HTML All The Things - Web Development, AI, and Developer Careers

On top of the growing collection of "must-know" tools in a web developer's arsenal is the famous (or maybe infamous?) TypeScript - a high-level programming language that adds static typing with optional type annotations to JavaScript. Developed by Microsoft, TypeScript can improve the developer experience by allowing the data that is passed around the code to be typed to something specific (ie Boolean), with TypeScript ready to throw an error if the types don't match appropriately through the program. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss TypeScript at length discussing whether you need to learn TypeScript and how to learn it whether you're a beginner, or veteran coder. Using our affiliate link, get 10% off all Scrimba plans - click here! Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/do-you-need-to-learn-typescript-in-2023

Practice makes perfect, so it makes sense when senior developers tell aspiring juniors to "just code" and it will all work out. The problem with "just code" is that a complete beginner will have no idea where to start, or what to code up. Should they use HTML, React, or PHP? What type of project should they code up? In this episode, Matt and Mike hope to lay out a clear pathway on where to start learning web development for absolute beginners. We hope that the discussion will also help those that are acting as mentors for soon-to-be junior web developers.    Scrimba Discount Use this URL to get 10% off on all their paid plans: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

The web development community has a collection of hot takes that seem to continuously come up time and time again in social media discussions and podcast debates. Hot takes like the debate of whether or not HTML is a programming language, or if React is good. These, among several other hot takes, are typically rooted in divide among the community as friction points about what tools to use and how to use them spark fierce debate among those that work closely with them. In this week's episode, Matt and Mike discussed and debated a collection of these hot takes, offering their opinions on each one. Using our affiliate link, get 10% off all Scrimba plans - click here! Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/web-development-hot-takes-is-html-a-programming-language-does-react-suck

No-code platforms are useful tools for those that don't have the expertise to code up a web app, website, or mobile app themselves, but what if we told you that they can be useful for programmers too? No-code tools can save web developers time by offering a quick and easy creation platform that can typically be expanded upon with code (usually JavaScript). This week Matt and Mike discussed the importance of no-code being used alongside code to help teach new developers and assist veteran programmers with their tight deadlines. Using our affiliate link, get 10% off all Scrimba plans - click here! Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/coding-for-no-coders-javascript-editing

Squashing bugs in your code can be as easy as finding a missing semicolon, but sometimes it can be a grueling process filled with torn out hair and console logs. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss the various ways that you can debug your code using methods that span HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. For HTML, the DOM inspector, markup validation, and accessibility checkers can ensure you have a clean structure for the rest of your code to work from. Then in the layout department, CSS debugging methods can include things like using the Computed tab in your dev tools, obvious visual markers (ie red borders on targeted elements), and various Chrome extensions. And finally, JavaScript - the part of your website that is most likely already acquainted with debugging includes methods like using alerts, breakpoints, asking AI to correct errors, and much more. Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/debugging-html-css-and-javascript

This episode is for all of you out there that are hesitant to release your website, blog post, or whatever it is you're working on - scared to hand it over to the audience that is supposed to consume it. Instead of releasing what we have on schedule, some of us may hesitate due to perfectionism, burnout, or anxiety over what the users may think. Sometimes a delay is warranted, but often these delays can impair your future decision making on how to update/upgrade your project as you'll have no user feedback to work from. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss working towards a project that is good enough to release, without focusing on all the "what ifs" for release. Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/good-enough-is-better-than-perfect-how-to-avoid-burnout-and-launch-your-website-faster

With the current job market seemingly handing out nothing by layoffs, it may seem like landing a junior developer job is an impossible task. While we acknowledge that it is more difficult than it was a year or two ago to land a junior developer job, all hope is not lost. There are always people hiring, even during the worst economic downturns and those that keep at it have a higher chance at succeeding. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss how to help a junior developer in your life succeed through mentorship, connections, peer code reviews, and more. Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/helping-junior-developers-succeed

Can an AI chat bot like ChatGPT teach a junior developer web development from scratch? What about an experienced web developer looking to update his skills on a new framework? In this premiere episode of Full-Stack Struggles, Matt documents his experience getting situated with Svelte. As a beginner, he found himself needing assistance quite often and instead of reaching for a blog post, or some documentation, he instead reached for an AI chat bot - namely Bing AI. With the recent advancements in AI technology (especially chat bots), they've been the talk of the internet with how useful they can be as an alternative to Googling and sifting through countless results. Was chatting with an AI enough to answer all of Matt's questions? Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/full-stack-struggles-1-can-ai-teach-me-web-development

In this interview episode, Matt and Mike sat down with Bob Ziroll the head of education for Scrimba to discuss all things React, escaping your comfort zone, teaching courses, and much more! Bob Ziroll is known for his React courses on both Scrimba and freeCodeCamp, he also anticipates starting a YouTube channel sometime soon. Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/teaching-you-how-to-react-w-bob-ziroll  

CSS animations are somewhat of an advanced CSS topic that many people skip out on when they're developing their site's MVP, or first few versions. Further into its life though, CSS animations (and transitions for that matter) add a level of polish to a website that can subtly bring about a premium feel for its UI/UX. It's quite easy, however, to go overboard with animations and transitions to the point where they feel out of place, sometimes looking like they're just being done for the sake of another animation instead of complimenting the content on the page. This week, Matt and Mike discussed CSS animations and CSS transitions, discussing the good, bad, and the ugly when it comes to using them on your next project. Show Notes: www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/css-animations-can-make-or-break-a-site