In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Taylor Otwell, the creator of Laravel. Taylor shares insights on his journey from creating Laravel in his free time to building a strong community and user base. He discusses Laravel’s growth, including the major features and tools that were developed over the years. Taylor also shares his outlook on the PHP ecosystem, productivity tips, and plans for Laravel Cloud, a new deployment platform for PHP and Laravel applications. Show Notes 00:00 Wel...
Sep 20, 2024•51 min
Scott and Wes serve up a discussion on AI coding assistants with a deep look at Cursor AI, exploring its unique features like multi-line auto-complete and Smart Rewrites. They also discuss why Cursor’s intuitive UI stands out and tackle the big question: is it worth the investment? Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:16 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:48 Handling objections around AI assistants. 02:55 Context windows and how they’re improving functionality. Syntax.fm Episode 728 with Kevin H...
Sep 18, 2024•51 min
Wes unveils his Hack-Week project —a thermal printer controlled by JavaScript that prints out Sentry.io errors in real-time. Scott and Wes dive into the nitty-gritty of how it works, from the ESC/POS protocol to tackling socket issues, and whether the project was worth the effort. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:38 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:10 What is Hack Week? 01:41 The project. Follow the posts on X . 02:40 Why a receipt printer? 03:55 How do these printers work? ESC/POS . 05:20...
Sep 16, 2024•20 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Daniel Thompson-Yvetot about Tauri. They dive into what Tauri is, the motivations behind its development, its open-source ecosystem, use cases, and more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:01 What is Tauri ? 02:59 What’s new in Tauri 2.0? 06:41 The benefits of Tauri over Electron 11:28 Can you use Node ? 14:21 Mac, Linux, and Windows Verso Servo 25:05 How does Tauri make money? CrabNebula 30:05 Brought to you by Sentry.io 30:30 Accessing Swi...
Sep 13, 2024•55 min
In this Potluck episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes answer your questions, from weighing the trade-offs between numerous small npm packages and a few larger ones to managing the challenges of work-from-home life. They also explore CSS modules, strategies for shrinking JavaScript bundles, and even where to find the best replacement ear cups for your headphones. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:38 Commentating basketball . 01:16 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:09 The video podcast doesn’t tran...
Sep 11, 2024•56 min
Scott and Wes serve up a hasty discussion on side projects, sharing their latest Hack Week experiments and tips on how to turn fun ideas into profitable ventures. They cover everything from finding inspiration to choosing the right tech, and even offer advice on how to finish what you start. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:11 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:27 Wes’ Hack Week project. 02:30 Scott’s Hack Week project. 04:18 Where do you get ideas for side projects? 09:22 End goals for a si...
Sep 09, 2024•28 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with CJ Reynolds about the resurgence of meetups in a post-COVID world. They discuss the benefits of attending and speaking at meetups, and the logistics of organizing them. CJ also shares his experiences running the DenverScript meetup, including sourcing speakers, finding venues, and ensuring a welcoming community. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:35 Brought to you by Sentry.io 01:49 CJ’s history hosting meetups DenverScript Code Talent 06:35...
Sep 06, 2024•51 min
Scott and Wes kick off part 1 of a 2-part series, breaking down 30 must-have apps for web developers and productivity enthusiasts. From file management tools to media utilities, they cover everything you need to supercharge your workflow. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:03 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:27 File management applications. 01:43 DaisyDisk . 04:19 Marta . 07:50 EasyFind . 10:16 Czkawka . 12:53 Backblaze . 14:40 Hazel . 17:42 AutoMounter . 18:43 Media applications. 18:52 Auto...
Sep 04, 2024•57 min
Scott and Wes break down why your CSS might suck—from misusing specificity to not leveraging CSS variables. Tune in as they dive into common pitfalls that are making your stylesheets a hot mess. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:33 Breakdancing in the Olympics. 05:29 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 05:44 Why your CSS sucks. 07:01 You’re styling the wrong element. 11:01 Nesting too deep. 12:37 You don’t understand specificity. 14:56 Your classes don’t use a system. 16:24 You’re using values in...
Sep 02, 2024•28 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Ryan Dahl about Deno 2.0, its new features and use of web standards, and how it seamlessly integrates with popular frameworks like Next.js. Ryan shares insights on the motivations behind Deno’s creation, its emphasis on simplicity and security, and offers his take on the evolving JavaScript ecosystem. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:34 What is Deno ? 05:08 Deno 2.0 07:49 NPM compatibility 09:40 What parts of Node aren’t doable in Deno? 11...
Aug 30, 2024•45 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about HTML fundamentals — from basic structure and semantics to practical tips for better accessibility and SEO. They also discuss the difference between block and inline elements, form functionalities, HTML5 elements like dialog and canvas, and more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:33 Brought to you by Sentry.io 03:25 Why HTML is important 06:52 Semantic vs non-semantic 07:58 The basic structure of an HTML page HTML elements reference The Mai...
Aug 28, 2024•55 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about CSS’ new scroll-driven animations, its implementation, uses, and potential pitfalls. They also discuss animation-timeline and animation-range, and how they can be utilized to control animations based on scroll positions. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:46 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:35 Scroll-driven animations. Syntax 695: 5 New CSS Features You Should Know Scroll-driven animations demos and tools . 04:13 @keyframes . 05:22 animatio...
Aug 26, 2024•22 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Una Kravetz and Adam Argyle from Google Chrome about the evolution of CSS, new features, and the push toward more advanced UI capabilities on the web. They discuss the introduction of CSS versioning, exciting new properties like text-box-trim, state queries, and scroll state functionalities, select, and more! Show Notes 00:00 - Welcome to Syntax!. 01:43 - Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:19 - The evolution of CSS. 04:07 - CSS versioning and spec...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about the latest features in Node.js, including native support for TypeScript, .env parsing, a built-in test runner, watch mode, SQLite integration, glob support, and top-level await. They also discuss some wishlist items, and experimental features like WebSocket support and the require module. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:13 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:37 Node.js new features. Deno . Bun . 02:51 TypeScript . tsx . swc/wasm-typescript ...
Aug 21, 2024•56 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about the latest CSS theming properties and techniques for better controlling light and dark modes, as well as creating comprehensive color systems for applications and websites. Make sure to check out the video version of this episode for practical code examples, and explanations of light/dark function, CSS variables, meta tags for theme colors, accent color, color mix, and upcoming features like style queries and color contrast. Show Notes 00:00 We...
Aug 19, 2024•38 min
In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk with Daily.dev’s Francesco Ciulla about the platform's history, community features, and significant growth. They dive into the core ideas behind daily.dev, including its personalized feed for developers, new features like squads, community contributions, and tech stack. Francesco also shares his passion for Rust, and highlights the importance of content creation in the ever-evolving tech landscape. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:36 Brought to...
Aug 16, 2024•45 min
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about the future of JavaScript frameworks, building custom authentication systems, limiting API access, using Caddy server proxy for local development, component props in JSX, structuring a relational database, and more! Show Notes 00:00 - Welcome to Syntax! 01:48 - Brought to you by Sentry.io 04:37 - The future of JavaScript frameworks 09:09 - How to use Caddy for local development SvelteKit Vite 14:27 - When to use an API S...
Aug 14, 2024•53 min
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about CSS components, including class-based components, CSS modules, scoped CSS, utility CSS, and CSS-in-JS strategies. They share their thoughts, what differentiates these approaches, and why you may (or may not) want to use them. Show Notes 00:00 - Welcome to Syntax! 01:30 - Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:11 - What makes a good CSS component system? 07:54 - Component vs part of a component 13:26 - CSS Modules 15:56 - Scoped CSS @scope - (82% supp...
Aug 12, 2024•38 min
Scott and Wes talk with Alex Reardon from Atlassian about developing drag-and-drop libraries, specifically the challenges with creating efficient and accessible drag-and-drop functionalities for the web. They also explore what it takes to build and implement a system that works seamlessly across various frameworks. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:18 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:51 What Alex does at Atlassian react-beautiful-dnd Pragmatic drag and drop 04:38 What makes drag and drop tr...
Aug 09, 2024•56 min
Scott and Wes serve up their reaction to the “State of React 2023” survey results, discussing the main API pain points like forwardRef and memo. They also explore the latest on state management, hooks pain points, and exciting new libraries in the React ecosystem. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:41 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:28 The State of React 2023 . 03:11 The Main API Painpoints. 04:31 forwardRef. 05:27 memo. 06:39 Context API. 07:18 StrictMode. 08:45 Double rendering. 09:36 Sta...
Aug 07, 2024•56 min
Scott and Wes debate whether your website really needs JavaScript to function. They explore the principles of web standards, progressive enhancement, and test popular websites like Shopify and Netflix to see how they perform without JavaScript. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:11 Take 2 01:43 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:19 The clip summarized. 03:16 Your website should load, be readable and be (mostly) styled without JavaScript. 07:32 Web standards first. If it can be done without Jav...
Aug 05, 2024•31 min
Scott and Wes chat with Glauber Costa from Turso about the evolution of databases and the fascinating technology behind Turso. They dive into topics like the benefits of massive multi-tenancy, vector search, and why Glauber made the switch from NoSQL to relational databases. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:36 Turso’s relationship with Drizzle . 02:10 What is Turso ? 04:23 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 04:48 Using libSQL without Turso. 06:21 An explanation of Vector Search. 07:16 Vector da...
Aug 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Scott and Wes serve up a gameshow-style quiz with STUMP’d, challenging each other on web development trivia. From the differences between useMemo and useCallback to the intricacies of the JavaScript event loop, join them for a fun and informative session packed with web dev insights! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:17 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:03 The longest game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Round 1 03:22 In React, what is the difference between useMemo and useCallback hooks, and in w...
Jul 31, 2024•57 min
Scott and Wes serve up six exciting new JavaScript proposals, including Promise.try and Math.sumPrecise. They break down what each proposal means for developers and how these new features could change the way we write JavaScript. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:45 Understanding the stages of JavaScript Proposals. 04:04 Promise.try - Stage 3. 05:39 Math.sumPrecise - Stage 2.7. 07:28 Floating point math. 09:07 ShadowRealm - Stage 2.7. 11:39 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 12:03 Regex Escape -...
Jul 29, 2024•18 min
In episode 800 of Syntax, Scott and Wes sit down with John Resig, the creator of jQuery, to discuss the current state of React and TypeScript. They dive into the evolution of frontend frameworks, the challenges of server-side rendering, and the tech stack at Khan Academy. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:59 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:32 What is jQuery? 05:31 Did you anticipate the success jQuery had? 07:16 allow-discrete, @starting-style. Install Nothing: App UIs With Native Browser ...
Jul 26, 2024•58 min
Scott and Wes serve up the latest and most under-utilized browser APIs that are changing the game for web development. From the @starting-style CSS API to scroll-snap and popovers, they break down how these tools can elevate your projects with minimal effort. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Install Nothing: App UIs With Native Browser APIs – Scott Tolinski . Tolin.ski Demos . 01:03 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:15 When to use these tools. 03:45 @starting-style CSS API. 08:23 Transition be...
Jul 24, 2024•59 min
Scott and Wes serve up an episode on reverse proxy servers. They discuss popular options like CF Tunnels, Caddy, Nginx, Apache, and more, explaining why you might need one for load balancing, SSL certificates, security, and managing multiple servers. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:30 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 02:25 What is reverse proxy? 03:16 Some examples of reverse proxies. 05:04 Why do you need a reverse proxy? 05:09 Combining multiple servers. 06:51 Load balancing. 07:23 SSL cer...
Jul 22, 2024•17 min
Scott and Wes chat with Alex Blokh and Andrew Sherman, the co-founders of Drizzle ORM, about building a modern ORM from the ground up. They dive into the importance of type safety, creating filters with Drizzle, and the differences between Drizzle and other ORMs like Prisma. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Syntax × Drizzle Swag . 01:15 What is Drizzle? 02:36 The genesis of Drizzle . 04:15 The process of building an ORM. 05:38 ‘100% Type-Safe’ and why that’s not a great goal. 07:50 Who is res...
Jul 19, 2024•58 min
Scott and Wes tackle a variety of audience questions, from the nuances of over-engineering to the energy consumption of AI LLMs. They also discuss the pros and cons of monorepos, frameworks, and the ever-important question: Do you really need to learn all the developer tooling? Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:41 Brought to you by Sentry.io . 01:07 Challenges around a resume playback function. 05:56 Why use Google Forms for Potluck questions? 07:57 What constitutes over-engineering and how...
Jul 17, 2024•59 min
Scott and Wes dish out the intricacies of hosting private fonts using Cloudflare Pages. They explore the challenges of font security, the benefits of a font server, and the nuances of caching and whitelisting to keep your fonts secure and efficient. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:53 Behind the Code : Brought to you by Sentry.io . 03:12 The problem with hosting fonts. Scott’s Fonts . 05:42 The solution, a font server with Cloudflare Pages . 09:37 Utilizing a Key Value Store. 10:53 Storing...
Jul 15, 2024•24 min
