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Syntax – Tasty Web Development Treats

Full Stack Developers Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski dive deep into web development topics, explaining how they work and talking about their own experiences. They cover from JavaScript frameworks like React, to the latest advancements in CSS to simplifying web tooling.

Latest Episodes:

Potluck - Where to start with JS × Freelancing × Cron jobs × Split testing × Frameworks in 2019 × More Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - thoughts on frameworks for 2019, React Native, when should you start freelancing, where to start with JS, cron jobs, split testing and more!

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! Just for January their eight-week plan is back. Use the coupon code “newyear19” to get $50 off.

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.

Show Notes

1:40

Where is the best place to start with JS coming from WordPress?

5:36

How do you set up cron jobs? What are the best tools to use, should they run on their own server or on the application server, etc.?

17:13

What new skills, frameworks, projects are you look forward to learning in 2019?

21:35

Do you use any software for tracking analytics on your site and do you ever use this data to run split tests? If so, what is your preferred method for running split tests?

28:24

What’s your best tip for young coders to stay productive and not lose time?

32:08

I’m 17 and learning web dev. I’m pretty concerned about my skills and feeling some impostor syndrome. Is it ok to start freelancing?

37:26

What is React Native? How do people tend to use it? If you want a native and web app, do they share code?

Links

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Scott: Tiding Up on Netflix
Wes 1: Capital Gaines by Chip Gaines

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Hasty Treat - CSS Units Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about CSS units (e.g. rems vs ems, px, ch, vmax), when and why you want to be using them, tips and tricks, and more!

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

2:32

Typography with CSS units

12:04

Pixels

15:17

Viewport units

15:51

ch units

16:35

inch/cm for print

17:19

Percentages

18:10

Media queries

19:41

Flexbox (flex-grow)

20:28

CSS Grid: flexible units: 1fr 2fr

Links

Sentry

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A Look Forward to 2019 Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

In this episode Wes and Scott take a look back at 2018 as well as a look forward to what’s coming in 2019.

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”.

CSS In Depth and In Motion - Sponsor

Electron in Action from Manning Publications guides you, step-by-step, as you learn to build cross-platform desktop applications that run on Windows, OSX, and Linux. As a Syntax listener, you can get 40% off all their books and courses by visiting deals.manning.com/webdev and using the coupon code syntax40 at checkout.

Show Notes

3:00 - What was hot in 2018?

Tooling got easier
GraphQL got easier and more accessible
New GraphQL companies left and right
CSS has gotten more awesome
React
Improvement in React Dev Tools
JavaScript frameworks overall
Edge adopting Chrome engine
Microsoft bought Github
Vue continues to impress and evolve
VS Code continued to get amazing

31:29 - Predictions for 2019

Headless CMS game is going to get really real
We’re gonna see rails for JavaScript start making some noise
React will continue to see growth
Design tools will get more code-y (Figma, etc.)
VueJS will continue to see growth
Developer Experience Tools will continue to get easier
Wasm
Code splitting easier
ES6 Modules in Node
Server Side Hot reloading

41:00 - Scott’s Year in Review

Released 12 courses
Major growth in Level Up as a platform
Hired first employees to work and grow site
Greatly improved quality and video production
Gave first conf talks and spoke internationally

44:03 - Wes’ Year in Review

Released two courses - CSS Grid and Advanced React
Started work on JavaScript course
Delegated lots of development to contractor
Continued to work well with assistant
Spoke at lots of confs
Live Syntax!
Grew Instagram
Continued hot tips on twitter

47:00 - BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

We’re both having babies!

48:09 - Wes’ Goals for 2019

Keep doing what I’m doing!
New Website!
JavaScript course
Platform upgrades - been in the works for months - working on a faster rollout
CSS course? VS Code course? More React?
8 YouTube Videos
Instagram to 30k
Parental Leave

52:26 - Scott’s Goals for 2019

Courses
First non-Scott LUT courses (big plans / announcements here )
Parental Leave
Major platform updates that are stuck in bottleneck
More hires, more growth
More free content
More teaching from real world code
Codebase to Hooks & Suspense

Links

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Scott: Fake or Fortune?
Wes: Heavyweight

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Hasty Treat - CSS and JS Pointer Events Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about pointer events in CSS and JS - what they are, their differences, why you may want to use them, potential downfalls and more!

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

3:24

CSS pointer events

10:50

JavaScript pointer events

14:24

What are pointer events

17:56

Browser support

Links

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CSS Layout Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

In this episode Wes and Scott are talking all about CSS layout - how it works, things to watch out for 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”.

CSS In Depth and In Motion - Sponsor

CSS in Depth in Motion from Manning Publications is a great way to master CSS. Modern CSS can handle a dizzying array of styles and effects without external frameworks, and this liveVideo course from Manning Publications will get you there. As a Syntax listener, you can get 40% off all their books and courses by visiting deals.manning.com/webdev and using the coupon code syntax40 at checkout.

Show Notes

4:15

When to use position fixed/static/absolute/relative/sticky

15:18

When to use height, width, max-height, max-width, top, bottom, left, right, etc.

21:28

What about relationships between containers and their children?

27:37

What about positioning behaviors of elements like , , , etc.?

30:09

Floating and clearing

35:55

Flexbox, Grid and responsive design

36:58

Mobile-first or desktop-first?

41:20

Viewport units - vw, vh, vmin, vmax, etc

Links

Keycode.info

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

Scott: Last Seen Podcast
Wes: Flying a DJI Tello Drone with React and Node.js

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Hasty Treat - Where are they now? Part 2 Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes continue their discussion of libraries and tech that where super hot in the past, but not so much any more.

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

3:40 - jQuery UI / jQuery Mobile

6:10 - Flash / Silverlight

10:54 - Grid systems

16:02 - CoffeScript

18:18 - Underescore.js

20:04 - Less CSS

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Potluck - Typescript × E-commerce platforms × Job-hopping × Working for agencies × More Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - thoughts on Typescript, e-commerce platforms vs custom, working for agencies, job-hopping 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.

Vue.js In Action - Sponsor

Vue.js in Action from Manning Publications is a great way to learn Vue.js. If you’re looking for a book that will teach you Vue.js from start to finish, this is the one. As a Syntax listener, you can get 40% off all their books and courses by visiting deals.manning.com/webdev and using the coupon code syntax40 at checkout.

Show Notes

1:20

How do you distinguish between normal and virtual pixels on high dpi devices. How do you call Pixels? Which tools do you use for optimizing Images?

5:02

What are your thoughts on TypeScript (and selfishly, I’d like to learn about using it with React)? Any temptation to try it out if you’re not already doing so? Why or why not? Any resources you’d like to share on TypeScript?

8:35

I have heard you guys say good things about Digital Ocean before, but am reading a lot of bad reviews about them on various websites. Are these just frustrated developers or is there any merit to these claims?

12:48

If you were to build an eCommerce store, given that your business requirements specify that custom functionality is needed, would it be smart to roll your own solution or use Magento/Shopify/Woocommerce? If the later, what is the developer experience like? Which has the greater ability to implement custom functionality for server and client side code?

19:50

I feel like I’m pretty “bos” at starting projects but so terrible at finishing them. As people who finish courses and projects all the time, what is your advice for getting to that finish line?

23:32

Could you please explain how you organize your files? What is the folder structure you use for both your projects and other documents/videos and stuff?

31:38

You guys mention working for “agencies” in the past. As a freelance web developer, what’s the best way to find these agencies, and to be employed by them? Also, can you explain what “agencies” are?

38:14

I once read an interview Wes gave in which he mentioned that frequently changing jobs is the best way to get salary increases. Do you both believe that to be true? Is job-hopping a bad thing? Is the criticism of it justified?

41:53

If I choose to use Next.js, does that mean I won’t be able to use new React features like hooks and suspense until/if the Next.js team implements those?

43:12

When do you use and when do you use to wrap your many returned components from render()?

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Scott: Undertale
Wes: Ghostly Pixels

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Hasty Treat - Where are they now?! Gulp, Grunt, Bower, Backbone and Compass Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about libraries that have been super hot in the past, but not so much any more.

Contentful - Sponsor

Contentful is a great way to manage your data. Update once and publish everywhere. Contentful gives you a ton of flexibility and reliability and everything you need to build excellent front-end content without having to worry about the back-end of your site. Check out contentful.com/syntax and get a free pair of socks!

Show Notes

4:14

Grunt / Gulp

8:56

Backbone / Marionette

13:00

Bower / Components

15:46

Compass

Links

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Not a Clip Show - Episode 100! Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

To celebrate episode 100, Wes and Scott are talking about Syntax - their most popular episodes, stats, Q&A, and a bunch of cool stuff about what it’s been like making this show for 100 episodes.

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”.

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

1:45 - Celebrating 100 episodes

04:18 - Our first episode

Syntax001 - React Tools

06:23 - Our first sponsor

Delicious Brains

09:37 - Most popular episodes

21:35 - Top countries

Just passed 3 million downloads
10 - Poland - 38,731 downloads
09 - Brazil - 40,475 downloads
08 - Netherlands - 47,601 downloads
07 - India - 50,724 downloads
06 - Sweden - 55,378 downloads
05 - Australia - 80,654 downloads
04 - Germany - 109,842 downloads
03 - Canada - 138,250 downloads
02 - United Kingdom - 231,835 downloads
01 - United States - 1,220,519 downloads

27:34 - Top players

AppleCoreMedia
Overcast
Chrome
Pocket Casts
iTunes

30:35 - Lessons learned about sponsors

Pays the bills - editing, hosting, etc…
- Podcast Royale - Podcast production
- Libsyn - Podcast hosting
They want hard numbers
Conversions are hard to track
It’s really cool companies and users that enjoy the product hook up
How do we get them?

35:10 - Favorite episodes

38:49 - Q&A

Q: What’s your favorite soundboard sound?
Q: What’s your recording process like? Do you each record your streams locally then edit them together or are there any “hax” you guys have cooked up as developers?
- A: Pay someone who is good at editing
- We both have good recording gear
- We record separate files and send them our production team, Podcast Royale, for editing
- We do show notes in Dropbox Paper, which are also edited by Podcast Royale
Q: Does Scott practice his segues, or do they just come to him on the fly?
- A: On the fly 😎
Q: Although I am all for peace, why did you choose “peace” as your outro statement?
- A: It was a random note from Wes in the first episode and we stuck with it
Q: how did you meet each other and decided to start the podcast?
- A: We both released a course around the same time with the same name - we started talking and the rest is history
- Syntax007 - Scott Tolinski Origin Story
- Syntax008 - Wes Bos Origin Story

51:20 - Most asked questions

What episode was it that you ______ ?
Can my boss come on the show and talk about bitcoin?
Can you sick pick my thing?
Can you do an episode on VueJS?
Can you do an episode on Angular?
NO EP TODAY?

54:20 - Random thoughts

Neat to have community - lots of experts
Twitter is great
Sales of our own products
- Transformed Level Up Tuts
Doing fitness, hobbies, and life as a developer is fun
Learned a lot from researching shows and from community feedback
Different voices can give different breakthroughs

57:10 - Future of Syntax

No. 1 goal is to always be a fun, helpful show
Not going to become a promotional tour stop
Maybe more interviews
Easy to listen to and and understand

Links

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Wes: MongoDB Compass
Scott: Notion

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Hasty Treat - Costs of Running a Business Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about the costs of running a business when you’re a solopreneur or solo founder.

Contentful - Sponsor

Contentful is a great way to manage your data. Update once and publish everywhere. Contentful gives you a ton of flexibility and reliability and everything you need to build excellent front-end content without having to worry about the back-end of your site. Check out contentful.com/syntax and get a free pair of socks!

Show Notes

3:48 - Email

10:44 - Transactional Costs

12:31 - Software

17:03 - Services

PO Box

17:18 - Domains

19:30 - Backup

22:12 - Labor

Assistant
Part-time developer
Contractors for projects

24:53 - Insurance

Prescriptions
Dental
Optical
Critical illness
Home insurance is higher because of business

26:51 - Professional

Accountant
Lawyer
Bookkeeper
TransferWise

29:08 - Hosting

34:16 - Travel

Taxi / Hotel
Dinner
Transportation
Uber

Links

Codepen Radio - Software We Pay For

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