Whiskey Web and Whatnot: Web Development, Neat

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Twitter Open Source Algorithm, Home Labs, and Chat GPT vs. Bard Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Twitter released its open-source algorithm and developers like Robbie and Chuck are digging into the code to find out what they have been hiding. While the recommendation algorithm has been useful, it also has major pitfalls. Twitter’s algorithm categorizes and deprioritizes users from appearing on people's feeds which is frustrating when your page is the one being deprioritized.

Google launched its AI competitor, Bard. In a rap battle, ChatGPT emerged victorious, and the two AIs even agreed to take over the world together, which the hosts found somewhat creepy.
In this episode, Robbie and Chuck talk about biases they discovered in Twitter’s open-source algorithm, how developers are turning home networks into high-tech home labs, and how Google’s new AI compares to ChatGPT.

Key Takeaways

[01:45] - A whiskey review: Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7.
[14:16] - Ways to improve safety on websites.
[20:00] - Twitter makes its algorithm open source.
[29:00] - What are home labs?
[45:05] - Bard vs. ChatGPT.
[50:47] - Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball team in the Final 4.

Quotes

[25:08] - “Twitter source code, there's a lot to start to unravel there, but it's nice that the algorithms are out.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[29:27] - “There’s a whole culture of home lab creation, and it’s essentially like taking your home network and elevating it.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[37:46] - “Mutanies are bad but, whenever one goes the way you want we call it a revolution instead.” ~ Robbie Wagner

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Top-Tier, Full-Stack Software Consultants

This show is brought to you by Ship Shape. Ship Shape’s software consultants solve complex software and app development problems with top-tier coding expertise, superior service, and speed. In a sea of choices, our senior-level development crew rises above the rest by delivering the best solutions for fintech, cybersecurity, and other fast-growing industries. Check us out at shipshape.io.

Tech Layoffs, the Economy, and Remote Work Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

The tech industry is still grappling with the aftermath of the second dot com crash. Executives are cash grabbing, banks are failing and the government seems to be turning a blind eye. Will executives replace all their developers with AI?

It can be difficult to not turn your frustration to the C-suite when they seem to be getting more wealthy by cutting labor costs. Meanwhile, developers are living with the uncertainty and financial burden of ongoing tech layoffs. The industry’s business practices and poor regulation seem a casualty of the pandemic from which the tech industry hasn’t recovered.

In this episode, Robbie and Chuck talk about the concerning state of the tech industry and the economy, ongoing layoffs and their impact on developers' lives, and the shift in remote work culture.

Key Takeaways

[00:35] - A whiskey review: Black Button Single Barrel Finished in Port Cask.
[08:58] - Chuck and Robbie discuss how the pandemic has affected tech jobs.
[33:34] - Chuck and Robbie discuss college loyalty.
[41:00] - Robbie talks about his upgraded camera setup.
[43:58] - Chuck receives his Rivian R1S.

Quotes

[17:15] - “I’m a fan of capitalism in general, but there has got to be more regulation around it.” ~ Robbie Wagner

[20:07] - “Everybody loves capitalism until it doesn’t work for them.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[22:27] - “Facebook killed MySpace, and ever since, I’ve hated them.“ ~ Robbie Wagner

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Exploring Open-Source and SolidJS with Ryan Carniato Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

Ryan Carniato, Creator of SolidJS and Principal Engineer at Netlify, has always had a love for music and tech. He set his punk rock dreams aside and settled down to become a full-time engineer.

Ryan started programming at the age of 11 and got his first job at eBay where he contributed to their top open-source project, Marko. After building his network and experience in open source, he landed a job with Netlify living many developers’ dreams of getting paid to work on open-source projects.

In this episode, Ryan talks to Chuck and Robbie about working on open-source projects, his experiences at eBay and Netlify, and his thoughts on TypeScript and inferred types versus explicit types.

Key Takeaways

[00:31] - Introduction to Ryan Carniato.
[02:18] - A whiskey review - Barrel Whiskey Infinity Barrel Project.
[10:54] - Ryan comments on tech hot takes from Twitter.
[15:21] - How Ryan started programming at 11 years old.
[19:50] - Ryan's journey into working on open-source projects.
[45:48] - Ryan talks about music, hiking, and video games.

Quotes

[13:04] - “When you think of Typescript, you think of something concrete, like something you can build on, and dependable. In Javascript, it's more like an art. Kinda like painting.” ~ Ryan Carniato

[19:14] - “I think at a young age where you can find those things that you are empowered to just do whatever you feel like, it's super powerful.” ~ Ryan Carniato

[29:14] - “Our biggest bottleneck is the network and the devices that are in the users' hands.” ~ Ryan Carniato

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The Benefits of Networking, Tech Conferences, and Disney World Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Conferences are one of the best ways to network with like-minded developers and find new insights to bring back to your team. Plus, you might even be able to build your entire wardrobe for the year out of free swag.
Chuck and Robbie are no strangers to the conference scene, they’ve attended their fair share back when developers had to find them by word of mouth. Today, there are some aggregators out which apparently have every developer conference type of thing under the sun. Whether you're going with your team or flying solo, you're bound to learn something new and hopefully come away with a few takeaways. And let's not forget the cool locations some conferences are hosted in - definitely a plus.
In this episode, Robbie and Chuck talk about upcoming tech conferences in 2023, the benefits of attending conferences and networking with other engineers, and how to convince leadership to invest in conference trips for their team’s professional development.

Key Takeaways

[00:37] - A whiskey review: Nashville Barrel Company Straight Rye Whiskey.
[04:49] - Upcoming tech conferences and why attendance is beneficial.
[17:08] - Chuck and Robbie announce they will be recording WWW at EmberConf.
[21:41] - How do you attend a conference without having to pay for it?
[25:37] - Chuck’s trip to Disney World.
[40:19] - Better underwear options than MeUndies.

Quotes

[07:15] - “Going to any conference that's in a different area or potentially different subject matter than you’re used to is going to help broaden the way you look at things.” ~ Robbie Wagner

[17:11] - “We have been confirmed that we will be recording a live episode of this podcast at EmberConf.” ~ Robbie Wagner

[25:27] - “It’s important to develop your network, and in subject matters you’re interested in is a great place to do it.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

Links

Reddit
Nashville Barrel Company
Javascript
Confs.tech
Dev Events
Render ATL
Slack
Ember
Discord
VueConf US
Nuxt
EmberConf
Portlandia
LinkedIn
Disney World
The Villages
Wes Bos
ThePrimeagen
Kinesis 360
Logitech Lif for Mac
MeUndies
Saxx
My Package
J. Crew
Adidas
Nike
StockX
Stadium Goods
Puma
Mugsy Jeans
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window
Shrinking
Play Station
ChatGPT
Hogwarts Legacy
Zelda
Diablo 4
Uniqlo
Vans

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PNPM, Algorithms, and Angular Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

It’s hard to find a good package manager, and even the most seasoned developers still struggle to figure them out. Robbie kicks off the tech talk by sharing his misadventures trying to figure out pnpm leading Chuck to ask the burning question “Would you wear a pnpm T-shirt?”
Despite Robbie’s struggles in pnpm, he still believes it is the better option compared to alternatives like npm, Yarn V1, or Yarn V3. The duo agree that pnpm fixes the biggest problem with traditional package managers like npm and Yarn V1, which is hoisting. The duo dive deep into the technical aspects of package management, discussing the challenges of installing and managing dependencies in a large-scale project, and how pnpm addresses these challenges. They cover topics like global caching, peer dependencies, and the correct way to define dependencies.
In this episode, Robbie and Chuck talk about the pros and cons of pnpm, the downsides of using algorithm tests to vet developers, and the exciting new changes coming to Angular.

Key Takeaways

[00:30] - Chuck and Robbie ask for feedback and suggestions from listeners.
[03:55] - A whiskey Review: Michter’s Kentucky Straight Rye.
[09:43] - Robbie talks about his pnpm adventure.
[25:34] - Chuck and Robbie’s thoughts on algorithms testing.
[28:51] - The big changes coming to Angular.
[38:05] - Robbie talks about his 1970 Ford Bronco.
[43:22] - Chuck talks about Ted Lasso season three and other TV shows.
[53:15] - Chuck and Robbie talk about upcoming video games.

Quotes

[21:35] - “The idea of having separate apps in a separate package and piecing those together, good idea. Ember Engines, bad idea.” ~ Robbie Wagner

[32:16] - “People who have been working with Angular or even, let's say, five years ago jumped into it, got it, loved it, they really love it. They’re passionate about it.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[25:41] - “I can't do algorithms, and I'm against algorithm tests.” ~ Robbie Wagner

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Balancing Legacy Code, Content Creation, and Career Growth with The Primeagen Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

Michael Paulson, aka The Primeagen, is known for his live streams, crazy memes, and unpopular opinions on Twitter. But he is also a software engineer with over a decade of experience in a legacy C++ codebase. Juggling engineering with any other hobby is difficult, so how does he make it work?
The Primeagen, a software engineer at Netflix, is committed to content creation and passionate about encouraging aspiring developers to get out of “tutorial hell” and start building. He wakes up at 5:30 every morning to make time for family, work, and content creation, but even the most dedicated developers hit roadblocks throughout their careers. The Primeagen’s latest challenge is figuring out how to grow his channel and turn content creation into a sustainable full-time role.
In this episode, The Primeagen talks to Robbie and Chuck about his strict policies for working in a large legacy code base, the challenges of being a content creator, and his plans to create a new Frontend Master course.

Key Takeaways

[01:22] - Introduction to The Primeagen.
[05:40] - A whiskey review - Nelson Brother Reserve Bourbon.
[13:35] - How to choose between Git rebase versus Git merge.
[26:11] - How universities are producing equipt programmers.
[36:07] - The Primeagen’s future plans and the challenges associated with growth.
[50:20] - The Primeagen’s hobbies besides coding.
[54:52] - Why The Primeagen moved to South Dakota.

Quotes

[04:50] - “Programming is not supposed to be difficult because you don’t know what you’re doing. Programming is supposed to be difficult because you're building something hard.” ~ The Primeagen

[23:14] - “The web in the next three years is going to arrive at a crossroad where more than one thing can happen. We can all get a chance to use something that is less traditional. Once those things start happening, it just opens the door for everything to execute. The next big revolution is coming.” ~ The Primeagen

[43:20] - “I'm making a thing that I'm pouring my heart into, I hope people like, and then when people don't watch, oh that hurts.” ~ The Primeagen

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Prioritizing the Team Over the Tool with Jason Lengstorf Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Jason Lengstorf built up an audience on YouTube by doing unscripted live coding and sharing his mistakes with his community. He credits his background as a musician and frontman of an emo band for helping him get comfortable with looking foolish in front of people.

As the host of Learn With Jason, he believes there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing a web development tool, as long as the decision is based on the team’s experience and the situation that the tool will enhance. Jason shares his experience and lessons learned at IBM where they allowed teams to use any tool they wanted. This resulted in different parts of the platform being built with different frameworks and the need to standardize.

In this episode, Jason talks to Chuck and Robbie about the importance of choosing the right web development tool for the job, the adoption possibilities for Astro, and what the future holds for open-source developers.

Key Takeaways

[00:33] - Introduction to Jason Lengstorf, Host of Learn With Jason.
[05:03] - A whiskey review: Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond.
[15:06] - Jason’s opinion on Tailwind and how to choose the correct web tool.
[22:16] - What makes Astro powerful?
[29:16] - Funding open-source projects.
[44:19] - How Jason feels about Redwood JS.
[47:44] - Incorporating TypeScript in personal projects.
[50:17] - Jason’s interests in pajama pants and burgers.

Quotes

[15:34] - “You should use whatever you can convince your whole team to use. A lot of the discussion about which tool is right or wrong is sort of missing the forest for the trees.” ~ Jason Lengstorf

[16:46] - “If you have a group of people who have an expertise or a lack of expertise, then the tools you choose should be polyfilling for where they’re at and allowing them to use their strengths.” ~ Jason Lengstorf

[20:53] - “The only way that you can really use a tool wrong is if you’re dragging people kicking and screaming against their will into using a tool. You’re just setting yourself up for failure.” ~ Jason Lengstorf

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Astro 2.0, Island Architecture, and React with Fred K. Schott Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Astro 2.0 is launching new exciting features and it’s setting the bar for HTML frameworks. What makes Astro unique in web development and what are its future possibilities?

Fred K. Schott, CEO of the Astro Technology Company, says it’s all in the framework’s content focus and island architecture. For Fred, the aim is to have a tool that's HTML-first but still sprinkles in interactivity and allows developers to bring in components from other frameworks. They focused on solving the problem of sending a full JavaScript application to power a mostly static site. The attention to developer experience paid off and is one of the reasons Astro is creating waves in the developer community.
In this episode, Fred talks with Chuck and Robbie about how Astro uses an HTML-first approach to create content-focused websites, the latest features of Astro V2, and the trend of blindly using popular frameworks like React.

Key Takeaways

[00:21] - An introduction to Fred K. Schott.
[03:19] - A whiskey review: Pinhook: Artist Series Release No. 2 Whiskey Nicking.
[19:07] - The challenge of creating forms in Astro vs. other platforms.
[23:32] - React’s strengths and weaknesses.
[30:55] - What makes Astro unique?
[44:25] - Fred’s favorite HTML element.
[47:57] - Fred’s hobbies.

Quotes

[02:36] - “Someone once described Astro as the first web framework that’s HTML first without hating developers for not using HTML, and I always resonated with that.” ~ Fred K. Schott

[26:12] - “I think you can’t talk about React without talking about where the web was at that point. We had a template in two different code bases, two different languages, it was a mess. And that’s the world that React came in and kind of saved us from.” ~ Fred K. Schott

[31:38] - “What makes (Astro) unique is our content focus. We talked about, you have one Solid component that’s a form and otherwise a mainly static site, that’s exactly where Astro shines.” ~ Fred K. Schott

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Features of Astro 2.0, Challenge of Material UI, and Cleanse Diets Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Astro has once again become a hot topic, capturing the attention of developers and impressing them with its user-friendly features. Astro 2.0 introduced new and improved error overlays that are functional and well-designed, making debugging more efficient for developers.

Astro 2.0 is powered by the fast and efficient Vite 4, which has received high praise in the developer community. Robbie thinks Vite is the future of build tools and based on the State of JS results, many others seem to agree. Chuck shares his struggles with using material UI as a library for Tailwind, which has left him feeling frustrated. But, Robbie thinks using Tailwind UI and Headless UI makes material UI redundant.
In this episode, Chuck and Robbie talk about the exciting new features of Astro 2, the pros and cons of using material UI, and their cleanse diets.

Key Takeaways

[01:42] - A whiskey review: Very Olde St. Nick Ancient Cask 8-Year-Old Rye Whiskey.
[09:02] - New features in Astro 2.0.
[15:35] - Asto 2.0 introduces Vite 4 as its bundler.
[25:04] - The drawbacks of Material UI.
[36:05] - Chuck speaks about his cleanse diet.
[47:48] - Chuck’s experience at NBC Sports Premier League Fan Fest.
[52:37] - Robbie talks about his Ford Bronco Restomod.

Quotes

[17:06] - “Everyone seems excited about building on top of Vite, and it unlocks so many things, so I think that would be a huge step forward for everyone.” ~ Robbie Wagner

[19:46] - “I love how many JavaScript-supporting tools are written in other languages.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[30:47] - “Solid is really great. If you know React, which 99% of people do, the syntax is the same.” ~ Robbie Wagner

Links

Very Olde St. Nick Ancient Cask 8-Year-Old Rye Whiskey
Todd Snyder
Pappy Van Winkle
Preservation Distillery
Astro 2.0
Next.js
React
Ember
Nullvox
Webpack
Vite
Nuxt
State of JS
Rollup
Parcel
Bun
Deno
Shop Talk Show
Syntax
Ryan Dahl
Node
Rust
Tailwind CSS
Post CSS
Material UI
Tailwind UI
Headless UI
Solid JS
DietBet
Adobe Photoshop
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Amazon
NBC Sports Premier League Fan Fest
Barclays Bank
Cotton Bureau
FedEx
UPS
Ford Bronco
Pocket Casts
Restomods

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Tailwind Twitter Wars and the State of JS Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

The developer community can be highly opinionated. We find our favorite tools and fiercely support them because they help us meet our goals.

Tailwind has been polarizing since it launched in 2017. Some developers swear by it, claiming it makes their code cleaner while others think it’s a waste of time. The State of JS results are in and they reveal that Ember is still lagging behind in retention, interest, usage, and awareness compared to other frameworks. Chuck and Robbie agree that it doesn't really matter what framework you use, as long as you are productive and have a reusable, understandable way of working.

In this episode, Robbie and Chuck talk about the polarizing debates in the developer community surrounding Tailwind CSS on Twitter, the results of the 2023 State of JS survey, and their favorite shows.

Key Takeaways

[01:33] - A whiskey review - Wolves X Undeated Signature Blend.
[11:17] - Recent Tailwind wars on Twitter.
[20:03] - Chuck and Robbie review the State of JS survey.
[44:50] - How Chuck and Robbie enjoyed their holiday.

Quotes

[14:29] - “I started back in the day, and you did inline styles with tables to make your Photoshop slices work out, you know what I mean? Couldn't get any uglier than that.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[19:44] - “Sometimes you just don't get to win all the battles. That's just part of software engineering.” ~ Chuck Carpenter

[27:10] - “I think in general, everything is becoming there's less resistance on all fronts. Like you don't have to have a CS degree, whereas they might have looked at that before.” Robbie Wagner

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