Web developers have a lot of tools to build websites with, but this vast selection opens the door for needless complexities. Needless complexities weigh projects down and can make troubleshooting problems a nightmare. Unforeseen issues arising from tangled webs of WordPress plugins, third-party services updating their endpoints unexpectedly, and installed-yet-forgotten features have taken down more websites than we can count. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed how and why you should avoid needless complexities in your projects and why some complexities are necessary evils.
AI has been taking the tech world by storm for the past year or so as new chatbots and tools are created seemingly every day. These tools can help revolutionize the every day workflow for a web developer and Mike has been embracing these changes with open arms. In this episode Matt and Mike discussed this "AI revolution" and how Mike uses these new tools to compliment and enhance his every day tasks on the job. The guys also discussed the massive shake up that OpenAI had with their CEO Sam Altman being fired then potentially landing a position at Microsoft. Please note this OpenAI news is developing quickly so our comments may be out of date by the time this episode is published- original recording date can be found in the show notes for context.
Are web developers required to do too much? Websites and web apps are getting more complex as some startups rely on web developers to deliver critical company infrastructure, marketing sites, and ecommerce stores. The problem with all these responsibilities is that the knowledge base for web developers has grown exponentially over the past decade, making it a struggle to keep up for existing developers and increasingly difficult for aspiring devs to break into the field. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed Matt's recent critique of the learning journey that web developers need to embark on to get job ready due to the vast amount of skills that are needed in the field.
When you deploy a website how long do you think it'll last before it needs some maintenance, or a design refresh? Will it keep running as long as the hosting bill is paid? This week, Matt and Mike discussed the longevity of a website and whether or not its realistic to assume that they'll run forever - eternally, if you will. Even though they're pieces of software, websites are susceptible to problems that require maintenance, and some websites need regular preventative maintenance to keep things running smoothly. Not to mention the need, or rather want, for design refreshes in order to keep up with the modern standard and competing websites. When clients ask for a website, but don't think they'll need to maintain it after deployment, are they running themselves into a risky situation? How do we keep website maintenance budget friendly?
Out of all the developer productivity tips, enhancing your focus is probably the most important because it can increase your work output, helps keeps you motivated, and can improve your quality of code. In this episode Matt and Mike discussed why focus and concentration is so important to developers and what you can do to help improve it through practice and habit forming.
Learning web development is difficult, even if you're already familiar with it and just looking to update your skills. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss Matt's continued learning journey as he works towards understanding modern full-stack development through Svelte and SvelteKit. This time, Matt has taken a step back from his original project, a passive income tracker, and instead decided to change his approach. Instead of learning full-stack development, struggling through creating and deploying a web app, instead he's decided to break it up into three smaller projects. The first of which will be a modified to-do/grocery list app that will just be using Svelte. Followed by another project focused on backend technologies with SvelteKit. Finally, he'll return to his passive income tracker idea with all he's learned for the grand finale. With this new approach, Matt hopes that he'll retain more information and have a better understand of all the topics he covers, rather than struggling through each and every step of the passive income tracker.
In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed a collection of web development topics including git in school, what makes a good code review, and the return of PHP. Git for version control is a major part of most web developers' toolkits although there seems to be a lack of git training in schools, the place where learning git basics could help future graduates' resumes look a bit more favorable. Code reviews are commonplace in web development teams, but they're not all cut from the same cloth - what makes a code review good? PHP has been called dead by many web developers (even though WordPress uses PHP and is a major contributor to content on the web), but lately it seems like people are talking about it...is PHP back?
You can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job - a classic problem for many beginners across several industries. This problem also plagues web developers as junior devs are left handing out hundreds of applications sometimes failing to get an interview let alone a job. For some, the opportunity to work for free will come up as a low barrier to entry to get some experience, but this move is controversial. Not only are you missing out on money, but you're also providing value to someone else's business for free. Working for free with nothing but experience is nothing new though, as unpaid internships are apart of some college and university programs across many different degrees. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed whether a junior developer should work for free to get work experience, or if they should wait until a paid opportunity arrives.
When you take your first job as a junior developer you may be nervous about what type of tasks you'll be assigned and the expected quality level of your deliverables. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed some of the types of tasks that you may be assigned as a junior developer. They walk through how and what a manager may ask you to do, and how much detail you're likely to receive before getting started. These tasks range from simple tests of your UI layout skills, through your ability to pull in information from an API and display it appropriately on the site. Every workplace is different and so Matt and Mike also covered some of the common struggles that junior developers may face in their new role including legacy codebases, lack of mentorship, and a toxic work environment.
Documentation helps web developers navigate CSS frameworks, WordPress plugins, and helpful npm packages. Without it, we're left doing trial-and-error for hours, or left to community support from potentially dated forums. When documentation is bad, it can cost the documentation owner customers and trust from the community, but when it's good, it can save developers time and drive trust in the product. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the price of bad documentation and what makes documentation good from the perspective of a web developer.
Svelte 5 is coming and with it the addition of Svelte 5 Runes, a replacement for the let, =, export, and $: that we use in Svelte today. Runes replaces this old syntax with function syntax to achieve the same old things and more. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss a brief history of Svelte before diving into what was shown off so far about Svelte 5 Runes. The duo then discuss the learning experience for those studying Svelte 4 and whether they should stop and wait for Svelte 5. This leads to a debate about keeping websites up and running with maintenance, and how updates like Svelte 5 can help or hurt a site in production.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how websites prepare and portray themselves to search engines like Google and Bing. The goal of SEO is to generate as much traffic (ideally organic traffic) as possible from the right people - namely prospective customers. The problem with SEO is that many industries and specific keywords are very competitive and require a lot of effort by someone that knows what the search engines want. In order for them to operate effectively they'll need to work with a developer and/or CMS to ensure good technical SEO and be given control over at least some of the website's content (ie blog posts) so that they can try and rank in as many relevant keywords as possible. For small businesses, having someone do their SEO for them seems like a massive gamble, so its a hard sell. If the small business tries to do their own SEO, they may find that their efforts aren't yielding any leads because SEO is not only time consuming, but can also get complex. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss how to deliver the best possible SEO service to a small business that is on a tight budget, with minimal free time to dedicate to content and keyword research.
Authentication is a critical part of modern websites and web apps. Everything from ecommerce stores through membership sites will almost always have some form of authentication for their users. As a web developer, creating an authentication system can seem daunting because of the security that's involved in storing people's passwords and sensitive account data. It's difficult to keep up with all the security threats out there when you're juggling a DIY authentication system, maintenance, and developing new features. Luckily, there is tooling available for web developers that can help them authenticate their users with minimal effort. Products such as Firebase, Lucia, and NextAuth.js all provide ways to help offload authentication from your developer to-do list. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss why you would (or would not) roll your own auth, and your available options if you don't want to make your own.
It can be difficult to choose the right tech stack for your website or web app because there are so many to choose from. There are more traditional stacks like LAMP, MERN, and MEAN...as well as new serverless stacks that use Vercel/Netlify, Next.js, and Planetscale (MySQL). Furthermore, if you're working for a client in an agency or freelance, a single tech stack might not cut it. It's not uncommon for a client to bring you in to work on their website, setup their newsletter, and code up a new web app. Projects like this might use LAMP w/ WordPress for the website, serverless technologies for the web app, and Constant Contact for the newsletter. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss choosing your tech stack based on its pros and cons, the project's requirements, and how to avoid personal bias that could cost you money.
Project planning sounds like it's the job of a project manager, but the truth is that a web developer interacts with so many parts of an online project that project management skills are crucial. When working as a freelancer, or for a small business, there might not even be a project manager on staff, leaving the web developer to manage their own team, time, and communications. Sprints/scrum and agile seem to dominate the project management space and have helped a lot of teams be successful, but as a project manager its important that you use what's right for your team. You might only be working with a few developers and a Kanban board (ie Trello) board, and if that works? Then why change it? In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss project management from the perspective of a web developer - covering how to manage stakeholders, communication channels, and organizational techniques.
Side hustles are a popular choice when looking to make additional money on top of your primary income. There are seemingly countless ways to make a little money on the side and many of them are done online. With that said, web developers, whose job it is to create online experiences, should arguably have an upper hand in this space with their technical knowhow and exposure to online marketing. This week, Matt and Mike discussed whether a web developer should start a side hustle. They covered the pros and cons of side hustles, the difference between side projects & side hustles, and whether junior developers have enough time between their job applications & learning to have a side hustle at all.
Finding a job as a web developer is difficult right now. We're hot off the heels of the crazy hiring spree during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now companies are tightening their belts. We see tech companies constantly laying people off, and we've been hearing about a recession for the past year or so. The good news is that finding a job as a web developer isn't impossible, as there are still a lot of companies looking for web developers. Many of these companies are outside tech, however, instead they can be found in finance, retailers, logistics, etc. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the current job market, why it's the way it is, and how to navigate it.
Choosing the right web host is crucial for your project's success. Web hosting should be seen as the foundation in which your website or web app is built upon. It doesn't matter if you make your app with this framework, that plugin, or have the best content in the business - if the hosting goes down, your project goes down. The problem here is that as a web developer and especially a junior developer, you've spent the majority of your time building and learning on your local machine. Hosting projects locally is fantastic for building, but it doesn't reflect the real-world demands of a website being used by the public. Once deployed your project must withstand varying amounts of traffic while remaining performant, both of these things rest largely on the web host's shoulders - having the right server configuration with the proper networking infrastructure supporting it is crucial. In this episode, Matt takes a look at various web hosting types including shared, dedicated, WordPress, reseller, and nodeJS. Each of these unique hosting types have their own pros and cons ranging from how powerful they are, what their scalability looks like, and how much they cost. The focus of this episode is on what is commonly called "traditional web hosting" or "traditional web hosts" provided by companies such as HostGator, Hostinger, BlueHost, and more.
Your first week as a junior developer can be nerve wracking and anxiety inducing. Not only are you meeting a team of new people, but you're starting a new job as a newbie to coding. This week Matt and Mike discuss how to make the most of your first week of the job, making a great first impression on your team members, and hopefully letting you absorb as much knowledge as you can. By handling social situations with grace, asking valuable questions, and being honest about your capabilities; you'll be well on your way to becoming a valuable development team member.
Web development hackathons can be a fun way to do some friendly competitive programming. The result is often a few great portfolio pieces for those involved and a cool prize for those that come out on top. For Paolo Ricciut and Antonio Sarcevic they not only won the Best Ecosystem Integration award at the SvelteHack Hackathon, but they created a project that could help push the Svelte/Kit industry forward with the creation of SvelteLab. SvelteLab is an in-browser code editor that quickly sets up SvelteKit environments where you can test and share your projects easily.
Learning JavaScript from scratch can be as much about syntax as it is programming concepts, especially when it's your first language. Concepts like knowing how and why you need a place to store bits of data (variables), re-using code snippets instead of writing them repeatedly (functions), making decisions (conditional statements), and working with collections of data (arrays and looping) are all second nature to experienced developers. These concepts are the foundational building blocks that let you solve problems by thinking like a computer (sometimes this is called programmatic logic). In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss these key JavaScript basics including variables, functions, conditional statements, arrays, and looping.
Failure is a hard pill to swallow, but it's failure that allows us to grow as developers. When you're learning a language like JavaScript, there are a lot of concepts to take in, and even more ways to accomplish the same task. Sometimes, you'll choose a method that works...only to find out later that it's the "wrong" way to do it because of security, or efficiency. When that happens, many JavaScript developers will take the failure hard and let imposter syndrome take hold. In reality, these things will happen to you, and they should seen as a steppingstone as you work your way through junior developer all the way up to senior developer and beyond.
Next.js is a popular React framework that recently made some controversial changes with its 13.4 update. App router was moved to stable in this release bringing React server components, nested routers & layouts, simplified data fetching, streaming & suspense, and built-in SEO support. Unfortunately, some web developers are not excited for this release, with a few questioning if these changes align with what React initially aimed to solve. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the Next.js 13.4 update, covering the difference between client and server components, and the community drama that stemmed from these changes.
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are foundational web development technologies that Matt and Mike recommend web developers learn before trying out a framework (ie React, Svelte). Out of these three pillars, JavaScript is the most difficult to learn, especially for people that have never been exposed to programming before. Learning how to think and solve problems like a computer (programmatic logic) coupled with writing and understanding a brand-new syntax is no easy feat. These difficulties have sparked several guides, courses, and bootcamps all aimed at teaching people JavaScript and other web technologies using unique combinations of theory and project-based learning. Some people, however, will skip taking in any theory at all and go straight for project-based learning, referring to documentation and other written material only when they're really stuck. With such a difficult learning curve for junior developers, can they learn JavaScript through only project-based learning?
Full-stack development is one of the most difficult web development positions as it covers both the frontend and backend of a website. The frontend is responsible for the user interface, including any logic that powers that interface (ie animations, show/hide elements). The backend is responsible for features working from a server, typically handling security-heavy functions (ie credit card usage), and data manipulation (ie saving your profile changes). Luckily the combination of Svelte on the frontend and SvelteKit on the backend can make full-stack development easier than you might think with a fast development server, easy-to-follow file structure, and syntax that is easily picked up if you're coming from another JavaScript framework. This week Matt and Mike discussed how Svelte and SvelteKit can help you develop full-stack websites and apps faster than some of the other tools out there.
