Build it Better – Advanced Web Development Topics

In this episode of Build IT Better, we have a roundtable discussion with Tracy Lee, Ben Lesh, Adam Barrett, and Jesse Tomchak. They dive straight into an exciting development for web developers and enthusiasts—the integration of Observables into web browsers, with a special focus on Chrome. Join the conversation as they unwrap the technical intricacies behind this initiative.

Dive into the heart of the matter—the Observable Proposal. This proposal, in the works for years, aims to bring Observables to the forefront of web browsing. Spearheaded by the Chrome team, it promises to revolutionize web performance by enhancing speed and debuggability.

Gain insights into the technical landscape of this endeavor. Learn about the challenges that come with navigating the TC39 committee and the critical role played by browser vendors. Discover how the integration of Observables into the browser could usher in a new era of web development.

Understand how this change could impact popular libraries and frameworks. With Observables going native, libraries may adapt to harness this power, potentially leading to improved performance and streamlined maintenance.

Uncover the distinction between Observables and Signals. Delve into why Signals, although valuable, serve different purposes. The hosts debunk the idea that Signals are a one-size-fits-all replacement for Observables, elucidating their unique roles.

Sponsored by This Dot Labs

In this podcast episode, Adam L. Barrett and Jesse Tomchak discuss choosing your tech stack and the relevance of frameworks. Does your tech stack matter? Does it not matter as long as you’re shipping your product? While they acknowledge the importance of delivering a product to users, they also highlight the benefits of choosing the right tools and frameworks. They argue that using established frameworks can help developers focus on creating a better user experience and unique features, rather than reinventing the wheel.

Follow along as they run tangents on their tangents like the adoption of ES modules, import maps, and the significance of clean code. While Jesse leans towards the belief that framework choices don't matter to end-users, Adam contends that the right framework can significantly impact a developer's productivity and ability to maintain clean, efficient code. They debate the significance of framework selection, especially for those just entering the field. While Jesse suggests that the specific framework may not matter much initially, Adam concurs and advises new developers to pick a framework that appeals to them.

They touch on development tools, code generation, TypeScript aliases, and their frustrations with certain code navigation experiences in various IDEs. Lastly, they briefly mention Deno, expressing their interest in its unique features and runtime capabilities, despite the initial challenges they faced in adapting to it.

Sponsored by This Dot Labs.

Welcome back to another episode of Build IT Better! We have the whole group for this one with Tracy Lee, Ben Lesh, Adam Barrett, and Jesse Tomchak; joined by Jay Phelps, a software engineer at Netflix. He's a part of the shared client Foundation team at Netflix, a crew that's all about creating exceptional experiences across various platforms, including TV, web, iOS, and Android.

Jay and his team are currently working on a groundbreaking project known as the "discovery experience paid path" (DEP), which is set to redefine how Netflix APIs interact with the user's discovery journey. This project spans both server-side and client-side development, showcasing their full-stack prowess.

What's even more exciting is Netflix's transition to GraphQL, the industry-standard query language for APIs. This move not only streamlines their development process but also empowers clients to take charge of a part of the backend layer, making it more efficient and consistent.

Despite the challenges that come with adopting new technology like GraphQL, Jay believes it's the right choice for Netflix. It offers a standardized approach, aligning with industry best practices. While discussing GraphQL's potential limitations, the group talks about their clever use of data masking to ensure that components access only the data they need.

Tune in as Jay talks about how his dynamic team at Netflix are dedicated to delivering a superior streaming experience. Their work on the DEP project and transition to GraphQL showcases their commitment to innovation and improvement. Their story is a testament to Netflix's constant drive to stay at the forefront of technology and provide users with nothing less than exceptional entertainment.

Hosts
Tracy Lee, CEO of This Dot Labs
Ben Lesh, Author of RxJS
Adam L Barrett, Software Engineer at This Dot Labs
Jesse Tomchak, Software Engineer at Mammoth

Guest
Jay Phelps, Software Engineer at Netflix

Hosts Adam L Barrett and Jesse Tomchak sit down with Amelia Graycen from OrthoFi to discuss her role as an architect and her diverse background in front-end development and other technical areas. She highlights the challenges of being an architectural "mercenary," someone who navigates various aspects of software development, from business requirements to technical implementations. The trio talk about the tendencies of tech professionals to focus on technology intricacies at the expense of the overall business goals. They emphasize the importance of aligning technical decisions with user needs and business objectives, citing examples like touchscreens in cars and over-engineering front-end systems.

Amelia points out that tech professionals can get caught up in their own preferences and technical solutions, losing sight of the bigger picture. She stresses the significance of understanding the problems being solved and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, including marketing, product, and business departments. The interview dives into the complexities of communication and trust within development teams and across departments. They explore how to strike a balance between allowing developers to explore technical solutions while ensuring those solutions align with user needs and business priorities.

The discussion also touches on the value of tools like Nx's generators in improving developer experience, as well as the benefits and challenges of adopting a mono repo architecture. The interview concludes with a reflection on the necessity of addressing human factors when making technical decisions, recognizing that both developers and end-users are human, and effective communication is key to avoiding silos and misunderstandings.

Host
Adam L Barrett- Software Engineer at This Dot Labs
Jesse Tomchak- Software Engineer at Mammoth

Guest
Amelia Graycen- Software Architect at OrthoFi

This episode is sponsored by This Dot Labs

In this episode of Build IT Better Tracy Lee talks with Jesse Tomchak, Adam Barrett, and Ben Lesh about the journey from a junior developer to achieving the coveted role of an architect. 

With a focus on work-life balance, the panel points out that while dedication and hard work are vital, a nuanced approach is key. They advocate for a rhythm of intense effort followed by well-deserved relaxation, emphasizing the value of quality over sheer quantity of work hours. This balanced perspective presents a refreshing outlook on professional growth.

They share practical advice for junior developers eager to excel, underscoring the importance of proactive learning by taking on challenging projects, and the significance of asking specific questions when seeking guidance from mentors. This insight-led approach to mentorship enhances the learning process and facilitates more meaningful interactions.

Jesse and Ben emphasize the power of learning from one's mistakes and struggles and encourage junior developers to take on tough coding challenges, reminding them that the process of trying, failing, and iterating is the true path to mastery. By sharing their personal experiences, they provide a relatable and motivational perspective on career progression.

With a blend of camaraderie, expert insights, and practical advice, this conversation stands as a beacon of guidance for junior developers aiming to rise through the ranks, making it a must-watch for any tech enthusiast seeking a roadmap to success in the software development world.

This Dot Labs is a development consultancy that is trusted by top industry companies, including Stripe, Xero, Wikimedia, Docusign, and Twilio. This Dot takes a hands-on approach by providing tailored development strategies to help you approach your most pressing challenges with clarity and confidence. Whether it's bridging the gap between business and technology or modernizing legacy systems, you’ll find a breadth of experience and knowledge you need. Check out how This Dot Labs can empower your tech journey at thisdot.co

Panel
Tracy Lee
Ben Lesh
Adam L Barrett
Jesse Tomchak

In this episode of the Build IT Better podcast, our hosts discuss two major topics in the React and Next.js ecosystem. Firstly, they delve into the app directory architecture in Next.js and the introduction of React server components. They explore the transition from a client-first to a server-components-first approach and the challenges faced in development, particularly in managing state and toggling between server and client modes for components.

The discussion then moves to the controversial decision of globally overriding the fetch function in React and Next.js. The hosts express frustration with this opinionated change to a fundamental standard and raise concerns about potential bugs and data leakage due to caching behavior. They also debate the best way to split server and client code, comparing file-based solutions with meta strings or decorators.

The limitations of server components are examined, with the hosts expressing disappointment over the inability to use essential React paradigms like state on the server. They advocate for more open discussions and RFCs before implementing significant changes.

Throughout the segment, the hosts stress the importance of thoughtful planning in dealing with server components and the need to make intentional decisions to ensure smooth development and prevent performance issues. They also call for transparency and collaboration in the development of these technologies.

Panel
Adam L. Barrett @adamlbarrett
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak
Dane Grant @danecando
Dustin Goodman @dustinsgoodman

This episode is sponsored by This Dot Labs

In this episode of Build IT Better, Tracy Lee and Ben Lesh talk with Maggie Johnson-Pint, co-founder of Stanza. Stanza is a game-changer in the software development world, offering innovative solutions to build more reliable software with responsive UIs.

Maggie's journey from being a front-end developer to transitioning into the world of reliability is truly inspiring. She shares her passion for transforming the front-end landscape by making it more robust and user-centric. Notably, she played a pivotal role in the development of Temporal, a groundbreaking project set to revolutionize date and time handling in JavaScript, giving users a seamless experience.

Reliability is a key challenge in software development, and Maggie sheds light on the critical issue of cascading failures caused by high user traffic. She emphasizes the need to prioritize the most crucial requests, ensuring smooth performance even during peak times. Through Stanza, her team has pioneered a two-way communication system, empowering developers to take control of their systems and optimize user experience.

This episode also touches on the startup ecosystem, where adaptability is essential. Maggie shares invaluable insights into leveraging machine learning models to preemptively detect system downtime and create a smoother user journey.

Maggie's vision of a more human-centered approach to software development truly resonates. By focusing on users' needs and mitigating potential failures, Stanza is leading the way in reshaping the industry. Reliability is not just a number of "nines"; it's about creating a seamless, frustration-free experience for users.

Don't miss out on this exciting conversation with Maggie Johnson-Pint, a trailblazer in the tech world. Follow her on Twitter (@MaggiePint) and explore the innovative solutions of Stanza at www.stanza.systems. Join the journey of redefining reliability and user experience in software development with Stanza!

Guest:
Maggie Johnsons-Ping, Co-Founder/Head of Product at StanzaSystems @MaggiePint

Hosts:
Tracy Lee, CEO of This Dot Labs @ladyleet
Ben Lesh, Author of RxJS @BenLesh

Transpilation, Compilation, Bundling…? Jesse Tomchak and Adam Barret demystify these technical concepts in the latest episode of Build IT Better. Revealing their significance in modern web development, they trace the evolution from the days of task runners like Grunt and Gulp, which offered basic bundling and concatenation, to the sophisticated capabilities of today's tools.

The conversation highlights the importance of transpilation, which involves converting code from one language version to another for compatibility purposes. They discuss how tools like Babel and TypeScript enable developers to write code in newer language versions while ensuring it runs on older browsers. Furthermore, they explore the role of compilers, which transform code into a machine-readable format, making it executable by the computer.

They emphasize the role of bundlers, such as Webpack and Rollup, which not only transpile code but also provide advanced features like code splitting and tree shaking. These optimizations enhance performance and facilitate efficient delivery of web applications. The duo touches on the significance of ES Build, a lightning-fast bundler, and Vite, a comprehensive development server that incorporates ES Build, rollup, and other tools.

Throughout the conversation, they stress the value of these tools in the web development ecosystem, making code more modular, reusable, and maintainable. They also acknowledge the challenges of working with JavaScript, a language that has evolved from humble origins to become one of the most widely used and versatile programming languages today. By shedding light on the technical intricacies of these tools, the interview offers developers a deeper understanding of the processes that power modern web applications.

Panel
Adam L Barrett- @adamlbarrett 
Jesse Tomchak- @jtomchak

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/ 
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this "Build It Better" podcast episode, co-hosts Ben Lesh and Tracy Lee interview Jay Phelps about architectural design and the importance of having a spec document. The podcast discusses the benefits of having a spec document for ensuring best practices and avoiding carrying over bad behavior when re-architecting. They also discuss how to avoid over-engineering and the importance of understanding the best approach for a particular project and using the right tools for the job.

The episode delves into what should be included in an architectural spec document, which may vary depending on the project, but could cover things like the project goals, requirements, constraints, high-level design, data modeling, and more.

Panel
Tracy Lee- @ladyleet 
Ben Lesh- @BenLesh 
Jay Phelps- @_jayphelps

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this interview on the "Build It Better" podcast, Tracy Lee and her co-hosts Jesse Tomchak and Adam Barrett are joined by Dominic Gannaway from the Svelte core team. Dom is known for his work on the React team. 

Tracy asks Dom about his role in naming hooks in React. Dom shares that when the team was developing hooks, they needed a name and had a list of options. He randomly suggested "hooks" as a placeholder, and they eventually decided to keep it as the official name. They thought it fit well with the concept of hooking into logic and incorporating it into a component. Dom mentions that they considered other names like "traits" but ultimately settled on hooks.

The conversation then shifts to a discussion about the React compiler project called Prepack. Dom explains that the team looked into using Prepack to optimize bundle initialization times in React Native. They experimented with compiling function components and inline them into a single component, but it didn't significantly improve performance. They encountered challenges related to the "this" keyword in JavaScript and the difficulties of serializing it for performance gains. This led them to explore building a new stateful React based on functional components that would avoid the issues with "this" and align with the goals of concurrent rendering.

Dom mentions React Forget, a newer effort that focuses on precomputing and optimizing performance and code size. He highlights that the work on improving performance and concurrent rendering is still ongoing. He mentions his conversations with Rich Harris, where their ideas on compilers seemed to align even before they formally discussed the topic.

Dom shares specifics of how Prepack compiled components inline and whether it involved a process similar to V8's runtime compilation and execution. Dom explains that they taught Prepack how React works, including JSX and non-JSX syntax. When a component with props was referenced, they treated it as a function call and created a reference. However, the performance gains from inlining components were offset by the challenges of dealing with the "this" keyword.

Overall, this interview provides insights into Dom's experiences working with compilers and awesome open source projects and is a great one to listen to! 

Panel
Tracy Lee- @ladyleet 
Adam L Barrett- @adamlbarrett 
Jesse Tomchak- @jtomchak
Dominic Gannaway- @trueadm

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of the "Build It Better" podcast, Ben Lesh and Tracy Lee talk to Colin Ihrig. Colin is a member of the Node.js Technical Steering Committee (TSC) and is a seasoned developer who has worked at companies like Deno, Joyent, Samsung, and currently works at Platformatic.

This episode is filled with interesting stories about problems you've probably never encountered before. Colin shares his experience in fixing weird edge cases in V8 and tackling memory leaks. Colin also shares some interesting insights into the inner workings of V8 and how he has solved a challenging edge case he encountered while working with the runtime.

Panel
Tracy Lee- @ladyleet
Ben Lesh- @BenLesh
Colin Ihrig- @cjihrig

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of Build IT Better, co-hosts Tracy, Abby, and Ben sit down with their guest, Laurie, a web developer and former co-founder of NPM. Laurie shares captivating stories of the early days of NPM and the tumultuous experiences they faced. From SSL certificate mishaps to endless loops caused by silent type conversion, the team reminisces about the wild adventures and unexpected challenges they encountered. They also discuss how Microsoft's VS Code caused a massive registry disruption and the comical yet crucial process of getting it resolved. Join them as they delve into these tales of web development chaos and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

Featuring
Tracy Lee
Ben Lesh
Abbey Perini
Laurie Voss

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of the Build IT Better podcast, Ben Lesh, Tracy Lee, Adam Barrett, and Jesse Tomchak delve into the debate between object-oriented programming and functional programming. Are classes really "in" or are they out? We discuss the pros and cons of each approach, and why classes are not as bad as some might think. We also explore the issues with prototypal inheritance and shared global state. But it's not all doom and gloom, as we discuss some of the best practices we've seen in the wild, and offer practical tips for working with both object-oriented and functional programming paradigms.

Panel
Tracy Lee- @ladyleet 
Ben Lesh- @BenLesh 
Adam L. Barrett- @adamlbarrett
Jesse Tomchak- @jtomchak

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this captivating episode of the Build IT Better podcast Jesse, Adam, and special guest Dane Grant discuss React server components, an innovative technology that's transforming the way we build web applications. Join this trio of experienced developers as they explore the benefits and limitations of using server components, and some best practices for implementing this cutting-edge technology.

Panel
Adam Barrett @adamlbarrett
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak
Dane Grant @danecando

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of Build IT Better, Ben Lesh joins the panel to discuss the new observable primitives and patterns that have been added in RxJS v8. They will discuss how these patterns can be reused to simplify your code, and make it more efficient, compare observable patterns to streams, and explore the differences between the two. The panel also cover how to create a cleaner, reusable API surface by refactoring out polyfills and dead code. This will help you to write better code, and improve the performance of your applications.

Panel
Tracy Lee @ladyleet
Ben Lesh @BenLesh
Adam Barrett @adamlbarrett
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

Join Ben Lesh and Tracy Lee as they interview Adam Bradley, creator of Ionic, Stencil, and now a member of the Qwik team. In this episode, we dive into the complex issues of building a new JavaScript framework. Adam shares the advanced problems they have had to solve rendering and streaming on every edge platform and the challenges dealing with the multitude of different http APIs. This is a must-listen for anyone interested in the technical side of building frameworks.

Panel
Tracy Lee
Ben Lesh
Adam Bradley

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of Build IT Better, Tracy and Ben talk to Manu Martinez-Almeida from Qwik. They discuss what hydration is and is not, how to design your codebases around hydration, resumability, building applications with Qwik, and much more!

Panel
Tracy Lee @ladyleet
Ben Lesh @BenLesh
Manu Martinez-Almeida @manucoporat

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of Build IT Better, our hosts Tracy, Ben, Adam, and Jesse cover the trade-offs of GraphQL, tRPC, and other network protocols. They discuss the lost timeline if PWA's took off instead of Mobile App Stores, what would the web be like today. Eventually we'll all be writing in WASM, or will we?

Panel
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak
Adam L. Barrett @adamlbarrett
Tracy Lee @ladyleet
Ben Lesh @BenLesh

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

In this episode of Build IT Better, special guest Jake Lumetta from ButterCMS joins Jesse and Adam. They talk about how Butter has evolved over time, how caching is at the heart of good performance, and the tradeoffs of optimizing reads over writes. They also dive into what makes ButterCMS unique in the space, and a joy to use for developers and marketers alike.

Panel
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak
Adam L. Barrett @adamlbarrett
Jake Lumetta @jakelumetta

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia

Panel
Jesse Tomchak @jtomchak
Adam L. Barrett @adamlbarrett

Build IT Better is presented by This Dot: https://www.thisdot.co/
Follow This Dot Labs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotLabs
Follow This Dot Media on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisDotMedia