Syntax &#8211; Tasty Web Development Treats

848: Web Components Can’t Save Us with Scott Jehl Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes talk with Scott Jehl about the benefits, challenges, and use cases of web components, particularly in design systems and performance.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:55 Scott’s background and career
- Responsible Responsive Design
- Webpagetest.org
06:46 An overview of web components
09:06 Why should people care about web components?
13:16 Should you write your own web components?
14:39 Reactivity in web components
15:56 DOM parts
18:23 Styling web components
22:08 Brought to you by Sentry.io
22:33 CSS custom properties
- Mux Player Customizer
24:28 Responsive video
28:27 The polyfill use case
30:55 Shadow DOM challenges
36:04 Web components in design systems
41:58 How are people using web components?
43:25 Web components and server-side rendering
45:00 Scott’s thoughts on build tools
47:33 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: Enhance

Shameless Plugs

Scott:
- Squarespace is hiring
- Web Components Demystified - Get 30% off with coupon code “syntax”
- Web Components Community Group

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847: Syntax Holiday Gift Guide Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes are back with their annual Syntax Holiday Gift Guide! They’ve curated the best gadgets, tools, games, and even kitchen essentials for the dev in your life — plus a few treats anyone would love to unwrap.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:46 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
- Open Source Pledge Members.
01:59 Syntax holiday gift guide.
02:25 Our absolute favorites.
- Leatherman Arc.
- Peak Design Everyday.
- 1.5 KG of Maldon, Salt Cellars.
- Anker Cube.
- Anker MagGo.
- Theragun, Off-Brand Massage Gun.
- Subscription to Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT.
- Syntax Swag.
13:33 Our (Scott’s) top games.
- Factorio.
- Cascadia.
- Azul.
- SteamDeck.
19:01 Gifts under $30.
- Braided USB-C Cables
- Right Angle Thunderbolt.
- Battery Daddy.
- MagSafe Popsocket.
- Hempz Apple Cider + Nutmeg Hand Lotion.
- Mens Cremo Body Wash.
27:50 Clothing gifts.
- Uniqlo Stretch Selvedge Denim.
- Naked and Famous Selvedge Denim.
- Scott DU/ER Jeans.
- Wool Toque
- Anything from Huckberry.
35:02 Desk item gifts.
- MX3s Master Mouse
- Target Candles
- Candle Melter Wax.
- Laptop Stand
  - Rain Design mStand.
  - Any Foldable Amazon Stand
- Desk Treadmill.
- Insta360 Link 2.
- Small Rig Rotatable Collar Mount.
- Thermal Printer.
- Cable Management Straps + Clips
- Mini Tripod.
- Super Clamp.
- Fishskyn.
45:02 Kids gifts.
- Yoto Player.
- Toniebox.
- First Cat in Space.
- Bathbombs.
- Kahn Academy Kids App.
- Codespark.
51:11 Kitchen gifts.
59:02 Eatables.
- Hot Sauce:
  - Truff Hot Sauce.
  - Secret Aardvark.
  - Cholula Gift Pack.
  - Laoganma Chili Crisp.
  - Merfs.
- Bachan’s Japanese BBQ Sauce.
01:00:51 Smart home gifts.
- Smart Dimmers
- ESP32 + WS2815 LED Strips
01:03:06 Shameless Plugs.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube

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846: Talking EVs: Range Anxiety, Charging, and Tech Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes unpack their experiences as electric car owners, sharing the highs and lows of making the switch. From range anxiety to charging infrastructure and cost savings, they talk about everything from the tech perks to the unexpected challenges of driving electric.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
02:11 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
03:14 What cars and how long have we had them.
- Hyundai IONIQ 5.
- Tesla Model Y Long Range.
10:41 Range and dealing with range anxiety.
11:45 The EPA specs.
12:24 Things that affect range.
14:46 Charging.
17:52 Charging levels.
- 17:56 Level 1 charging.
- 19:01 Level 2 charging.
- 19:39 Level 3 charging.
- 20:10 Charging standards.
21:51 Electric car pricing.
25:56 Regenerative braking.
27:27 General maintenance.
29:04 Pricing and expenses.
31:48 Machine Gun Kelly Effect.
36:46 Would you go completely electric?
38:46 Electric-only tech.
40:57 Buying a new EV.
42:21 Edison Motors website, TikTok.

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845: Are companies hiring? State of the dev job market with Taylor Desseyn Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes talk with Taylor Desseyn about the shifting developer job market. Taylor shares practical tips for standing out, building genuine connections, and finding opportunities in a competitive hiring landscape.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:38 Meet Taylor Desseyn
03:51 Is the dev job market as bad as it seems?
06:47 How to stand out when applying for a dev job?
11:03 Who is getting hired?
14:16 What tech/languages are companies hiring for right now?
16:37 Is there less work?
20:10 The small things that get you hired
24:19 What to do when you get laid off
27:42 Brought to you by Sentry.io
28:07 How to make yourself more appealing to employers
32:39 Networking tips and tricks
39:01 Remote work and office return trends
40:58 Why you should negotiate carefully
43:38 What’s the most important thing right now for getting hired?
45:48 Should devs understand stakeholders and business goals?
46:42 Creating a good resume
52:00 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Taylor: heydey mic
Randy Rektor’s YouTube Channel

Shameless Plugs

Taylor:
- Torc
- Guidance Counselor 2.0

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844: TypeScript, Branded Types, Streaming vs Polling + More Nov 06, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes serve up listener questions on everything from SvelteKit’s limits and the quirks of branded types in TypeScript to handling email queues and secure token storage in cookies. Plus, they get into app security, the evolution of checkout flows, and why QA teams can actually be game-changers for dev teams.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:50 Catching up.
01:52 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
02:56 What are the limitations of SvelteKit?
06:41 Svelte 5 updates.
07:53 Branded types in TypeScript.
- EggHead.io Blog.
11:56 Queue applications and a ‘poor man’s queue’.
17:20 The real value of a functional QA team.
21:34 Invoker commands.
- Invokers Explained.
- Denver Script Talk.
26:29 Growing security and permissions concerns.
- Little Snitch.
33:03 Stripe vs PayPal in 2024.
38:24 Christmas gift guide.
38:39 Websockets vs streams vs polling.
41:04 Storing access and refresh tokens in a cookie.
45:41 Shipping with TypeScript errors.
49:34 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: The Black Stuff Deodorant.
Wes: Apple Watch Charging Brick.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube.

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843: Copilot Kills Cursor? Reacting to Github Universe Keynote Nov 04, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes react to the big GitHub Universe announcements, recorded live at GitHub Universe. They dive into Copilot’s new features, exploring how its advancements stack up against Cursor AI in the battle for the ultimate AI-driven developer tool.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:12 Our Syntax Meetup.
02:54 AI is everywhere.
03:22 Sherlocking and jockeying for position.
04:49 GitHub Copilot introduces alternative LLMs.
- GitHub Copilot
06:31 New tools are build upon existing LLMs.
09:14 VSCode reclaiming ground from Cursor.
- Cursor
10:31 The new features.
- 10:34 Multi-file editing.
- 10:54 Use-cases for multi-file editing.
- 12:58 Multi-model selection.
- 13:05 Repo indexing.
- 13:50 Copilot instructions.
- 14:34 Examples of Cursor rules.
- 16:39 No mention of multiple-line suggestions.
- 18:02 Multi-file edit?
- 20:26 Code review.
- 22:36 GitHub Pull Requests plugin.
- 24:34 Investing in AI ‘big bets’.
- 26:29 Scott’s mysterious YouTube unreleased feature.
- 27:11 3-minute YouTube shorts.
  - Wes’ TikTok.
- 28:29 GitHub Marketplace.
- 32:18 Copilot Workspace.
- 34:53 Copilot Workspace features yet to come.
- 36:25 GitHub Spark.
  - Bolt.new.
42:44 Final thoughts on Copilot vs Cursor.
44:03 What products do you think are in trouble?
50:26 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: Waymo.
Wes: Waymo.

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842: There's Python in my JavaScript! with Andrea Giammarchi Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes talk with Andrea Giammarchi (aka WebReflection) about his projects, including LinkDOM and PyScript, and the exciting future of running Python in the browser via WebAssembly.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:04 Andrea’s background and early work
- LinkDOM
07:25 Brought to you by Sentry.io
09:56 Pyscript
14:31 Why run Python in the browser?
20:17 Using WebAssembly to run different languages in JS
23:33 The advantages of WebAssembly
25:55 What excites Andrea about WASM
- Proposal: ESX as core JS feature
31:10 What is WASI?
32:21 Andrea’s experience with IOT and microcontrollers
35:35 How can the JS ecosystem be improved?
38:07 Should we have reactivity in the browser?
- Signals
41:06 Andrea’s thoughts on server-side APIs
43:43 Andrea’s thoughts on TypeScript
49:13 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Andrea: ESP32

Shameless Plugs

Andrea: Andrea’s X / Twitter

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841: Spooky Web Dev Horror Stories - PART 2 Oct 30, 2024

Show notes

Scott and Wes continue to share hair-raising developer horror stories submitted by listeners. From accidentally severing access to crucial databases to a limitless coupon code that cost millions, these tales will have you on the edge of your seat. Tune in for more wild mishaps, close calls, and hard-learned lessons from the dark side of coding. You won’t want to miss this second round of spooky web dev stories!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:49 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
01:32 ‘Monkey Business’
03:21 ‘Spooky Integration Bug’
06:25 ‘Worst Case Wake Up’
08:57 ‘Severed Trunk and Missing Backups’
11:21 ‘Brute Force Too Brutal’
12:30 ‘A Dorm Room Bee Movie’
15:46 ‘No Goats’
16:45 ‘Pokémon Problems’
18:08 ‘Late Night’
22:21 ‘Bootcamp Bungle’
26:19 ‘Film School F*** Up’
30:26 ‘AWS Clusterf***’
31:26 ‘Limitless Coupon Disaster’
- Episode #451, Episode #609.
33:55 ‘Ruined Vacation’
35:47 ‘Console.swear’
37:28 ‘Another Coupon Disaster’
40:46 ‘The Doctor’
- Wes’ Burner List.
43:01 ‘Marketing Nightmare’
45:10 What did we learn this year?
- 45:12 You need processes.
- 48:42 Ask for help.
- 49:44 Dry-run queries + soft delete.
- 51:14 Code reviews.
  - Episode #830.
- 52:11 Version control.
53:58 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: Nobody Wants This.
Wes: Truffle Hot Sauce.

Shameless Plugs

Scott: syntax.fm.
Wes: syntax.fm/spooky.

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