We learn how to pronounce Guillermo (and also Quinoa), Gleam steps into the web dev arena, and Will releases a hot new HTML framework.
I got a dirty mouth, but my kitchen’s clean
Next.js just built the Google Docs of web dev
We learned two very important things from last week’s Next.js Conf:
- “Guillermo” is pronounced “gee-SHER-mo”.
- Evil Rabbit definitely designed Guillermo’s minimalist, all-white, Patrick Bateman-inspired kitchen.
Oh, and they also announced Next.js 11 with lots of cool new stuff:
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Next.js Live — A new, open-source development environment that enables real-time, collaborative coding in the browser. It uses Wasm, ESM, Service Workers, and a bunch of other stuff to generate a live URL (without a build step) that you can share with anyone — so your whole team can edit, chat, draw, and see updates happen in real time. And since it runs entirely within the browser, it’s actually faster than local dev. (Anonymous Panda is typing…)
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Conformance — No, we’re not referring to the time I pretended to like the band Metro Station just because my high school crush and all her friends loved them (it didn’t work out). In this case, Conformance refers to Google’s new system of “strong defaults and actionable rules” for improving performance out of the box with frameworks like Next.js
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Better, faster dev experience — Next.js startup time improved by 24%, processing time for changes was reduced by 40%, and the next/image component got some big improvements.
The Bottom Line
If the pronunciation of Guillermo blew your mind, wait until you hear Quinoa.
Just ship it [sponsored]
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It finally happened. Your boss approached you and needs some “internal tools thrown together” because the suits upstairs want to make some “data-driven decisions.”
No problem, you think, should only take a few days. But then you spend the next month hacking together a wide variety of your company’s data sources, only to realize at the last minute that you never considered auth, and (oh crap) the whole thing looks terrible. Should’ve used Retool.
Retool started when a few developers realized that all internal tools are made up of the same basic pieces — tables, lists, charts, forms, maps, wizards (I’m a wot?), etc. So they made a rad product that abstracts away all the annoying parts of building those tools, while still giving you the flexibility to write custom JavaScript anywhere in the app.
And thanks to their pretty generous free tier, I can finally tell my mom that I’m a 10x (internal tools) developer.
What a twist
The Bleeding Edge — Gleam
Gleam has been around for a couple years now, but chances are that you haven’t heard of it unless you’re deep in the underbelly of massive backend systems (gross).
It’s a functional language for building type-safe versions of these large-scale systems — kind of like TypeScript for Erlang and other concurrent languages like Elixir that power massive platforms like WhatsApp and Pinterest.
So, wtf does it have to do with JavaScript? Not a lot, tbh… until last week. That’s because Gleam just released v0.16 with an M Night Shyamalan-level twist: it can now compile to JavaScript.
Why tho? Money and fame Expansion. Instead of being stuck in the fairly esoteric world of concurrent systems, compiling to JavaScript (and entering the web dev arena) gives Gleam a lot more use cases and access to a much larger developer pool. It’s like if a cool-but-mostly-unknown indie band like Mouse Rat teamed up with Taylor Swift to do a joint album.
Check out the announcement post to see a few simple examples of Gleam source code being compiled to JavaScript.
JS Tip
Want to use console.log without breaking apart your one line arrow function? Use the || operator.
export default connect (
({planeteers}) => console.log(planeteers) || ({capPlanet: planeteers.captain})
)
Cool Bits
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Adebola wrote a tutorial on How to create NFTs with JavaScript. This reminds me of my childhood when my Dad and I would take all our micro-plastics and dump them in the local river as our preferred way to ruin the environment.
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Tailwind CSS v2.2 was released with a brand new “high performance” CLI and a bunch of other new stuff. PSA: If you don’t like Tailwind, you’re not legally obligated to tweet about not liking it. You can just… *not* use it.
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Gaurav created Outfront JS — an onscreen console log for mobile browsers that’ll make it easier than ever for you to never escape work.
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Tim wrote one of the first articles we’re aware of about Benchmarking JavaScript Memory Usage. We were surprised to learn that none of his experiments in testing memory usage involved a Simon, but we won’t argue with his methods.
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Utopia is a slick design and coding environment for React projects that combines VSCode with a design/preview tool and runs in the browser. Next.js and Utopia being released in the same week is giving me major flashbacks to 1998 when A Bug’s Life and Antz both came out at the same time, but we’re not complaining.
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Stephanie Eckles wrote about how JavaScript can help you build accessible components When CSS alone isn’t enough. Because JavaScript is always there to fill the gaps in your CSS and in your heart.
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Trevor wrote a great tutorial on Embedding Vue.js Apps in Go that has us looking forward to all of his future Gleam tutorials.
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We can all agree that HTML is definitely a programming language. But real programming languages need lots of frameworks, which is why we’re so excited that Will created div.js — a new framework that finally solves the HTML bloat problem. Use the code “BYTES25” to get 25% off when you pre-order his upcoming Egghead course that’ll teach you how to use it. [not sponsored]
Job Posts
Looking for highly competent engineers that take pride in their craft, are never satisfied with their knowledge base, and bring enthusiasm to building applications in React, React Native, and/or Node. Ideal candidates are comfortable working in dynamic engineering environments and display strong communication and documentation skills.
Close.com is looking for two experienced individuals that have a solid understanding of React and want to help design, implement and launch major user-facing features. They are a 100% globally distributed team of ~45 high-performing, happy people that are dedicated to building a product our customers love.
