Web Development × Engineering Management × Philosophy (2)
Articles and books on the craft of web development (with a focus on HTML/CSS optimization and maintainability), engineering management, and philosophy.
Where Has All the Valid HTML Gone
When we look at the state of HTML… how much of it actually is HTML?
#629 · · development, html, conformance
What I Learned About That Difficult Childhood
On a changing—and perhaps transcending—perspective on pain.
#628 · · philosophy, misc
1 + 2 Engineering Team Priorities
Are great teams “just doing the work”?
#627 · · development
8 AI Tips for Web Developers (and Their Careers)
AI is everywhere and comes with many problems and challenges. Yet as web developers, we need to adapt to a reality with AI. A few ideas on how we can make use of AI to the benefit of our work and our careers.
#626 · · development
When You Are Rich
On what you do as a person who is very rich.
#625 · · misc
3 Things to Note About Democracy
If we think democracy can do without education, constructive intentions, and quality candidates, I believe we’re not getting democracy—and risk it.
#624 · · misc
Everyone Can Set You Up for Failure, Not Everyone Sets You Up for Success
On a conscious choice that we can make, and that we best make sure others make.
#623 · · philosophy, misc
The Image Compression Challenge (Donating Money for Excess-Free Projects)
Here’s a frontend challenge. Run an image compression tool capable of near-losslessly compressing PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, and AVIF images over one of your main projects. Share if nothing could be compressed. I donate money for each of such projects.
#622 · · development
Website Optimization Measures, Part XXVII
On improvements involving Eleventy (3), Lightning CSS, Imagemin Guard, early hints, ads, creator metadata, and custom/programmable search engines.
#621 · · development, optimization
Results = Ć’(Competence Ă— Time)
On a model that can tell us something about how we work, and how we could work.
#620 · · management
Growth
A rant.
#619 · · misc
Boring Web Development
Web development is boring—or should be more boring. On us tending to celebrate the wrong side of web development.
#618 · · development
HTML/CSS Frameworks, in Their Own Words (by Word Cloud)
Checking in on Bootstrap, Tailwind, Foundation, Bulma, Milligram, Pure, and UIkit.
#617 · · development, html, css, frameworks
JS Frameworks, in Their Own Words (by Word Cloud)
Handing the microphone to React, Vue.js, Angular, Svelte, Express, Meteor, and Next.js.
#616 · · development, javascript, frameworks
Automatable Defensive Core Image Compression With Imagemin Guard 4 (Now With No Imagemin)
The Imagemin Guard package was just updated to move away from the unmaintained Imagemin family, and to improve code, tests, documentation, and usability. If you like to avoid unnecessary image payload, even in your repos, especially in environments where not everyone pays attention to it, this is a good update to try.
#615 · · development, optimization
What Germany May Not Have Learned From the Holocaust
No matter who is being violated, learning from a genocide means fighting against any genocide.
#614 · · misc
Not Knowable
Casual appreciation about our dealing with knowledge.
#613 · · philosophy
Untrained Engineering Managers
Web development has always had a developer training issue, but it also has one on the management and leadership side. On a challenge we’re all familiar with but rarely talk and do something about.
#612 · · development, management
Website Optimization Measures, Part XXVI
Optimizations related to the Google docs viewer, dependency management, English terms in German copy, Prettier, AWS, SEO bots, Eleventy, and DreamHost.
#611 · · development, optimization
On Ticket Management
Issue tracking tools like Jira, GitHub Issues, or Bugzilla are essential for managing bugs and tasks (that is, issues). However, not everyone finds ticket management convenient or convincing. A perspective on why tickets matter, and how they can be used well.
#610 · · development, management
The Assessment Paradox
For any individual or group we may think that it can assess itself best because it knows itself best. Yet this is not reliable. We may then think it’s other individuals or groups interacting with that first individual or group who may be able to assess it. This is not so, either.
#609 · · management, philosophy
2024: 0.5% of the Global Top 200 Websites Use Valid HTML
The annual HTML conformance analysis, validating 200 home pages of the most popular websites. Despite improvements, there is no signal of commitment to valid output as a quality baseline to benefit end users as well as web development as a profession.
#608 · · development, html, conformance
On Disagreement
From discomfort that can lead to shortcuts to challenges that may yield transformations.
#607 · · misc
The HTML History and Optimization Cheat Sheet
Compare elements and specifications, check on void elements and optional tags.
#606 · · development, html, optimization
Notes on Setting Up a Static Website With AWS (Route 53, S3, ACM)
…and whether doing so is worth it. (There are pos and cons, and they all seem pretty dramatic.)
#605 · · development
Notes on Hooking Up a Website With Cloudflare
I played around with Cloudflare.
#604 · · development
Imposing on Hearing
On the sense that we may be able to defend the least.
#603 · · misc
We Always Knew Anyone Could Take Our Content
From “I show your content, but you get the click” to “I show your content” to “here’s other people’s content based on your content.”
#602 · · misc
Why I Don’t Block AI Scrapers
“The Tortoise and the Hare,” human/AI edition.
#601 · · development, misc
Website Optimization Measures, Part XXV
On caching headers, capitalization, social graphics, download priorities, logical properties, Cloudflare, viewport metadata, obsolete markup, and calls to action.
#600 · · development, design, optimization
A Web Development Term a Day…
…on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Twitter/X. (With a queue lasting 10 years and growing.)
#599 · · development
AI Paradox
Have you outrun your headlights yet?
#598 · · development, management
Now Available: “Rote Learning HTML & CSS,” the Most Boring Free Ebook Ever
The book you never thought you wanted. The rough and raw skeleton of HTML and CSS. Elements, attributes, selectors, properties. No explanations, no examples, no context. Not a New York Times bestseller (it’s free).
#597 · · books, development, html, css, semantics
A Node and Command Line Tool to Find Obsolete HTML
Ever wondered if and where you have obsolete HTML in your code base? Of course, there’s a tool for that.
#596 · · development, html, conformance
Feed Sources 2024
My current feed subscriptions. (Because, what would we be without syndication on the Web.)
#595 · · misc
Calling Someone “Too Old” Is Ageist
The “too old” thing needs to stop.
#594 · · misc
On Mapping the World of Frontend Development
What if we had easy access to many—thousands—of the most useful, interesting, influential frontend development posts from 2000–2019? If you took care of it, how would you go about it, what challenges would you face, what would excite you? Here are some impressions, doing this work, for Frontend Dogma.
#593 · · development
On Title Case
Casual thoughts about my experience with title case, a recent switch from AP-inspired to NYT-governed guidelines, and the respective guidelines themselves.
Thoughts on CSS in 2024
What I appreciate, what I don’t need (so far)—light and casual and certainly subjective notes on contemporary CSS.
#591 · · development, css
On Mass Unemployment
Could there be something like an AI employment apocalypse?
#590 · · misc
Transitive Optimization Considered—Interesting
Transitive optimization means that if we improve A to optimize B, and optimizations of B also optimize C, then improving A should also lead to an optimization of C. But now what?
#589 · · development, optimization
3 Good Reasons for Vegan and Vegetarian “Substitute” Products
On acknowledging forms, maintaining connection, and making it easier to live empathically and sustainably.
#588 · · misc
The Essence of Veganism
On not having anyone suffer or die for us.
#587 · · misc
Know the “search” Element
Let’s talk about element #112.
#586 · · development, html
The Price of a Dream
A look at what it costs to travel the world, a decade later.
#585 · · adventure
Website Optimization Measures, Part XXIV
On AVIF tests, book prices, AI experiments, Eleventy performance, IE scripts and styles, domain registrations, site headers, and (old) document functionality that can better be handled by native HTML elements than by handmade scripts.
#584 · · development, design, optimization
Death by Experience
It’s possible to hire too much experience, and it costs diversity and culture.
#583 · · management
Website Optimization Measures, Part XXIII
Affiliate marketing and ads and Brave Rewards. HTML elements and dotenv and Git. Spellings and designs and stuff.
#582 · · development, design, optimization
We Need to Talk More About Conformance, if We Want to Stop Fantasy HTML
Conformant and valid HTML is the exception on websites and in apps, even though valid output is a sign of professional web development. Given how rarely the topic is being discussed these days, we benefit from raising more awareness for HTML conformance and validation.
#581 · · development, html, conformance
The Great Tech and People Hypocrisy
When we value people so much that we “rif” them even with cash in the bank, maybe we don’t value them as much as we say we do. On a two-faced industry that needs firing standards as much as it needs hiring standards.
#580 · · management