The Grinch Stole MongoDB, a Backend Library Called Vla, and Strongly-typed Event Emitters | News | Ep 50
TypeScript.fm - The Friendly Show for TypeScript Developers
Vla: a structured TypeScript backend library
They introduce Vla, its service-locator pattern, conventions for data layers, and how it integrates with frameworks.
News for the weeks of December 22 and 29, 2025: MongoDB exploit drops on Christmas day in true Grinchy fashion, a new backend library called Vla that is far from blah, and starter templates for your next React Native app. From the community: NodeTLV keynote, strongly-typed events in gamedev, and a 6-hour deep dive into Doom in TS.
Sponsored by Excalibur.js
Excalibur.js is the free and open source friendly TypeScript 2D game engine for the web. Learn to make web games with TypeScript or JavaScript! Excalibur comes out-of-the-box with everything you need, like physics, sprites, animations, sound effects, and first-party plugins for popular 2D gamedev tools.
- Homepage and Docs: https://excaliburjs.com
- Make Your First Game in 10 Minutes
- Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/9UemP985Uy
Chapters
- (00:00) - Welcome to the New Year
- (07:52) - News: The Grinch Stole Your Secrets with MongoBleed
- (10:39) - News: Node.js Security Release Expected January 7
- (11:13) - Library Watch: Vla, the Missing Backend Library for TypeScript
- (13:13) - Library Watch: macOS iMessage API SDK for TypeScript
- (13:53) - Library Watch: React Native UI Templates
- (14:51) - Library Watch: js-draw, a Canvas Drawing Library
- (15:48) - Community Highlight: Strongly-typed Events in GameDev by Justin Young
- (16:19) - Community Highlight: Flint, a Modern Linting Engine by Josh Goldberg
- (16:42) - Community Highlight: Tooling Like It's 2025 by Josh Goldberg
- (16:59) - Community Highlight: Major Color.js Update by Lea Verou
- (19:18) - Community Highlight: Building Reusable Form Component Library with TanStack Form by Matt Huggins
- (19:54) - Community Highlight: Static Hermes is Pretty Cool by Devon Govett
- (21:11) - Community Highlight: DOOM in TS Types Stream by MiTS
- (22:09) - Community Highlight: Solitaire in TypeScript by Oidoid
- (22:57) - Community Highlight: Lo-fi Valley Engine by Leocast
- (24:12) - Bleet of the Year
- (25:26) - Cool Link: TypeScript Function Inlining
- (25:49) - Cool Link: Pass Key Explainer
- (29:58) - Cool Game: Outer Worlds 2
- (31:26) - The Minnesota Long Goodbye
News
- PSA: Exploited MongoBleed flaw leaks MongoDB secrets, 87K servers exposed
- PSA: Node.js — Wednesday, January 7, 2026 Security Releases
- Library Watch: Vla, a data layer that integrates into any TypeScript framework
- Library Watch: TypeScript SDK for iMessage automation on macOS
- Library Watch: React Native UI Templates
- Library Watch: js-draw, pencil/pen drawing utilities for JS and Canvas
From the Community
- Justin Young: Strongly Typed Events in GameDev
- Josh Goldberg: NodeTLV Keynote, Tooling Like It's 2025
- Josh Goldberg: What Flint Does Differently
- Lea Verou: ColorJS major release
- Matt Huggins: Building a Reusable Form Component Library with TanStack Form
- Devon Govett: Static Hermes is pretty cool
- MiTS: Doom TS deep dive stream
- oidoid: Super Patience - Pixelated Solitaire in Typescript
- Leoocast: Lofi Valley Engine - Make your dream Stardew Valley clone
Cool Links
- Cool Watch: How Passkeys Work - Computerphile
- Cool Tool: JoshuaKGoldberg/ts-function-inliner: TypeScript transformation that inlines calls to small functions
- Cool Game: Outer Worlds 2, from the developers of Fallout: New Vegas and Avowed
Music
Seahorse Dreams by Kubbi (Spotify)
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