Javascript

Why TypeScript is the Most Important Tool in Open-Source with Nick Taylor

Published Sep 27, 2024

Updated Sep 27, 2024

2 min read

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Nick Taylor, Senior Software Engineer at OpenSauce discusses the current state of open source, including the challenges around funding, sustainability, and contributor burnout. Nick shares insights into how open source has impacted his career and highlights the growing importance of tools like TypeScript in the open-source ecosystem.

The panel also discusses the evolution of TypeScript, its widespread adoption, and its role in shaping the modern web development landscape. They explore the nuances between JavaScript and TypeScript, the friction that developers sometimes face when working with types, and how TypeScript has grown into a default tool for many projects.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and Co-Host Introductions 00:47 - Guest Introduction: Nick Taylor 01:37 - The Current State of Open Source 02:50 - Funding Challenges in Open Source 03:54 - Open Source Success Stories and Funding Examples 05:35 - Open Source Burnout and Quiet Quitting in Tech 06:43 - Challenges for Open Source Maintainers 07:26 - Motivation and Incentives for Contributing to Open Source 08:35 - Career Benefits of Open Source Contributions 10:11 - Nick’s Journey into Open Source Contributions 12:38 - The Burden of Managing Popular Open Source Projects 14:27 - Hacktoberfest and Low-Quality Contributions 16:14 - Challenges for Beginners Contributing to Open Source 18:01 - The Impact of Hacktoberfest and Mitigating Spam PRs 20:12 - TypeScript's Rise in Popularity 23:16 - Why TypeScript Became Popular in Open Source
25:45 - The Debate Around Static Typing in JavaScript
27:08 - TypeScript vs. JavaScript: Future Considerations 30:21 - The Role of Build Steps in Modern Development Frameworks
33:35 - The Complexity of TypeScript for Different Developer Levels
36:12 - Enum Usage and TypeScript's Type System 38:53 - TypeScript’s Structural Typing and Its Implications
39:47 - Nick’s Contact Information and Closing Remarks

Follow Nick Taylor on Social Media Twitter: https://x.com/nickytonline Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickytonline/ Github: https://github.com/nickytonline

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Color Theory For Software Engineers + Color Accessibility & Performance with Sarah Shook

In this episode of the Modern Web podcast, Tracy Lee and Rob Ocel sit down with Sarah Shook, a UI/UX engineer at Hunter Industries. They discuss the topic of Sarah’s THAT Conference talk on color theory, exploring the intricacies of RGB, HSL, and hex color models. The discussion also touches on the importance of understanding how color accessibility impacts your page’s performance. Chapters - 00:00 - Introduction and Guest Introduction - 01:30 - Balancing Work and Parenthood - 03:20 - Family-Friendly Conferences and THAT Conference Experience - 05:45 - Overview of Sarah's Presentation on Color Theory - 07:00 - Understanding Additive and Subtractive Color Models - 09:00 - RGB to Hex Conversion Explained - 11:45 - Importance of Color Theory in Web Development - 14:00 - Accessibility and Color Luminescence - 16:00 - Tools and Resources for Color Accessibility - 18:30 - Sarah’s Experience with Vue and Other Frameworks - 21:00 - Discussion on Framework Deployment and Tooling - 23:15 - The Challenges and Benefits of Learning Multiple Frameworks - 25:00 - Tailwind, TypeScript, and Framework Preferences - 27:00 - Vue Community and Tooling Insights - 29:00 - Advanced JavaScript and TypeScript Content with DropJS - 31:00 - Sarah’s Color Utility Project and Where to Find Her - 32:30 - Closing Thoughts and Outro Follow Sarah Shook on Social Media Twitter: https://x.com/shookcodes Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshook/ Github: https://github.com/shookcodes Sponsored by Wix Studio...

Aug 27, 2024

1 min

JavaScriptVueReact

"Do What Matters with Who Matters While It Matters" Mark Techson on Leadership

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Aug 20, 2024

2 mins

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How to Run End-to-End Tests on Vercel Preview Deployments

How to Run End-to-End Tests on Vercel Preview Deployments End-to-end (E2E) tests are an essential part of modern web development. They simulate real user interactions and ensure your application works as expected in a live environment. When you're working with platforms like Vercel, which provide seamless deployment experiences, running E2E tests on preview deployments makes sense to catch any issues before merging your changes into the main branch. However, running E2E tests on preview deployments can be challenging as if the deployment isn’t ready when the tests start running, you’ll get errors when they should have succeeded. The Challenge: Timing Your E2E Tests Imagine you're working on a feature and pushing your changes to a branch. Vercel starts deploying the preview, and once that's done, you want to run your E2E tests automatically. But if the deployment isn't ready when the tests start, they might fail, and you'll be left wondering if the issue is with your code or the deployment process. Github Actions allow us to leverage a combination of actions that work together to ensure that your E2E tests only start once the Vercel deployment is ready. The Solution: Combining GitHub Actions for Seamless Testing To solve this problem, we can use two GitHub Actions in tandem: 1. vercel-preview-url: This action retrieves the preview URL of the Vercel deployment. It runs on push and pull request events, ensuring you get the exact URL of your deployment, which can then be used for further tests or other integrations. 2. github-action-await-vercel: This action waits until the Vercel deployment is marked as "READY". It continuously checks the deployment status, ensuring your tests only run once the deployment is fully prepared. ` Breaking Down the Workflow 1. Fetch the Preview URL: The vercel-preview-url action first retrieves the URL of the Vercel deployment. This URL is unique to the deployment, and we need to know it to run our E2E tests against the correct environment. This step ensures that we have the right URL before proceeding to the next steps. 2. Await Deployment Readiness: The github-action-await-vercel action waits for the deployment to be fully ready. It checks the deployment status at intervals (e.g., every 15 seconds) and only proceeds once the deployment is marked as "READY." This step ensures that your E2E tests don't run prematurely, preventing false failures. 3. Run E2E Tests: Once the deployment is ready, your E2E tests are executed against the live preview. By this point, you can be confident that the environment is fully set up, and any failures will likely be due to actual issues in the code rather than deployment timing. Why This Workflow Matters This workflow is essential for teams that rely on automated testing as part of their CI/CD pipelines. By waiting for the Vercel deployment to be fully ready, you minimize the risk of flaky tests that fail due to timing issues rather than code problems. This approach saves time and effort, as developers can focus on fixing real bugs rather than troubleshooting deployment issues. Moreover, this setup is flexible and can be adapted to various project needs. Whether you're running tests on a simple static site or a complex application, ensuring that your deployment is ready before running tests can dramatically improve the reliability of your CI/CD pipeline. Conclusion In modern web development, ensuring the reliability of your CI/CD pipeline is crucial. By leveraging GitHub Actions like vercel-preview-url and github-action-await-vercel, you can confidently run E2E tests on Vercel preview deployments. However, remember that the Vercel deployment can take some time to deploy, especially for larger projects, so use this approach wisely and ensure you only run it when necessary....

Sep 20, 2024

3 mins

InfrastructureVercelPlaywrightCypress

Docker: The Secret Weapon for Cloud Efficiency with Kyle Tryon

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Sep 17, 2024

1 min

DocumentationJavaScript

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Why TypeScript is the Most Important Tool in Open-Source with Nick Taylor

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