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

Latest Episodes:

Side Projects: The Eternal Loop of Never-Ending Features Oct 22, 2024

Show notes

Side projects are often done as a for-fun and potentially for-profit outlet for web developers looking to break free from client projects where they have little control. Unfortunately, just like client projects, side projects can easily spiral out of scope to the point of developer exhaustion. In this episode, Matt and Mike explore how scope creep can derail personal projects, offering practical strategies to prevent it. They discuss defining a solid MVP, niching down to maintain focus, and prioritizing features using methods like the MoSCoW framework. By setting clear boundaries and establishing achievable milestones, developers can avoid common pitfalls and keep their side projects on track.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/side-projects-the-eternal-loop-of-never-ending-features

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

The Toughest Concepts in Web Development (Part 2) Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

In this episode Matt and MIke, continue their deep dive into the toughest concepts in web development. The guys tackle topics like mastering responsive design, ensuring web accessibility (a11y) for all users, and the complexities of server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and client-side rendering (CSR). They also explore the challenges of event-driven architectures, managing project dependencies efficiently, and setting up smooth CI/CD pipelines. Whether you're building scalable web applications or just want to level up your dev game, this episode has actionable insights to help you through some of web development's most intricate concepts.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/the-toughest-concepts-in-web-development-part-2

Thanks to Magic Mind for sponsoring this episode, enjoy 40% off your subscription using our link and code (Link: https://magicmind.com/HTMLPOD40 Code: HTMLPOD40) This offer is only available for the first 10 people that use the link and code!!

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

The Toughest Concepts in Web Development (Part 1) Oct 09, 2024

Show notes

Web development is not easy! Websites need to work on multiple devices, respect SEO best practices, and must deliver everything from blogs through complex design programs. These demanding sees web developers navigating not only demanding topics, but ones that are also difficult to engineer, implement, and maintain. In this episode, Matt and Mike start a discussion the toughest concepts in web development. In this first of two parts series, the duo discussed: Asynchronous programming & promises, state management, security concerns (ie XSS CSRF, SQL Injection), performance optimization, scalability & architecture, and cross-browser compatibility.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/the-toughest-concepts-in-web-development-part-1

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Mentoring Developers with Shashi Lo Oct 03, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Mike had a great conversation with Shashi Lo this week! Shashi is a senior software engineer at Microsoft and founder of Gridiron Survivor - an open source NFL Survivor pool SaaS application that’s designed to help the junior developers working on it further their skills and knowledge through real-world experience. Unlike self-taught personal projects, Shashi walks us through how his mentees on the Gridiron Survivor project are guided through corporate standards such as writing clean code and covering all the bases with proper testing - concepts that may seem superfluous on small portfolio project, but are a must-have in a corporate setting.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/mentoring-developers-with-shashi-lo

Companion Article: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/blog-posts/bridging-the-skills-gap-empowering-junior-developers-through-apprenticeship-programs

Is Your Code Too Complex? Troubleshooting, Fixing, and Implementing Solutions Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

While trying to solve a coding problem this week, Matt found himself buried in a collection of solutions offered by ChatGPT and Google search results. Some of the solutions were completely new to him and so he got to thinking about how "safe" it would be to implement them. Not from a security perspective, as there wasn't any private data involved in this particular case, but his concern was more for the page UX itself. How efficient were the solutions he was about to implement, would it slow the web page down? Were these new topics even being used in the correct context and being implemented appropriately? In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed how to think through problems like this in terms of project architecture, website performance, and troubleshooting/research time spent.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/is-your-code-too-complex-troubleshooting-fixing-and-implementing-solutions

Thanks to Magic Mind for sponsoring this episode, enjoy 20% off one-time purchases and subscription using our link and code (Link: https://magicmind.com/HTMLPOD20 Code: HTMLPOD20)

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Tech We Love as Web Developers: SvelteKit, Vercel, Supermaven, and More Sep 24, 2024

Show notes

There is a lot of tech out there! It seems every day someone is coming out with a new way to edit images, use AI, build websites, assist developers, and the list goes on and on. This week, Matt and Mike decided to zoom in and discuss some of the tech that they enjoy using at the moment including Svelte/SvelteKit, TailwindCSS, Supermaven, and much more! The technologies that web developers change all the time - and not always obvious things like frameworks and plugins, but also more logistical elements of the job like where to host, compress images, etc. What are you using in your projects?

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/tech-we-love-as-web-developers-sveltekit-vercel-supermaven-and-more

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Saying No to Scope Creep: How Web Devs Can Push Back Sep 17, 2024

Show notes

Scope creep is a very dangerous thing that can endanger a team's productivity and mental health. It involves taking the original scope of a project, and slowly but surely, adding more and more tasks to it. Often times scope creep is not done nefariously, as those that request tasks from developers are ignorant of the technical complexities of their requests. Unfortunately, there are those that will add to a project's scope willingly to take advantage of their employees, or there may be some mismanagement within the company that leads to additional work in a short period of time. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the who, what, where, when, and why of pushing back against customer requests in order to keep projects in-scope. They discussed the importance of pushing back sometimes, when to push back, and whether it's appropriate to push back when acting as a freelance contractor.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/saying-no-to-scope-creep-how-web-devs-can-push-back

Thanks to Magic Mind for sponsoring this episode, enjoy 20% off one-time purchases and subscription using our link and code (Link: https://magicmind.com/HTMLPOD20 Code: HTMLPOD20)

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Why Code Quality Matters: Testing, Linting, Refactoring Sep 10, 2024

Show notes

Code quality matters! When developers write better, cleaner, and safer code - their deliverables improve significantly. When code is safer, there are less problems with crashes and unintended errors. When code is cleaner, team members find it easier to read, peer review, and add on to down the line. Improving the quality of your code is easier said than done, however, as it takes more than just "getting good" at coding. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the importance of and how to improve your code quality by keeping coding styles consistent with your team, refactoring, writing good tests, using prettier formatting, and linting.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/why-code-quality-matters-testing-linting-refactoring

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Should Our AI Data Be in the Cloud? On-Device AI vs Cloud-Based AI Sep 03, 2024

Show notes

Should AI run in the cloud or on-device? Some people think that on-device is the only way forward as it ensures a certain level of privacy, while others worry that our local hardware (PC, smartphone, smartwatch) is not powerful enough to deliver cutting-edge features. In this episode, Matt and Mike explore how on-device AI and cloud-based AI work. The guys discussed the benefits of each approach while analyzing and debating their differences on both a hardware/software and user-experience level. Are you worried about your AI information being out in the cloud?

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/should-our-ai-data-be-in-the-cloud---on-device-ai-vs-cloud-based-ai

Thanks to Magic Mind for sponsoring this episode, enjoy 20% off one-time purchases and subscription using our link and code (Link: https://magicmind.com/HTMLPOD20 Code: HTMLPOD20)

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio

Our Biggest Projects: How We Became Developers Aug 27, 2024

Show notes

This week Matt and Mike took a trip down memory lane to discuss, debate, and reflect on some of their biggest projects that shaped their careers as web developers. As with many tech careers, the road to becoming a web developer is anything but straightforward. In the case of Matt and Mike, their planned IT startup took a hard right turn based on the opportunities they were afforded over the years such as working for a large medical clinic under the scrutiny of strict government regulations, being caught up in Chrome OS fever as Chrome Apps landed on Windows, helping a large fast food franchise deliver important info to their franchisees, and many more! The pathway to becoming a web developer is anything but linear and the guys hope that this episode's conversations prove that there is no one single pathway to success in the web dev game.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/our-biggest-projects-how-we-became-developers

Thanks to Wix Studio for sponsoring this episode! Check out Wix Studio, the web platform tailored to designers, developers, and marketers via this link: https://www.wix.com/studio