama drama” about frameworks, but instead focus on how a particular framework will help achieve the end goal of the business 5:13 - You’re curious and always learning This industry is ever-changing and isn’t slowing down 7:36 - You have an open mind about new technology Don’t “poopoo” something because it’s intimidating, new, scary or different Like foods you’ve never tried, sometimes something unusual turns out to be game changing 9:57 - You ask for help #LifeHack - most people know more than you Be comfortable with NOT knowing Be comfortable with failing and with how others might perceive that Check your ego at the door 15:35 - You help others Helping others solidifies your own knowledge Answering questions Stack Overflow Quora Blogging YouTube videos Mentoring co-workers Not offering unwanted advice 19:12 - You have a “problem solver” mentality General curiosity - figuring out why things aren’t working Break things down into testable components to pinpoint an issue Have a clear head under pressure (e.g. interviews) 24:37 - You have fun with what you do Enjoying challenges Even if something isn’t particularly fun, you find ways to make it fun and interesting 27:54 - You understand work-life balance Burnout is huge in our industry It can be difficult when you love what you do, but it’s so important to maintain balance 34:00 - You are empathetic to your co-workers and users Be a team players while getting things done Make everyone around you better at what they do Be someone others want to work with by being inclusive and professional Don’t make inappropriate jokes, put co-workers in a tough position, etc. 37:08 - You pay attention to detail Think about edge cases 39:03 - You’re part of the community Local meetups / lunch and learn Twitter #100daysofcode Conferences ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Overcooked! 2 Wes: Book - Rich Dad Poor Dad Shameless Plugs Scott’s React Testing for Beginners Course Wes’ Advanced React Graph QL Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes dive into documentation - how to avoid common pitfalls and overwhelm, as well as how to read, understand and get the most out of documentation. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 5:10 - What are the different kinds of documentation? Tutorials Docs API references Video docs Examples of good documentation Stripe Next.js Examples New PayPal Docs Gatsby Jest Meteor 14:34 - How to read documentation Understanding how you learn will save you lots of time 16:03 - Understanding Parameters Parameter types Required / Optional Parameter order 22:45 - How do you tackle learning something new? Look at some examples Scan the entire docs to get an idea of the surface area Have something specific in mind that you want to build 27:34 - What to do when the docs suck? Look at other people’s code Chat rooms Tests for examples Read the source code Github search Contribute Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott dive into the very big topic of accessibility, from the basics and easy wins to best practices, tools, resources and more! Cloudinary - Sponsor Cloudinary is a heavy duty media hosting stack for your websites and applications. Also, check out Making Media Accessible: How to Automatically Generate alt Text for Images. In the first part of the series, Cloudinary will demonstrate how you can integrate machine learning tools into your image management pipeline to automatically generate alt text for your assets. Deque - Sponsor Deque is the amazing company behind the aXe accessibility testing tool that over 200,000 people use to ensure their websites are accessible. For users looking to scale accessibility, export issues and collaborate with colleagues, Deque offers an enterprise toolset called Attest. Attest also allows you to select accessibility custom rules, offers a more robust API and more integrations AND can test the accessibility of your iOS and Android applications. Show Notes 6:00 - Basics What is accessibility? Amy Carney Tweet Tim Berners Lee Quote a11y What types of disabilities are there? Temporary, situational, and permanent Tweet thread with lots of info 15:03 - How do you write accessible code (easy wins)? Clean HTML Semantic elements Use the alt attribute on images HTML5 (article, section, header, footer, aside) Proper inputs types - number, text, CSS order property on Flexbox and Grid Colors and proper contrast Use links and buttons properly Use ARIA roles to define elements when semantic HTML falls flat (popups, non-standard controls, etc.) Introduction to ARIA Using ARIA: Roles, States, and Properties Keyboard only navigation Tabindex Skip to content “Skip Navigation” Links a11y ESLint rules Video captions for ESL Transcripts for Podcasts 44:48 - Tools aXe Lighthouse - Audits tab in Chrome dev tools Inclusive Design Posters HTML Code Sniffer Pa11y runs code sniffer from the CLI Accessibility features in OS Screen Readers MacOS VoiceOver NVAccess Chrome Vox 54:35 - Resources The A11Y Project Bulb Accessibility Audit from Heydon Deque Youtube Channel 62:22 - Important Ideas Use your website with accessibility tools turned on Sit with someone using a screen reader Amy Carney’s Tweet Mike Behnke Tweet moose of letters’ Tweet Links Syntax033: Large Files - CDNs, Image Compression, Video Hosting, and Big Zips ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: SpeedCurve Wes: Netflix - Magic for Humans Shameless Plugs Scott’s React Testing Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes try to stump each other with interview questions from 30 Seconds of Interviews. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 4:33 What is the difference between the postfix (i++) and prefix (++i) increment operators? 7:15 What’s the difference between a static method and an instance method? 9:25 What is a focus ring? What is the correct solution to handle them? 11:20 How does hoisting work in JavaScript? Syntax 017 - 22 Buzz Words Explained — Mutations, Pure Functions , Serverless, Hoisting, MVC + More 12:47 What are the advantages of using CSS preprocessors? 14:29 What is memoization? 15:48 Describe the different ways to create an object. When should certain ways be preferred over others? 19:15 What is event delegation and why is it useful? Can you show an example of how to use it? 22:06 How do you compare two objects in JavaScript? 26:00 Can you describe how CSS specificity works? Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - programming languages, how to practice soft skills, PHP vs JS, is it every too late to become a developer, and more. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com. Show Notes 5:00 Why don’t you work with Typescript? 10:52 How do you recommend working with APIs/libraries that compete with the DOM (e.g. d3 + react, react + google maps)? 13:40 What is meant by the word “state” when referring to Vue or React? 16:32 How do you practice and get better at “soft skills” (e.g. burnout, freelancing, time management, confrontation)? Syntax 025 - Dealing with email overload PaperKarma - The App to Stop Junk Mail 28:23 Do you guys use different environments (e.g. “QA” and “Prod”)? What are some best practices? Semaphore - Test and deploy your code Sentry - Open-source error tracking 32:43 As someone trying to break into the field of programming, should you build everything from scratch, or it ok to use plugins and libraries? 38:52 What would WordPress be like if it were built on Node and GraphQL? Ghost 46:54 I’m learning JavaScript at 34… Do you think I can learn to breakdance at 34 too? 51:16 How do you handle high level page layout when using styled components? 53:13 As a junior dev, should I switch from PHP and Laravel to full stack JS? I love PHP, but JS is taking over. Links react-async-script-loader Netflix Explained ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Alfred Emoj Wes: Motherboard YouTube Channel Shameless Plugs Scott’s React Testing Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about prototyping and design tools in the development space, specifically Framer X - what it is, what it isn’t, and some cool stuff coming down the pipeline. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 3:35 Framer X - What it is and what it isn’t 13:20 What it means for other prototyping and design tools 17:00 Future of prototyping and design and development 21:40 Final thoughts Links Scott’s Framer X Fist Look Video Sign up for Framer X Beta Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott dive into designing for developers - tips and tricks for improving your designs, and how to up your game in small ways that will have a big impact on your projects. Sanity.io - Sponsor Sanity.io is a real-time headless CMS with a fully customizable Content Studio built in React. Get up and running by typing npm i -g @sanity/cli && sanity init in your command line. Get an awesome supercharged free developer plan on sanity.io/syntax. Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com. Show Notes 6:18 - General Design Tips Spacing is important Using patterns and textures Subtle Patterns Hero Patterns Heroicons FlatIcon True Grit Texture Supply Steve Schoger Use subtle gradients ColorSpace Use subtle drop shadows Multiple shadows on one element can have a nice effect Don’t use true black and white (e.g. #000 or #fff) - use softer variation of black and white Use CSS Variables for custom blacks and whites CSS default colors are almost always too harsh Default browser UI is almost never the best UI Select elements, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc. can all be styled - it’s no fun, but way better than it’s ever been 40:22 - UX Design & Animation Don’t use animations when not necessary Subtle scale/transitions on hover can be a nice effect Particles.js Patagonia’s Bears Ears CSS transitions vs Physics based 51:30 - How To Get Better Follow UI-themed Instagram accounts siteInspire Dribbble UISources Follow Steve Schoger Find a free mockup and build it out pixel for pixel Take time to challenge what you think is possible or doable technically and creatively ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Louis Cole Wes: r/posthardcore Spotify Playlist Shameless Plugs Scott’s React Testing Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk goal setting - why it’s important, when to do it, how to stick to them, and more. Tweet us your goals with the hashtag #syntaxgoals. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 4:14 Setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time) 7:45 What kinds of thing should you set goals for? 10:49 Business goals 16:50 Visualizing Goals 22:58 When should you set goals? 27:42 Accountability Links ProfitWell Forever Jobless Goals Worksheet Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this episode Wes and Scott do a deep dive into React - what it is, best practices and all the ins and outs of how the framework works. Dev Lifts — Sponsor DevLifts - Thad and JC are on a mission to make web developers healthy. They’re currently offering Personal Training and Nutrition Plans as well as a new program called fit.start(). Get 50% off fit.start() with the coupon code “SYNTAX”. Additionally, the first 10 people to use the code "TASTY" get 50% off your DevLifts Premium subscription. Check it out today! Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com Show Notes 5:23 Components 12:30 JSX 25:13 Data and Props 44:48 Fetching 49:22 Event Handlers 54:00 Instance classes + properties 55:02 Lifecycle Methods 59:55 Context 1:01:35 Routing Links Preact Inferno How to Comment in JSX (article) Apollo Redux LevelUpTutorials.com Level II React Course React Informed (forms) Meteor Axios Firebase Gatsby Here’s how React’s new Context API works ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Dark Net Diaries Podcast Wes: Any suggestions for key management products? + Iliza Shlesigner Stand-Up Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Tuts Pro Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes discuss how they create courses, design and build curriculum, as well as insights and best practices for content creation. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Show Notes 4:32 - Wes’ process Figure out what to make Build the thing you’re teaching in the course Have it reviewed by experts Simplify and create a linear flow for what you’re teaching 16:25 - Scott’s process Chose a topic Build the thing Create the outline as you go Have goals in mind, for individual topics Record with final code open 28:25 - How to get started Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes talk office setups and all things gear. Gotta get the gear! Mlab - Sponsor mLab is the leading Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, powering over half a million deployments worldwide. Wes and Scott use mLab to host their own databases as well as take care of backups, security, scaling and performance. Try out a sandbox database on your next mongoDB project → https://mlab.com Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 11:00 Wes’ gear Scott’ gear Scott’s podcasting/screencasting gear 13:30 - Computer Wes: Macbook Pro 15" Scott: Macbook Pro 15" 17:39 - Monitors Wes: [22" vertical Cheap Acer: https://amzn.to/2vkXomG [27" Dell 4k - https://amzn.to/2Mo3NnO [Ergotron Monitor Arms - https://amzn.to/2voS9CF Scott: LG 34UC88-B 34-Inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide VIVO Dual stand 28:33 - Keyboards and Mice Twitter Thread about mice Wes: Apple Magic Keyboard Magic Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S Scott: CODE Keyboard Apple Magic Trackpad 33:14 - Desks Wes: Ikea Countertop Ikea Alex Drawers Scott: Ikea Karlby Walnut Countertop + Jarvis Legs === dope desk! 37:53 - Chairs Wes: Herman Miller Aeron Polished Aluminum Scott: Herman Miller Aeron 39:24 - Headphones Wes: Bose QC35s Apple AirPods Scott: AKG K 553 Pro M-Audio Bx8 monitors Polk Audio 12” Subwoofer for that booom booom! 43:50 - Hard Drives / Backup Systems Wes: WD My Passport 1TB Backblaze Backup Scott: WDMyCloud EX4100 47:28 - Charging Stations Wes: Anker USB Wall Charger 48:52 - USB Splitters Wes: CalDigit TS3 Plus Amazon Basics USB 3 Hub Scott: CalDigit TS3 Plus 50:35 - Wifi Wes: Amplifi HD Mesh Scott: Google Wifi Mesh 54:26 - Recording Gear Check out episode 037 for a full rundown of all of our recording gear Wes: Heil PR40 Pack dbx 286s Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Scott: Electro Voice RE-20 Sony a7 III Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 58:32 - Misc Wes: Peak Design Everyday 30L Backpack Skyroam Solis Hotspot Scott: Google Home Smart outlet that shuts off all my stuff topodesigns.com Links Laravel Nova ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× All of the above ;) Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 1 Apollo Client with React Course Wes’ Advanced React Course - Coming Soon Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes discuss all things cross-origin - APIs, Javascript, JSON, CORS, and more. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 3:52 What is JSON? 5:09 Origin policy in the browser 6:00 Cookies + how they work 6:38 How do you get data from one site to another? 7:00 JSON P (JSON with Padding) 9:00 CORS (cross-origin resource sharing) CORS errors + learning on the fly 11:31 Canvas elements 12:24 Proxies Crossorigin.me Enable-cors.org Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions about freelancing, portfolios, code editors, meetup tips, switching to windows and more! VueSchool.io's Vue.js Masterclass — Sponsor Check out VueSchool.io’s new Vue.js Masterclass taught by Alex Kyriakidis. Learn Vue.js along with best practices, modern Javascript, and other exciting technologies, by building a real-world application - a forum. The first 50 people to visit VueSchool.io/syntax to get 25% off. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 2:37 Question: Maaz Syed Adeeb - Are editor fonts worth the investment (if yes, why)? Why are they such a big deal in the first place? Operator Mono Dank Mono Fira Code 6:10 Question: Ste O’Neill - How can I come up with ideas for projects? What can I put in a portfolio when I work for an agency? 9:10 Question: JavaScript Joe - If I only have two hours per week to work on coding projects, do I spend it building a side project or do I spend it contributing to open source? What’s your experience contributing to open source? 10:45 Question: Diane - Why is Git so hard to grasp in team projects? What are the best resources to master it? Try Github 13:35 Question: Grant Chambers - What are some tips for going to your first meetup? React Meetups 20:23 Question: Michael Hoffman - Have you ever thought about using Linux or Windows as your main operating system? Google Pixelbook Microsoft Surface Pro Figma Logic Sketch Mint OS Final Cut Pro 27:39 Question: Would you recommend using Upwork for starting out freelancing or something similar? 31:18 Question: Mike C. - What do you guys think about sites like Codewars and Code Fights? Being new to web development, I find the problems hard to solve. Is it important to know how to solve all these problems? If so, how do I get better at developing the mindset to solve them? JavaScript 30 Level Up Tutorials 38:47 Question: When I work on a website, I need to record user names, passwords, URLs, keys, logins, cPanel, WordPress, ftp, MySQL for each and every website, local and remote. Currently, I use a text file to save all that information. How are you storing all this info? How others do it? How the pros are managing this? Pros and cons? SSH Key LastPass 1Password 42:15 Question: Chandler Bing - What happened to Scott’s YouTube channel? 44:57 Question: Whose idea was it to do a podcast? Who approached whom first? Josh Owens Egghead.io ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Jarvis Legs Wes: King of the Road Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 1 Apollo Client with React Course Wes’ Social Media Twitter Instagram Facebook Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes discuss npm, yarn, lock files, why they’re useful, why you would or wouldn’t want to track them in Git and much more! Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 4:10 What is npm and yarn? 8:00 What’s the difference between npm and yarn? 12:00 What is semver? 16:40 What is the dependency tree? This is the problem that lock files solve 20:32 Cool new features of npm and yarn npx security warnings Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

What is the undocumented web? Scott and Wes dive into it, discussing APIs, faking, scraping, automation, proxies as well as tips and tricks for best practices. Kyle Prinsloo’s Freelancing & Beyond — Sponsor Kyle Prinsloo teaches you everything you need to know about freelancing, including how to quit your job, earn a side-income and start taking control of your life. Check it out at https://studywebdevelopment.com/freelancing and use the coupon code “syntax” at checkout to get 25% off. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 3:05 - What Is the undocumented web? When traditional methods don’t give you what you want Wild West 6:10 - Undocumented APIS Instagram’s private API Use dev tools’ XHR Request React Dev Tools will also have the data Ep 008 - Wes Bos Origin Story Realtor.ca - MLS Mapping Simon Willison’s Zeit Day Talk about XML files Charles Proxy App - also good for debugging requests 17:34 - Faking Faking User Agents Sending headers from requests Free Blackberry wifi on plane 23:52 - Scraping What is craping? Cheerio - jQuery like node package 27:30 - Automation Cron Jobs Filling out forms instantly Headless browsers Puppeteer PhantomJS 33:30 - Proxies Need a fresh IP address Need a different country Side note: Canadians buying stuff in USA M4S1P1 === 41100 API throttling 39:00 - Tips and Tricks Multiple API keys diskDB - Text files as databases Search Github for API keys Inspect Element and Delete Overlays Delete Cookiesokay 44:45 - Stories Photo Voting MLS Listing Top Entrepreneur voting cheating Vanity Plate Checker My Hockey Team Sucks Vehicle auction bidding app youtube-dl ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Octopath Traveler & OST Wes 1: AvE Youtube Channel Wes 2: Mustie1 Youtube Channel Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Tuts Pro Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes discuss refactoring, what it is, why you should do it, when to do it, as well as best practices and much more. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 5:00 - What is refactoring and why would you do it? Re-writing code while maintaining functionality The first code you write is most likely not your best code 7:32 - Benefits To Refactoring Keep part of your codebase in your head Keep codebase timely and up to date (E.g. promises, async, await, etc.) Writing code from the vantage point of having already built your product Performance improvement 12:54 - When to refactor When it’s stopping your from progressing When brining someone new on to your team When you can see a more elegant solution When you’re having performance issues When you’re sharing or presenting code When you have a large codebase that needs to be broken up into smaller components 19:03 - Tips on how to refactor Testing will make refactoring easier Identify bad code and problem areas Use git as an escape hatch Break things into smaller chunks Publish often use code to npm as modules Links Facebook’s Codemod Syntax043 - 20 JavaScript Array and Object Methods to make you a better developer Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes give their best advice for beginners, including tech skills, applying for jobs, focus, imposter syndrome, and more… Coffeecup’s CSS Grid Builder Tool — Sponsor Check out Coffeecup’s CSS Grid.cc builder tool and resources to learn, prototype and build next gen layouts with CSS Grid! Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 4:46 - Advice for gaining new skills Patience and momentum are key You likely won’t get anywhere significant in two months Think about where you want to be in five years Start small Start with was excites you and let that drive your exploration Start writing code ASAP. Don’t worry about the right way, just get started. 17:15 - Advice for applying to jobs Apply for everything. Failing an interview is no big deal. Each interview is an opportunity to gain experience Putting yourself out there is huge - one blog post, YouTube video, or open source project will put you miles ahead Have an entrepreneurial mindset - you can negotiate money, hardware, vacation time, flexible schedule, etc. Don’t just google “average salary” Negotiate salaries and perks. 29:32 - Advice for knowing what to focus on What gets you jazzed? Find something cool and figure out how to recreate it. Find a problem and figure out how to solve it - build real things. Don’t focus on tech - tech is just a tool. 38:32 - Advice for impostor syndrome Listen to this podcast! ;) Almost everyone has it. Don’t worry about other people’s progress. You don’t need to know how to do everything, but you should be able to figure out how to learn. 46:45 - Misc advice Evaluate things for yourself - don’t blindly follow the loudest voices on the internet Focus on soft skills as well - time management, communication Get a mentor Health and Hobbies - don’t let yourself burnout Links Ep 044 - How to Learn New Things Quickly Javascript30 ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Sony A7iii Wes: Zevia Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level Up Tuts Pro Wes’ Stickers Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat (Short episode) Scott and Wes discuss dot files, what they are, how to use and manage them as well as best practices and more. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 3:15 - What is a dot file? Access tokens Settings for editors, etc. 4:40 - Dot file examples .gitignore .gitkeep .rc .babelrc .bashrc .eslintrc .env .DS_Store .editorconfig .meteorignore 23:46 - How to keep your dot files in sync Hot Tip In MacOS, toggle dot files with “Shift + Cmd + .” Links Wes’ dot files repo Prettier Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this highly requested episode, Scott and Wes talk about design systems, what they are, why you may want or need one, how to use them, efficiency, best practices, and much more… VueSchool.io's Vue.js Masterclass — Sponsor Check out VueSchool.io’s new Vue.js Masterclass taught by Alex Kyriakidis. Learn Vue.js along with best practices, modern Javascript, and other exciting technologies, by building a real-world application - a forum. The first 50 people to visit VueSchool.io/syntax to get 25% off. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 2:40 Design Systems 101 Wes’ Tweet about Design Systems 9:40 Organizational elements of design systems It’s all about consistency 23:07 Best tools for building design systems and style guides Figma Relay for Figma InVision Design Systems Manager Airbnb Lona Brad Frost’s Pattern Library uiengine 41:52 Where to learn more Links Guide to Design Systems by InVision Shopify’s Design System Mailchimp’s Voice and Tone Zendesk Garden Material Design Awesome Design Systems Design Systems Repo Design Systems Docz Facebook Yoga StorybookJS Stuart Clarke-Frisby Tweet Figma’s Platform Figma Styles and Prototyping Design Systems Newsletter ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: CalDigit TS3 Plus Wes: Picasso Tiles Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 1 Electron Course Wes’ Advanced React Course (Coming Soon) Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat (Short episode) Scott and Wes discuss user roles, what to think about when creating your own, security implications, etc. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 3:30 How to manage user role systems 11:30 Client side best practices Don’t rely on front-end role systems as a security measure 14:13 Where to store your roles Start simple and get more complex as needed Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott talk about freelancing best practices, tips for working remotely, what they would do if they had to pick a different career, and much more! Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Coffeecup’s CSS Grid Builder Tool — Sponsor Check out Coffeecup’s CSS Grid.cc builder tool and resources to learn, prototype and build next gen layouts with CSS Grid! Show Notes 4:48 How long should you stay with each job and/or company? 8:20 What is the best way to work remotely? Tips for remote working Have a dedicated space Clear on and off times Have a time for winding down Make specific TODO lists Use blocking software to help you stay focused Switch up the scenery / Work in different places 15:26 What are the trade-offs with using WordPress in a headless setup vs a tradition setup? 21:28 How do you deal with API credentials in React? 27:15 How do you keep an eye on performance with an app/site over the long-term? Check uptime Check the performance features in browser dev tools Use error checking software Host-based performance tools Newrelic pingdom LogRocket 34:28 What happened to Canvas after all the hype around HTML5 a few years ago? 40:15 How do you deal with analysis paralysis? Just get to work - you can always change things later Do research, but don’t let it get in the way of shipping 44:05 If you were forced to change your career (and it had to be something you’ve never done professionally in the past), what would it be? Wes: Some sort of buying and selling (eBay, Amazon, etc,) Example: Buying things at wholesale prices and selling them with a markup Scott: Could go a lot of different directions. Example: DJ, Snowboarding instructor, develop a video game that is a sequel to Cruis’n USA 50:14 As a freelance developer, what are some good questions to ask before taking on a client? Budget Scope Preferred communication methods How do you make money? What are the ultimate goals? Basically, ask as many questions as possible ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Goodhertz Wes: Audiobook: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 1 Electron Course Wes’ Courses are all on sale Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

In this Hasty Treat (Short episode) Scott and Wes discus all things domains. Where to get them, how to set them up and how to safe time managing them all in one place. Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. Show Notes 3:30 What is a domain? 4:59 What is DNS? 6:00 Nameservers 8:30 What is a DNS provider? DNS Simple Cloudflare Hover Name Domainr iwantmyname 13:30 Different types of DNS records 17:00 Different kinds of domains .com, .tv, .io, etc. Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes talk about marketing. Specifically how to do marketing if you’re a developer wondering where to start. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. LogRocket - Sponsor LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session replayer and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free over at https://logrocket.com/syntax Show Notes 7:58 - Personal Branding Build trust and reciprocity Be authentic to yourself and let that carry through in your work. Have the guts to put yourself out there and establish yourself as an expert. Speak at conferences Write blog posts Make YouTube videos Be on podcasts Start your own podcast 14:50 - Running a Business Treat people well. Reward your customers. Don’t punish your users. Have a refund policy. 19:26 - Social Media Don’t push people off a platform. Bring content to them that is tailored for that platform. Get in early, before the platform becomes super crowded. YouTube Quality content through quantity. Write good SEO titles. Tease your paid content or create a free one-off. Don’t expect to make a lot of money, but it can be great for growing a brand. Twitter Be helpful - small, digestible tips and tricks and great for growing a Twitter following. Quality is still the key. Steve Schoger is a great example of consistent, high quality content. Facebook People have other interests besides web development. People like to see into your life. Use Facebook to give people a window into who you are. Reddit Reddit is really difficult. It’s easy to get banned. The best strategy is to not focus on marketing and just try to be helpful. It’s sort of replaced forums and is a great place to build communities around different hobbies. Instagram Recently IG has been blowing up for web developers. Dhanish is a perfect example of how to do Instagram well. 49:55 - Paid Advertising Don’t be sleazy. Ads are good for getting likes and driving some traffic to something, but it takes experimentation to get the best bang for you buck. 54:40 - Email marketing Wes: Email is probably responsible for most of my sales. Keeps people up to date and helpful for promoting new courses. Helpful for figuring out what people want. 59:17 - Partnerships A lot of companies want to partner rather than just sponsor. It can be a great way to fund the creation of products/courses. Affiliate programs are great when they work out. 67:30 - Freebies Giving away free content is a surefire way to get people to pay attention. It’s about giving back to the community as much as marketing your products. ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Cypress: End to end testing Wes: Audiobook: Own the Day, Own Your Life Shameless Plugs Scott’s New Electron Course Wes’ Advanced React and GraphQL Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s a workflow extravaganza! Scott and Wes talk about their development workflows, covering everything from design to deployment. Coffeecup’s CSS Grid Builder Tool Check out Coffeecup’s CSS Grid.cc builder tool and resources to learn, prototype and build next gen layouts with CSS Grid! VueSchool.io's Vue.js Masterclass Check out VueSchool.io’s new Vue.js Masterclass taught by Alex Kyriakidis. Learn Vue.js along with best practices, modern Javascript, and other exciting technologies, by building a real-world application - a forum. The first 50 people to visit VueSchool.io/syntax to get 25% off. Show Notes 4:00 - Design Workflow Wes: Screenshots of look + feels Sketch layouts out in pencil Mock up layout in Sketch Once rough layout is done, I refine Once I have: colors, type, patterns, textures and overall layout, I move to code. A design program is important to vs designing in code Scott Mirrored component structure in Figma Using Ideas from Atomic design and React components Goal is for Figma components to be 100% mapped to styled components Flexible and testable in different layouts My design philosophy is refinement through iteration Light theft Footer from Pitchfork New card animation idea from Patagonia 15:55 - Design to Dev Workflow Wes: Happy with design so far Setup tooling - styled components, stylus, sass… Setup type, variables, partials, resets… Do as much HTML as possible before styling CSS it up for layouts, then go section by section Broad first, then zoom in on finesse Browsersync / Hot Reload Test across browsers / Devices Scott: Define parameters in Figma Styled components in React, hand write that CSS bruh Move aspects of styled components lib like breakpoints, colors, functions, helpers, base components 32:06 - Git Workflow Wes: Tear off a branch - name after issue - DEV113 Do your work Rebase Squash Pull Request Rinse + Repeat Scott Master branch is 1-1 with live Develop is where work is done (but not really because I make a feature branch for each feature and merge in) Contributors issue pull requests into develop 42:34 - Deployment Workflow Scott: Hosted on Meteor Galaxy, container based hosting Develop is merged into master, all tests run, if everything passes tests and manual check, I deploy to Galaxy via NPM script. Soon I’ll be adding in automated test running & auto deploy to galaxy on push to master. Secrets are kept in a settings.json file that’s used during deployment. Wes: Codeship DeployHQ Git Rsync Dealing with secrets 49:53 - Project Folder Structure Wes: Folder Structure - 0100, 0101… Scott: API UI element -> styled components with index Startup Utilities Links BNO Train Wreck Album Atomic Design Guide Design Systems BrowserSync FontSquirrel fontplop Creative Market Delicious Brain’s WP Migrate DB Pro Ryan Dahl - 10 Things I Regret About Node.js ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Overcooked - Nintendo Switch Wes: SkyRoam Solis Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 2 React Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes dive into the ins and outs, best practices and tasty tidbits of Progressive Web Apps. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. LogRocket - Sponsor LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session replayer and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free over at https://logrocket.com/syntax Show Notes 2:00 What’s the deal with the GitHub / Microsoft acquisition? 6:05 What is a Progressive Web App? 8:55 - Progressive Web App Checklist What are the baseline features for a Progressive Web App? 09:25 Site is served over HTTPS Let’s Encrypt 11:05 Pages are responsive on tablets & mobile devices 11:35 All app URLs load while offline Use a Service Worker 16:35 Metadata provided for Add to Home screen 18:40 First load fast even on 3G 20:00 Site works cross-browser 20:15 Page transitions don’t feel like they block on the network 22:20 Each page has a URL What makes an exemplary Progressive Web App? 27:42 All content is indexed by Google 28:38 Schema.org metadata is provided where appropriate Social metadata is provided where appropriate 29:42 Canonical URLs are provided when necessary User experience 31:43 Content doesn’t jump as the page loads Scott’s Pro Gatsby Course 36:52 Pressing back from a detail page retains scroll position on the previous list page 37:34 When tapped, inputs aren’t obscured by the on screen keyboard The Best of the rest 38:22 Content is easily shareable Site is responsive Any app install prompts are not used excessively The Add to Home Screen prompt is intercepted 39:20 Use cache-first networking Device APIs 40:34 Web RTC Get User Media 41:50 Push API 45:12 Accelerometer GPS 45:55 Payment Request API 47:12 Local Storage 48:03 IndexedDB 48:35 StorageManager 51:45 Vibration API 52:58 Use Lighthouse to improve the quality of your web apps ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: myNoise Wes: Ozark Trail Drinkware Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 2 React Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s a Potluck episode - you bring the questions and we turn them into tasty treats. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Coffeecup’s CSS Grid Builder Tool Check out Coffeecup’s CSS Grid.cc builder tool and resources to learn, prototype and build next gen layouts with CSS Grid! Show Notes 2:15 What’s the best resource for staying up to date with Javascript? 3:48 How do you stay motivated if you don’t like your current project? 7:08 What’s your favorite music to work to? 11:10 In what order should developers learn tools related to GraphQL? 13:48 As a JS developer, is it a good idea to learn other languages like PHP or Python? 19:55 As a CS undergrad, what can you do in terms of programming that could be a great benefit after graduation? 23:14 Should you be concerned about SEO when using JS frameworks like React? 28:17 How can you build your network when you’re too tired or busy to go to a bunch of meetups? 32:55 How do you come up with such good designs and UI for your courses? 36:37 As more websites move to secure connections, where can a noob learn the basics of https, SSL certificates, how to deploy a secure website, etc.? 43:05 Have you had experience working for large companies and how does it compare to smaller companies and/or freelancing? 47:30 What are other programming podcasts you listen to? ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Wes: SpikeBall / Slammo Scott: Stance Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 2 React Course Wes’ Courses Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes are back with another round of tips, tricks and tasty treats for their favorite code editor, VS Code. LogRocket - Sponsor LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session replayer and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free over at https://logrocket.com/syntax Show Notes 01:45 Why Scott and Wes use VS Code vs all the other options Stay up to date with all releases 06:05 - Favorite new updates Notification API Auto Import Listing errors in the file explorer Column Selection Interface Customization Hot Tip: Anytime you find yourself using your mouse, there’s likely a shortcut key for what you’re trying to do React Snippets Library Wes’ VS Code settings Visual Studio Live Share 27:40 - Favorite/New Extensions Bracket Pair Colorizer Rainbow Brackets Auto Rename Tag Better Comments Jest Snapshot Tools JS Refactor Import Cost Polacode Carbon - An alternative way to share beautiful images of your source code 38:49 - Themes LevelUp Official Night Owl Cobalt2 40:35 - Tips and Tricks Learn how to jump and select by letter, word, line, etc. Move a line (or Line Bubbling) - Use this for rearranging and/or moving lines of code quickly. Cycling through multiple windows of the same app - If you have multiple VS Code windows open, “Cmd + backtick” will cycle through them, so you don’t have to drag them in and out of view. Adjust MacOS keyboard settings - change Key Repeat to “fast” and Delay Until Repeat to “short”. This will make your editor super fast when holding down arrow keys. Use Git features Git History Spell Checker - “Cmd + .” will open up code actions and you check for possible misspellings, etc. Code Spell Checker Rename Symbol - Much more reliable than find/replace. Sort Lines Select everything between quotes - (Cmd + Shift + Space) 57:25 - Things that could be improved Region folding is inconsistent and sometimes doesn’t work at all. No easy way to tell which extension is causing CPU performance issues. Sidebar indentation isn’t clear. ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Wes: Melnor 4-Zone Digital Water Timer Scott: Tosowoong Enzyme face cleanser Shameless Plugs Scott’s Intermediate React Series Wes’ All Course Secret Sale Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and Wes detail the tips and tools you need to get better at debugging. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Coffeecup’s CSS Grid Builder Tool Check out Coffeecup’s CSS Grid.cc builder tool and resources to learn, prototype and build next gen layouts with CSS Grid! Show Notes 4:00 Read the stack trace 7:35 Make sure you aren’t debugging production Make sure you’re not cached 8:40 Check the network panel for the whole response CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) 12:04 Use debugger commands in the browser Set breakpoints (race conditions 13:40 Use Source Maps 15:29 Make full use of all console methods console.group/groupEnd/info/ console.log({objNAme}) 17:02 View your code in other browers Make sure your browser is up to date 18:50 Step into and step over function Useful for especially tricky issues 19:47 Look into Scope in dev tools panel 20:33 Recreate it in CodePen or Create React App Helps to quarantine your code Verify where the problem actually is 24:12 Take a break Helps clear your head and approach your problem from a different angle 25:40 Rubber Duck Debugging Forcing yourself to talk it out will often reveal problems/issues 26:40 Check Github issues / ask in Slack Leave your solution in the comments for others 28:12 Use Node --inspect flag 29:57 Read the code in your libs (if you can) 32:34 - Chrome Dev Tools Tabs Rundown 33:10 - Network tab 34:15 - Preformance tab 35:58 - Lesser known tools 36:15 - Firefox Grid Debug 36:20 - Firefox Fonts tab 37:10 - More tools (three dots menu in top right of Chrome Dev Tools window) 37:39 - Chrome Animations Inspector 38:34 - /dev tips & Modern DevTools Course 39:41 - Chrome & FF Layers for 3d and full view of canvas & window 40:51 - Sensors for overriding fake devices sensors Hot tip: Use Instagram on the desktop - Go to Instagram and set the user agent to iPad and it will work as it does on that actual device Hot tip: Get free internet on a plane - If the airplane offers free internet for a certain device, change your user agent to that device and then switch back 43:12 - Favorite DevTools extensions Apollo React Redux Vue Lighthouse JSON Formatter 44:06 - Application/Storage tab 44:41 - FireFox Grid Inspector ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Hotel Tonight App Wes: Coffee table - If you’re trying to build an outdoor coffee table, use a peice of granite Shameless Plugs Scott’s Level 2 React Course coming out THIS WEEK! - subscribe and be notified when it’s released Wes’ Courses - Advanced React course coming soon - subscribe to be notified when it’s released Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Scott and West talk about what’s new in JavaScript. Fluent Conf - Sponsor Developers, software engineers, designers, and web performance professionals flock to Fluent in pursuit of a common goal: building a better web. That means delivering fast, secure, accessible experiences to users and customers. Fluent covers a broad range of technologies and topics to provide web programming professionals with the skills, connections, and inspiration needed to build better online and mobile experiences. Fluent is this June 11-14 in San Jose, CA. Save 20% today with code: SYNTAX Netlify — Sponsor Netlify is the best way to deploy and host a front-end website. All the features developers need right out of the box: Global CDN, Continuous Deployment, one click HTTPS and more. Hit up netlify.com/syntax for more info. They are also hiring! netlify.com/careers Show Notes 1:55 - Scott’s new studio 4:57 - Pop Motion Pose New library for React or vanilla JavaScript Define locations instead of CSS styles Pass the animation state into a React component as open or closed instead of active or inactive Flip animation techniques Style Fire - Simple HTML & SVG styler optimised for animation 8:44 - Intersection Observer Browser-based API based on observables Example uses: Tell me when this element is on the page, goes off the page or is halfway down the page 10: 32 - MDX Webpack loader for MDX (i.e. JSX-infused Markdown) using mdx-it Turns MarkDown files into components in Webpack 12:56 - Resize Observer Watch elements for resize 15:47 Web Animations API Works with animations natively in JavaScript Tell your animations to play, pause, reverse, etc. Instead of changing classes, you have full control over what the animation is doing Web-Animation-JS Polyfill Can I use 18:00 - Window Face Detector API Create a new window.face detector and pass it an image tag and it returns an array of faces. 22:53 - Payment Request API Eliminates check out forms Allows platform to handle payment safely and securely 29:23 - INTL.NumberFormat Format pricing with different currencies 32:59 - V8 BigInts Makes working with big numbers more viable 34:53 - Speech Recognition Converts speech to text Pipe in different accents 36:22 - Text To Speech Simulates text into spoken words 41:46 - ES6 Modules In Node There are no ES6 modules in Node. It’s still being developed. If you want to build an ES6 module in Node, you have to use the .mjs extension ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott:Dank Mono Wes:Video Doorbell Pro from Ring Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

It’s a Potluck episode - you bring the questions and we turn them into tasty treats. Fluent Conf - Sponsor Developers, software engineers, designers, and web performance professionals flock to Fluent in pursuit of a common goal: building a better web. That means delivering fast, secure, accessible experiences to users and customers. Fluent covers a broad range of technologies and topics to provide web programming professionals with the skills, connections, and inspiration needed to build better online and mobile experiences. Fluent is this June 11-14 in San Jose, CA. Save 20% today with code: SYNTAX Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax, and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 2:42 What is an efficient way to process huge data, greater than 740 MB when not working in JS? 6:45 What’s new and shiny thing in web development do you think is going to go the distance? GraphQL Prisma GraphCool GraphQL Playground 11:09 Wes, can you make a course on how to barbecue meat properly? 12:31 How do you go about learning a new language or framework? Ep 44 - How to Learn New Things Quickly 12:54 What are the best things to keep in mind when you are the only developer on a team? 18:07 Is Redux for React dead with the new context API? Redux 21:41 What’s the funnest project you have ever worked on and why? LevelUpTuts 27:19 What’s the best use case for JWP? JWP 29:50 Should I focus on one thing and try to master one technology instead of being a jack of all trades? 35:00 Why do thousands of entrepreneurs build SaaS products on Ruby on Rails? Laravel Laravel Spark CodeIgniter Meteor Hackathon Starter 39:41 Would you use single page application vs SSR for large reactor view apps? SSR Next.js 41:06 What do you use for online learning platforms? Ep 14 - Our Stacks Explained Teachable Moodle ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Wes: Parcel Scott: Nebo Shameless Plugs Scott’s Headless WordPress course Wes’ Instgam Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter