Articles
Software engineering lessons from production, raw and honest from the heart — almost 20 years of them. Jump to a year in the sidebar, or browse categories.
October 2020
Refactoring a useReducer to XState, pt1 – CodeWithSwiz 11
XState promises to be like useReducer+Context combined and the simplest way to handle complex state in React apps. But can it deliver? On this episode of #CodeWithSwiz, we gave it a shot.
Computer science is not software engineering
Wow, college was such a waste of time ... when did you ever invert a binary tree outside of an interview? Honestly I never inverted a binary tree in college either ☹️
September 2020
Prefetch data with React Query and NextJS – CodeWithSwiz 8, 9
Prefetching lets you start React apps without loading spinners. Gatsby introduced this concept with `staticQuery`, react-query and NextJS make the pattern easier 😍
Why you should learn serverless cloud functions
Times are changing, the future of web development is here.Story time! 20 years of history in a 2min read, it's gonna be great 🤘
My favorite serverless project
When's the last time your first project in a new technology was also your favorite? Doesn't happen very often ...🤔 It happened to me in November 2018.
Modern backend is a JavaScript function
Many engineers think server-side code is the scary domain of True Engineers. Something newbies, juniors, and frontend engineers shouldn't touch. They're wrong. Modern backend is a joy. ❤️
A JavaScript function that makes $40,000+/year
What's the best code you ever wrote? Is it the most clever, or the cleanest. The most fun problem to solve, or the most impactful. The surprise throwaway everyone uses, or the love nobody noticed.
Using JavaScript to commit to Github – CodeWithSwiz 7
Update code with a JavaScript function? Easier than you think 😍
Why NextJS /api routes are fab – CodeWithSwiz 6
In this episode of CodeWithSwiz, we tried NextJS's support for /api routes – code running on the backend. In a word – Wow
Why senior engineers get nothing done
You start a new job and it's amazing. Code all day, clear objectives, easy guidelines, ship a bunch of features be a hero. Then something happens and suddenly you get nothing done. 🤔
Exploring NextJS with a headless CMS, pt4 – CodeWithSwiz
NextJS getStaticProps, environment vars, and why you shouldn't use yarn link – all in this episode of #CodeWithSwiz
Exploring NextJS with a custom CMS, pt3 – CodeWithSwiz
Friend, this episode of #CodeWithSwiz was a great example of why you want to start using TypeScript and how thermal load *destroys* computers.
How React Query gives you almost everything you thought you needed GraphQL for
GraphQL solves every problem you've ever had talking to APIs on the frontend. Mention a switch to GraphQL to your team and they think it's a joke. Rewrite our entire app? oh you jokester. React Query is the perfect middle ground ❤️
What if tech interviews aren't bullshit
Every tech employee says interviews are broken. Every employer keeps interviewing. What gives?
Building a small CMS with NextJS, pt2 – CodeWithSwiz
You're the computer, the CMS is your script. Starting small, trying NextJS, comparing microbundle vs. parcel for extracting libraries out of projects.
Your first NextJS app – CodeWithSwiz
On CodeWithSwiz ep2, we tried NextJS and built our first tiny app. Complete with a design system, static rendering, React Query to talk to AWS Lambda, and deployed to live 🤘
August 2020
How to export a large Wordpress site to Markdown
Migrating from Wordpress to Markdown sounds easy. Mention it to any developer and they'll say "Pfft, an afternoon of work at worst". Suddenly it's 6months later and you're losing your mind.
Why Understanding beats Knowledge
Understanding beats knowledge every day. To have a strong career, learn to understand, not just to know.
CodeWithSwiz: Privacy-focused embeds for YouTube, Twitter, et al
A new old experiment 👉 regular livecoding. It's like a podcast with video, show notes, regular cadence, and we both learn something new.
Lessons from migrating a 14 year old blog with 1500 posts to Gatsby
After 4 years of putting it off, 1 year of tinkering, a month of work, and $1500 of hired help, my new blog is finally here 🎉 Here's what I learned.
In 2020's, what is "frontend"? 🤨
"He's a frontend guy, is this even a fair question to ask?" The head of engineering was worried about our systems design question …
July 2020
Why engineers are worth so much
Engineers don't do the day to day work, they build assets the business can exploit for years to come. That's the magic
5 years of books & courses or how I made $369,000 on the side
5 years ago I moved to America to chase a dream 👉 stop selling time.