Syntax &#8211; Tasty Web Development Treats

868: The State of JavaScript Jan 15, 2025

Show notes

Wes and Scott talk about the State of JavaScript survey, tends, popular features, and the evolving landscape of tools and frameworks.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:27 Brought to you by Sentry.io
01:16 The state of JavaScript Twitter fantasy football
02:27 Syntax features
- The State of JavaScript survey
05:27 Logical assignment
07:49 Strings
08:18 Arrays
14:16 Sets
- 2025 New Years resolution: use maps and sets more and objects / arrays less.
16:10 Browser APIs
22:50 Library tiers list
27:21 Upgrading from M1 Mac
- Chris Coyier - M4
30:08 Front-end frameworks
32:18 The top front-end frameworks used at work
33:49 What is the highest paying framework?
35:01 Meta frameworks
36:32 Meta frameworks pain points
42:33 Testing tools
43:58 Build tools
44:41 Most used libraries
46:33 Back-end frameworks
48:34 JavaScript runtimes
50:35 Serverless runtimes
51:25 Other languages people are using
52:49 AI tools
53:37 The State of JS Awards
57:18 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Wes: Headted Vest
Scott: Super Mario Party Jamboree

Shameless Plugs

Syntax YouTube Channel

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867: Zero Sync is the Future of Data Loading Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

What’s the deal with Zero Sync? Scott and Wes dive into this cutting-edge database tech, exploring its real-time interactivity, blazing-fast performance, and how it stacks up against the competition. Plus, they break down setup, querying, authentication, and whether it’s ready for prime time.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:59 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
02:21 Today’s agenda.
02:52 What is Zero Sync?
- The Docs.
- InstantDB.
07:02 Zerobugs loading speed.
11:04 Real-time interactivity.
11:38 Why is it different?
12:11 How to get it set up.
- 12:58 Querying Data.
- 16:22 Writing data.
- 16:31 Upsert.
- 17:39 Authentication and permissions.
  - Johannes Schickling Ep 767.
- 19:27 Preloading.
- 19:41 Migrations and deployment.
20:17 Some extras.
21:16 CreateSubscriber.
23:08 Can you use this today?
- Zero Syn Roadmap.
- Scott’s YouTube Video.

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866: 2025 Web Development Predictions Jan 08, 2025

Show notes

Scott and Wes look into their crystal ball to predict what’s coming in web development next year. From the rise of on-device AI to the vanilla CSS comeback, Bun’s big moves, and React’s evolution, this episode is packed with bold predictions and hot takes!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
02:00 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
03:09 The agenda.
03:40 Temporal Javascript api will ship in Safari and Chrome.
- Temporal Proposal.
06:23 On device AI.
- WebGPU API
- Dawn Native WebGPU
10:26 Models will plateau.
- Bolt.new, v0, Lovable.dev.
13:40 Web Awesome will become the most used web components library.
- Web Awesome.
15:57 We will be using more web components.
16:59 A push towards the ‘standard stack’.
19:38 We can really use relative color.
21:39 Vanilla CSS comeback.
23:35 A complete Mixins / Functions API for CSS.
24:27 Conditionals will ship in all browsers.
25:50 People will still make vertical centering jokes.
27:08 VSCode will be feature parity with Cursor.
28:22 Framework choice will matter less with AI tools.
29:12 OpenAI will launch a browser.
- Dupe.com.
- Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy.
- Krazy Binz.
37:18 React will drop Babel.
- BabelJS.
38:05 React Server Components will pop.
39:46 Remix will relaunch as something entirely different.
41:11 React Native will have it’s time.
42:06 Svelte will get component-based islands or data loading.
44:19 Server Runtimes, Bun will continue to do non-standard, lovable things.
44:44 Bun will release a PAS to compete with NPM, Vercel, and Vite.
46:06 Laravel will release a CMS.
47:57 Vite will stay king.
48:03 Rolldown ships in the next version of Vite.
- Rolldown.
- Statamic.
49:35 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: PHILIPS A19 Ultra Definition Dimmable Light Bulb.
Wes: Stats App.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube.

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865: CSS Performance × Rate Limiting × Array Sort Behavior - STUMP'd Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

Scott and Wes challenge each other’s knowledge on everything from array sorting quirks to browser isolation types in a rapid-fire trivia format. They dive deep into performance optimizations, TypeScript type safety, and HTML best practices while uncovering surprising edge cases that every web developer should know about.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:43 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
01:23 Question 1: Array Sort Default Behavior.
03:24 Question 2: Splitting Into Individual Words & Characters.
06:06 Question 3: NodeJS Stream Backpressure.
09:07 Question 4: Custom Middleware Rate Limiting.
13:00 Question 5: Transform Function Property Changes.
15:18 Question 6: TranslateZ & Will-Change Performance.
17:52 Question 7: Table Structure Best Practices.
20:23 Question 8: Dialog vs Div with Dialog Role.
23:21 Question 9: TypeScript Unknown vs Any & Never.
26:31 Question 10: Response Type Safety in TypeScript.
29:48 Question 11: Browser Isolation Types.
32:54 Question 12: HTML Quirks Mode Behavior.

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864: Durable Objects × Tab State Hacks × Headless CMS Choices + More Jan 01, 2025

Show notes

Scott and Wes ring in the new year, answering listener questions on the rise of durable objects, handling tricky tab state in e-commerce apps, and their top picks for headless CMS. They also chat about the future of CSS, deployment platforms, and whether Syntax beanies might finally be a thing!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:52 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
03:10 What Are Durable Objects?
08:25 CSS Anchor Positioning: Cross-Browser Support Update.
- Implement CSS Anchor Positioning.
12:48 Freelancers: UX and Design Skills vs. Functional Expertise.
16:47 Choosing the Best Deployment Platform.
- Syntax Episode 615.
20:49 Making Websites WCAG Compliant.
- Polypane.
22:35 Managing Tab State in Complex Apps.
28:43 Will CSS Ever Be Complete?
33:21 When Will Syntax Beanies Drop?
- Syntax Swag Store.
35:21 The Best Headless CMS for a Tech Blog.
42:15 From Many Packages to Monolithic Frameworks.
46:41 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: The Sheet with Jeff Marek.
Wes: 28” 4K+ BenQ Programming Monitor.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube.

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863: 2024: A Year in Review Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes look back at 2024 and share highlights from a big year for Syntax and the web dev world. They review their 2024 predictions to see what they got right (and wrong), and break down the major moments in web development from CSS improvements to AI editors and beyond.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:30 Changes to the Syntax podcast.
05:56 What happened this year?
- 06:07 React.
- 06:36 Solid Start.
- 07:04 Tanstack Start.
- 07:43 Remix
- 09:42 AI Editors.
- 11:53 Vite 6.
- 14:02 Bluesky.
- 19:52 CSS.
22:17 What did we do?
- 22:21 React Miami.
  - React Miami Episode.
- 22:26 JSNation Amsterdam.
- 23:55 JSNation US + React Summit.
- 24:57 Terminal Feud.
- 26:28 Laravel + Terminal basketball game.
- 27:02 Syntax San Francisco meetup.
- 27:23 GitHub Universe.
- 28:07 FITC.
- 28:38 153 Syntax Episodes + Video.
29:32 Our 2024 Predictions Reviewed.
- 29:46 Types in JS will have real movement.
- 31:29 Temporal API will ship in 1 browser.
- 32:50 Perf tooling gets easy for everyone to understand.
- 33:29 CSS continues to get better where you need less JS.
- 34:25 Svelte v5 is very fast.
- 34:38 The year of the server in frameworks.
- 35:28 Astro is going to have a good year.
- 36:13 React server components.
- 37:03 Remix moves away from page-based loaders, to component loaders.
- 37:18 Hono will become more ubiquitous.
- 38:28 We will see a route matching Proposal move ahead.
- 39:23 Bun releases full node compat.
- 40:42 We will see a new Linter + formatter entirely replace.
- 42:16 New TypeScript typechecker.
  - Ezno.
- 43:40 Lightning CSS pops - or does it?
- 45:10 You’ll hear more about Rspack and Turbopack.
- 45:51 Vite isn’t going to release anything big in 2024.
- 46:24 Relative color will land in all major browsers.
- 48:14 CSS contrast-color will land in chrome.
- 48:48 Scroll animation landing in 2 browsers.
- 50:03 The year of CSS discovery.
- 51:09 Safari will Ship 3 missing PWA Support.
- 52:11 Firefox usage will continue to slip.
- 56:53 Paid Arc features.
- 57:14 More XR web experiences as Apple releases in Vision Pro.
- 59:55 AI Tooling.
- 01:00:57 Small Models that run in the browser.
- 01:01:38 Apps get Sherlocked by OpenAI.
- 01:02:04 On prem corporate AI.
01:04:49 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: TCGPocket App.
Wes: Huge Bag of Croc Charms

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube.

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862: Svelte 5 Is Here! Dec 18, 2024

Show notes

Is Svelte becoming React? Scott and Wes explore the exciting updates in Svelte 5, including Runes, Snippets, odd font choices, and performance benchmarks, while discussing custom event updates, migration tips, and potential performance gains.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- Scott’s Svelte5 Overview.
01:27 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
02:06 What’s new in Svelte 5?
- 02:13 Runes.
  - 04:47 $state
  - 07:00 $state.snapshot
  - 11:47 $derived
  - 12:46 $derived.by
  - 15:41 $effect
  - 17:24 $effect.pre
  - 18:05 $effect use cases.
  - 22:20 $props
  - 24:57 Binding state.
  - 27:15 $inspect
    - vsode-wrap-svelte.
  - 28:46 $inspect(…).with
- 30:42 Snippets.
- 34:22 Events now onclick instead of on:click.
- 36:09 Custom events now just props instead of createEventDispatcher.
36:31 Serif Font on website.
40:01 Performance.
- Benchmarks Doc.
- Benjamin McCann Tweet.
46:41 Is Svelte becoming React?
49:21 Migration.
51:41 What’s next and wish list for Svelte.
57:12 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: Dragon Quest 3.
Wes: Dresscode.dev.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube.

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861: Local Data: Sqlite, LocalStorage, Session, Cookies and IndexDB Dec 16, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes dive into the world of local data storage, breaking down the pros and cons of Sqlite, LocalStorage, SessionStorage, Cookies, and IndexedDB. They cover real-world use cases like user settings, offline data, and auth tokens, while sharing their favorite tools and strategies for keeping your data fast and secure.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:30 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
01:43 Why store data locally.
- 01:55 User preferences and settings.
- 02:50 Not logged in state (shopping carts, etc).
- 03:30 Data for faster loading.
- 03:51 Privacy concerns.
- 04:25 Large files or drafts.
- 05:50 Auth tokens.
07:08 Where to store data.
- 07:11 Cookies.
- 07:48 Local storage.
- 09:15 Session storage.
- 10:35 IndexedDB.
12:15 BYOJS Storage.
13:41 SQlite via WASM.
14:12 Penalties of SQLite in browser via WASM.
15:29 PGLite.
16:23 Dealing with migrations.
16:55 The advantages of the approach.
18:42 Dexie.
19:59 Patch messages.
21:25 A few options.
- TinyBase Docs.
- Local First Web.

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