Archive (Web Development and Engineering Management, Mostly)

2025

A Moratorium on Men Making Major Decisions

On the many news you’ve read today about a woman or a non-binary person invading another country, driving into a crowd, firing workers to maximize profits, raising taxes for low-income people, denying help, cutting benefits, beating someone up, setting a homeless person on fire, raping someone, making the life of a minority hell, endorsing or escalating a genocide, slashing education funding, or doing other WTF.

Published on March 9, 2025, filed under Everything Else.

DeepSeek and HTML

“What is the most minimal valid HTML document?”, DeepSeek-R1 edition.

Published on March 7, 2025, filed under Development.

On Ethics in Web Development (With a Brief Overview of Ethical Theories)

When we read and talk about ethics in technology, it’s rare that we’re explicit about the school(s) of thought we’re following. Surprisingly, this lack of clarity often works—but it’s relevant, interesting, and useful to be more clear about our ethical theories.

Published on March 6, 2025, filed under Development and Philosophy.

Website Optimization Measures, Part XXX

Everybody ♥️ website maintenance. On trimming input, updating WordPress ping services, cleaning up Eleventy architecture, reorganizing redirects, synchronizing server log configs, replacing dependencies by native Node functionality, adding minimal dark mode (HTML edition), and unfancying error pages.

Published on March 3, 2025, filed under Development.

New to Web Development? Run Your Own Website

On the perhaps shortest advice for anyone entering the field (which is also sound for everyone in it).

Published on February 27, 2025, filed under Development.

On Deciding Who We Are

When a country cannot agree to “advancing a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine” (or other countries).

Published on February 25, 2025, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

Order Force in HTML?

Do you, too, find certain ways of ordering attributes to be more natural than others?

Published on February 19, 2025, filed under Development.

Testing 10 JavaScript Frameworks on Their HTML Defaults

When you validate the demo and starter projects of popular frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Astro, &c., what do you find? On challenging the idea that JavaScript frameworks could fuel the HTML crisis.

Published on February 12, 2025, filed under Development.

On Making Sure Everyone Is Taken Care Of

For our own sake.

Published on February 9, 2025, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

DORA, SPACE, DevEx, DX Core 4

Key metrics of and casual thoughts on four engineering productivity frameworks.

Published on February 5, 2025, filed under Management.

The Donkey and the Rabbit

A rabbit goes for her daily run. This day, she decides to try a new route. At an intersection she meets a donkey. When the donkey is about to eat a nail—

Published on February 2, 2025, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

On Building AI Understanding and Automation Muscle (With 18 Random Problems Solved With AI)

If you’re like me, you’re also optimizing your use of AI in development, distinguishing your capabilities from AI, and improving your routine to build strong automation muscle. Thoughts and examples.

Published on January 29, 2025, filed under Development.

Private Property

A quote, from Daniel Loick, that isn’t new, that isn’t all.

Published on January 26, 2025, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

Cool URLs Don’t Change, Unless…

A deferential (though not new) refinement of Tim Berners-Lee’s 1998 classic.

Published on January 23, 2025, filed under Development.

Website Optimization Measures, Part XXIX

From cleaning up behind files and feature policies and Eleventy plugins to fun with CSS selectors and transitions to improving tables of contents to switching to ESM to testing bfcache to refactoring lists to tables.

Published on January 21, 2025, filed under Development.

My 18-Months Rule for Open-Source Contributions

You make a good-faith contribution to an open-source project. There’s never a response. What do you do? On a rule I’ve established for my own open-source work, and the reasons behind it.

Published on January 16, 2025, filed under Development.

An Overview of the 50 Highest-Ranking Web Design and Development Glossaries

If you want to look up terms, there are dozens if not hundreds of tech glossaries. However, a search quickly shows differences in how comprehensive and therefore useful these glossaries are—and doesn’t show whether the glossaries are being updated. A view at the glossary landscape.