Episodi
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Node is back in the news with some noteworthy updates as v24 drops. It gets an upgrade to 13.6 for its V8 JavaScript engine, runs with npm version 11, and has more efficient implementation of the local storage API and test runner updates.
Google has released its newest version of its Gemini AI model: Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O Edition), which claims to be the best model for front-end and UI development. To prove it, Google links to a site called the WebDev Arena (where Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview ranks #1), that lets users put in a prompt and then pits different AI models head to head to build a site based on the prompt.
Figma just had their 2025 Config conference and unveiled a host of new offerings, including Figma Sites that lets folks design, prototype and publish with Figma, and Figma Make the AI prompting tool that can add functionality to a Figma mockup via natural language directions.
News:
Paige - Node 24 updatesJack - Figma Make and Figma Sites and conference demo videoTJ - Gemini 2.5 updates and WebDev ArenaBonus News:
Take the first annual State of Devs surveyOpenAI agrees to buy Windsurf for $3BFire Starters:
CSS reading-flow and reading-orderWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Old Town Trolley ToursJack - The Residence TV showTJ - ChatGPT helping with camera & video setupThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
The React team’s been on a roll lately with new experimental updates. Last episode we covered View Transitions, and today we discuss Activity. Activity is a component to hide and show parts of the UI while maintaining the component’s state and continuing to render at a lower priority when it’s not visible on screen.
Storybook 9 beta is out now, and it seems to be transitioning from a frontend workshop for building UI components in isolation to a one-stop shop for all your frontend testing needs.
And Microsoft recently released a paper from researchers at Cambridge and Carnegie Mellon studying how AI coding assistants have allowed developers to engage in less critical thinking and independent problem-solving, and how the skills to do both could deteriorate if this over-reliance on AI continues unchecked.
News:
Paige - Storybook 9 betaJack - React <Activity>TJ - The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking and Avoiding Skill Atrophy in the Age of AIBonus News:
Ladybird new independent web browserMTMC-16Apple changes App Store rules to allow external purchasesWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - The Night Manager seriesJack - RaycastTJ - Linkin Park World TourThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Episodi mancanti?
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Signals has been gaining in popularity the past few years for its fine-grained approach to reactivity in the browser, and a new high performance implementation called Alien Signals has landed in Vue.js. It offers significant performance improvements to complex applications with lots of data changes, and has been extended so it can be used in other JS-based libraries besides Vue.
The React team announces that React Compiler has reached release candidate (RC) stage and is nearing stable release territory. React Compiler is a build-time tool that optimizes React apps through automatic memoization so devs don’t have to worry about including useMemo() and useCallback() hooks in their code.
RedwoodSDK, which had some cryptic messaging about its future last month, has unveiled more of the story on its new website this month. It’s aiming to be part of the “personal software revolution” by providing a React framework for Cloudflare, offering built in access to Cloudflare Workers, databases and storage, queues, AI, and more.
News:
Paige - RedwoodSDK details revealedJack - Alien SignalsTJ - React Compiler RCBonus News:
Everybody wants to buy ChromeWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Severance TV series season 2Jack - Grilling seasonTJ - Detroit grows in population for the first time in decadesThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
The AI hype train keeps chugging along with new updates from OpenAI. ChatGPT now offers GPT-4.1 - a new dev-first model trained for use cases related to coding, instruction following, and function calling with a context window of up to 1 million tokens. It also announces Codex CLI, a terminal version of ChatGPT that devs can use to run code, manipulate files, and iterate without ever leaving their preferred terminal.
Next.js 15.3 drops with new features like using its Turbopack buildpack for production builds (still in alpha stage so use with caution), community support for Rspack as a drop in replacement for the Webpack bundler, and new navigation hooks for enhanced client-side routing capabilities.
There’s also a new survey out this week: the first annual State of Web Dev AI, which answers questions like which AI tools devs find most useful, how much devs are spending on AI, and what pain points are devs most likely to encounter when leveraging AI to develop their own web apps.
News:
Paige - OpenAI Codex CLI and GPT-4.1 modelsJack - State of AI Web Dev 2025TJ - Next.js 15.3Bonus News:
OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf for $3B“Slopsquatting”AI agents for everyone (Firebase Studio), (Arduino AI Assistant)Fire Starter:
Declarative Web PushWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Solo Leveling anime seriesJack - Knuckles TV mini series TJ - NY Times FlashbackThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Google announces a new Agent2Agent protocol meant to support AI agents communicating with each other. A2A aims to complement MCP and address the challenges of deploying large-scale, multi-agent systems from various providers across different platforms and cloud environments.
GitHub Copilot’s new code review feature is now generally available. Just like you’d assign a coworker to review a PR, users can now assign a Copilot agent to review that same PR and spot bugs, identify potential performance problems, and suggest fixes.
RedwoodJS has rebranded itself RedwoodSDK, and is focusing on a new framework that will become the foundation of a personal software revolution. RedwoodSDK promises modern serverless infrastructure, AI-driven dev tools, and open ecosystems, with more details coming soon.
News:
Paige - RedwoodJS becomes RedwoodSDKJack - Google’s A2ATJ - Copilot code reviews & premium requestsBonus News:
StackBlitz is hosting the world’s largest hackathonDevin 2.0Wordpress.com launches free AI-powered website builderFire Starter:
text-wrap: prettyWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Claude AIJack - The Accountant 2 movieTJ - Apple SportsThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
The tRPC team declares v11 officially production-ready. tRPC allows devs to build typesafe APIs with types that can be shared on the client and server, and now it has support for TanStack Query v5, the ability to send and receive non-JSON data content types, improved support for RSCs, and the ability to stream responses.
After the Next.js security incident a few weeks back, Netlify writes an open letter around the challenges Next.js poses when not hosted on Vercel. It raises valid points like a lack of adapters, no production grade documentation for serverless deployments, no visible roadmap or release schedule, and a disregard for open web standards, among others.
Firefox is finally adding support for progressive web apps (PWAs), but its web app support will intentionally not look, feel, or behave the same way similar features do in other browsers.
News:
Paige - tRPC v11Jack - Firefox will support PWAs (finally)TJ - Next.js Netlify deployment dramaBonus News:
Styled-components enter maintenance modeNew Bare JS runtimeWindsurf and Netlify partnership (and docs on the feature)What Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Squeeze Me novelJack - Pickup Music siteTJ - Mario Kart WorldThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Special guests Burke Holland and Harald Kirschner from Microsoft join us on this episode to share the new GitHub Copilot features coming to VS Code and beyond.
First up: agent mode is now available to all users in VS Code. GitHub Copilot gets a serious upgrade as it can now create new apps from scratch, handle complex changes to existing code across multiple files, run (and debug) tests from the command line, and guide you through its reasoning.
Additionally, VS Code and GH Copilot now offer MCP (model context protocol) for agent mode. This means that GitHub Copilot can use context tools and services while building an application. There’s a host of already available community-standard MCP servers available on github.com or devs can build their own and GH Copilot will be able to use it to enhance its knowledge and capabilities.
Next Edit Suggestions (NES) lands in GH Copilot as well, so when devs make one change to a file Copilot predicts the changes that follow and presents them in sequence. Not only are ghost-text suggestions faster to appear to users in VS Code, but Copilot is also better at understanding what other changes are needed to support the new code.
Special Guests:
Burke Holland, Principal Developer Advocate at Microsoft running the VS Code developer community teamHarald Kirschner, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft for VS Code and GitHub CopilotRelevant Links:
VS Code Timeline viewBurke’s WebsiteBurke on GitHubBurke on TwitterBurke on YouTubeBurke on TikTokBurke on LinkedInHarald’s WebsiteHarald on GitHubHarald on TwitterHarald on LinkedInWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Apple AirPods Pro Gen 2Jack - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3TJ - Trip to the Grand Canyon and Zion National ParkBurke - Insta 360 webcamHarald - Springtime in CAThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Next.js had a security vulnerability scare last week due to an internal header in its middleware that allowed for skipping middleware (like auth validation) before reaching routes. The Next.js team responded quickly and patched the security holes, but this serves as a reminder to stay vigilant, keep dependencies updated, and implement multiple layers of security.
Michael Jackson, co-founder of Remix and React Router, is calling it quits for Remix support React Server Components. Lots of React-based frameworks built prior to RSCs have been struggling to support the new paradigm shift - and lots of devs have bemoaned the fact because of the added complexity it introduces, and MJ is over it. This isn’t the first time framework authors have made bold claims to not support new breaking changes, so we’ll have to wait and see if he sticks to it.
Rsdoctor, a build analyzer tool by ByteDance, has hit v1.0. Rsdoctor goes beyond other build analysis tools offering a visual view of the build process and smart analysis to help dev teams identify bottlenecks, optimize performance, and improve overall engineering quality.
News:
Paige - Rsdoctor 1.0 is available nowJack - Remix bailing on RSC?TJ - Next.js’s security vulnerabilityBonus News:
Redwood JS enters maintenance modeBrowser Use Raises $17MFire Starters:
CSS interpolate-size: allow-keywordsWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Mythic Quest TV seriesJack - Relearning guitar and the Katana Go headphone ampTJ - Open AI image generation and Studio GhibliThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Web app bundler Parcel adds support for React Server Components, including a repo of example apps for developers to reference. Although not specifically aimed at framework developers it seems like that’s the audience that would benefit most from this new feature in Parcel.
CodeSandbox enters the AI game by teaming up with AI hosting platform Together AI, and launching CodeSandbox SDK. CodeSandbox SDK will allow developers to programmatically spin up AI sandboxes just like they can spin up microVMs today to run web app sandboxes in the cloud on CodeSandbox.io.
Netlify inks a deal to become the official deployment partner of TanStack Start. Deploying TanStack projects on Netlify will mean: no config files needed, access to Netlify serverless functions, the reliability of Netlify’s global edge network, and the developer tools we know and love like instant previews and automated workflows.
News:
Paige - CodeSandbox joins Together AI and launches CodeSandbox SDKJack - Parcel RSCsTJ - TanStack + Netlify PartnershipBonus News:
Google Acquires Wiz for $32 billionOxlint Beta is ready to replace ESLintWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Formula 1: Drive to Survive S7 Jack - Mushroom outdoor solar lightsTJ - Michael Jordan-shaped Cheeto up for auctionThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
The TypeScript Compiler (TSC) is getting a major port to Go. Go’s support for concurrency and efficient memory management convinced the Microsoft team to port the code over and should result in as much as 10x faster builds in the future. Expect a feature-complete implementation towards the end of 2025, and the first major release of the native compiler to be TS 7.0 after that.
OpenAI has released new APIs to make building agentic apps even simpler. A new Response API, built in tools like web search and file search, an Agents SDK to orchestrate agent workflows, and observability tools to trace and inspect those workflows round out the offerings for empowering autonomous agents to accomplish more tasks.
Developer Aiden Bai’s back in the news with a new site called same.dev that claims to “one-shot” clone any site. Just enter a site URL into the input and it will return React, Tailwind, and Shadcn UI code. It’s pretty unreal.
News:
Paige - OpenAI: New Tools for Building AgentsJack - same.dev TJ - TypeScript ports compiler to Go for 10x faster buildsBonus News:
Apple delays upgraded SiriFire Starters:
HTML Data List elementWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Under desk heated footrestJack - Jamstik Standard MIDI GuitarTJ - Charizard CheetoThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
The Tanner-verse expands again, as TanStack Form announces v1 just two years after Tanner Linsley began work on it. Out of the gate, TanStack Form supports React, Vue, Angular, Solid, and Lit.
ByteDance (yes, that ByteDance) has released a React Native competitor named Lynx. Lynx is a new JavaScript framework that allows you to write apps that run across iOS, Android, and the Web, and it’s already being used in production TikTok apps.
VS Code’s February release had some major AI highlights this month. Preview access to the latest ChatGPT 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 3.7 models for GH Copilot, the ability to attach images, GH problems, and entire folders for context, and improvements to Agent Mode.
News:
Paige - VS Code Feb highlightsJack - TanStack Form hits v1TJ - LynxBonus News:
Tailwind UI becomes Tailwind PlusVibecodingFire Starters:
Invoker Commands APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Visiting Greenville, SCJack - Prime Target TV seriesTJ - Pokémon GOThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Special announcement: Please take our listener survey so we can better tailor the podcast to your interests.
The web development world can’t seem to get enough of surveys, so we’ve got the first State of AI 2025 to announce in this week’s episode. The folks behind this survey are the same ones who run State of JS, State of CSS, State of HTML, and more. Take 15 minutes to let them know what AI models you prefer, which code assistants you use, and what annoys you about the state of AI today.
Along the same lines, Anthropic just released Claude Sonnet 3.7 and Claude Code. Claude Sonnet’s become a favorite model in the programming world and 3.7 introduces the first hybrid model that can produce near instant response or extended, thoughtful responses, depending on what the user wants. Claude Code is Anthropic’s first agentic coding tool in the form of a CLI that can search and read code, edit files, run tests, and commit code to GitHub.
Jack’s drop in replacement for the deprecated Create React App, create-tsrouter-app, now offers Solid JS support, add-ons like including Sentry or Tailwind CSS in a new project, and model context protocol (MCP) support for AI coding assistants to interact with the application.
News:
Paige - State of AI survey 2025Jack - create-tsrouter-app updates (Solid, add-ons, MCP support)TJ - Claude Sonnet 3.7 and Claude CodeBonus News:Bonus News:
First impressions of Bolt.new + Exporeact-scan 0.2React ExplorerWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Breville InFizz AquaJack - Adrian’s Digital Basement YT channelTJ - ClaudePlaysPokemonThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Special announcement: Please take our listener survey so we can better tailor the podcast to your interests.
The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, has just released TraeAI, the newest entrant to the AI-enhanced IDE wars. Trae is also a fork of the VS Code IDE and offers many of the same AI features of competitors Windsurf and Cursor: chats, autocomplete, etc.
Recently we reported the React team agreed to deprecate starter React repo Create React App due to changes in React 19 breaking the project. Well, our very own Jack Herrington collaborated with the TanStack team to create a drop-in replacement called create-tsrouter-app that builds TanStack Router based SPA applications to give folks who previously used CRA a better option in today’s world.
Bolt.new, the browser-based AI agent continues to make news announcing a new integration with native app development framework Expo. Now, users can describe to Bolt what sort of mobile app they want in natural language, preview the code in real time on any platform, and refine their vision by chatting with the agent, and finally deploying it to the app store.
News:
Paige - Bolt.new & Expo integrate to build mobile apps with AI Jack - Jack’s very own Create React App replacement: create-tsrouter-appTJ - TraeAIBonus News:
Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of MatterESLint supports CSS lintingFire Starters:
CSS text-box-trimWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Drop Stop car seat gap fillerJack - 3D printingTJ - Onyx StormThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast -
Please take our listener survey so we can better tailor the podcast to your interests.
It’s only mid-February and already the State of React survey results for 2024 are in! Unsurprisingly Next.js continues to dominate as the most used React-based framework and Tailwind CSS tops the charts when it comes to CSS tools and libraries.TypeScript 5.8 beta brings TypeScript syntax one step closer to being a first-class citizen in the Node runtime. Node 23.6 unflagged experimental support for running TS files directly, but certain TS constructs like enums, import aliases and a few other things just aren’t supported. TS 5.8 beta introduces the –eraseabeSyntaxOnly flag, which will allow users to only write TS constructs that can be erased from a Node file, and will issue an error if it encounters constructs that can’t be erased cleanly.
Vercel’s AI tool v0 can now import Tailwind config and Figma files. Now, designs begun in Figma can be imported to v0 to refine without the friction of design-to-code translation and custom font weights and colors can be added to directly from a custom Tailwind config file.
News:
Paige - TypeScript 5.8’s –eraseableSyntaxOnly flagJack - v0 can now import Tailwind config and Figma filesTJ - State of React 2024 survey resultsBonus News:
Angular: The DocumentaryAstro 5.2Fire Starters:
CSS hanging-punctuationWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - A Man on the Inside TV seriesJack - Strings of bee lightsTJ - Heated glovesThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
The latest wrinkle for AI coding assistant tools like Cursor and Windsurf is known as the Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP is an open protocol that allows users to provide custom tools and services to agentic LLMs like calling a third party weather service.
In further AI news, OpenAI has introduced a new deep research agent designed to conduct multi-step research on the internet for complex tasks. Just give it a prompt requiring research, like which model of washing machine to buy, and ChatGPT will find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst.
And as it turns out, the upgrade to React 19 broke React’s own Create React App (CRA) starter repo and the community wants it fixed and deprecated, as it’s no longer the recommended way to build a new React project in the docs. Mark Erikson, of Redux fame, opens a GitHub issue in the repo suggesting updates and solutions and the official acquiesces to fix the repo for now, and deprecate it in the docs.
News:
Paige - OpenAI introduces deep research agentJack - Model Context Protocol (MCP) on Cursor and WindsurfTJ - Create React App and React 19 (and here’s the issue to add Astro to the React docs)Bonus News:
Dan Abramov leaves BlueskyOracle v. Deno trademark updateGitHub Copilot introduces agents with Copilot EditsFire Starters:
CSS position stickyWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Handheld compressed air dusterJack - Finishing LED movie poster RPi projectTJ - Cannondale Topstone bikeThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
A new challenger to rival OpenAI’s best ChatGPT model has arisen from China named DeepSeek R1. The reason it’s causing even more of a stir is because the creators claim DeepSeek R1 was trained for under $5M - a mere fraction of the cost of comparable models to date - and they’ve open sourced the code, the models, all of it.
In the same vein, both TJ and Paige had the chance to try out AI coding assistant Devin.ai firsthand last week. Devin is best described as an energetic junior programmer, and while it offers unique ways of interacting with it: Slack threads, PR comments, and has oversight over multiple repos so it can be asked to do things like compare documentation in one repo to SDK endpoints in another repo, its end value is still questionable.
TypeScript validation libraries have been catching on in recent years, and the creators of some of the most popular ones (Zod, ArkType, and Valibot) have gotten together to promote a common interface for libraries called Standard Schema.
News:
Paige - Standard Schema promotes a common interface for TypeScript validation librariesJack - DeepSeek R1TJ - Our firsthand experiences with Devin.ai and jokes about AI trained coding assistantsBonus News:
Matt Biilman coins the next big term in web dev experience: AX (“agent experience”)Vercel acquires dashboard and chart library TremorHas the “Rust wave” crested?Fire Starters:
toReversed, toSorted, and toSplicedWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - The Recruit TV seriesJack - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ckTJ - Onyx StormThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
This week, the team behind JavaScript runtime Bun drops some major updates into Bun 1.2. Bun introduces a built-in S3 storage API, a built-in Postgres client (with MySQL coming soon), 90% compatibility with Node.js, and it’s faster than ever before.
Tailwind CSS v4 is out as well, and it boasts a new higher performance engine for 5x faster full builds, support for cutting edge CSS features like cascade layers, custom properties, and container queries, a simplified initial install and config to get going, and a first-party Vite plugin.
And React Scan, built by Aiden Bai who also built Million.js, is also out this week with v0.1. Install React Scan into any React app and it will auto detect performance issues due to excessive re-rendering, and highlight the components causing the issues.News:
Paige - Tailwind CSS v4.0Jack - React Scan 0.1 (aka Million.js)TJ - Bun 1.2Bonus News:
StargateOpenAI’s new Operator AI agent can do things on the web for youFire Starters:
Link to text fragments with #:~:text=What Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Puzzles (like the ones from Buffalo Games)Jack - Klipsch G-17 air wireless speakerTJ - Not So Super, AppleThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
The first topic of conversation this week is an unexpected new area the Expo team is tackling: Expo Application Service Hosting. EAS Hosting is a new service for quickly deploying web projects built using Expo and React Native apps. It makes it easy to compile and sign apps with custom native code, upload apps to the Play Store or App Store, and push live app updates directly to users.
The Interop project, which aims to improve interoperability between major browser engines, released its accomplishments from 2024 this week. The browsers took on 17 areas of focus in 2024, and went from 46% of tests passing in January, all the way to 95% of tests passing by the end of December.
WordPress makes headlines once more, as Autommatic, the WordPress hosting company owned by WP creator Matt Mullenweg cuts its contributions back on the WP open-source project from 4,000 hours per week to 45 hours per week.
News:
Paige - Interop 2024 highlightsJack - Expo APIs (EAS Hosting)TJ - Automattic cuts WordPress contribution hours (WordPress Drama Timeline)Bonus News:
Vitest 3.0 is outThe iPhone Air could be coming later this yearFire Starters:
WebXR Device APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Shrinking TV show and browser-based SwaggerEditorJack - fzf command-line fuzzy finderTJ - Switch 2Thanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
This episode begins with a cautionary tale to double check your browser extensions. Popular coupon browser extension Honey’s been caught replacing affiliate links with its own tracking codes right before checkout, as well as applying pre-selected discount codes from its business partners that aren’t always the best deals.
A few weeks ago we reported Deno is petitioning Oracle to release the JavaScript trademark as Oracle’s never used it since acquiring it when it bought Sun Microsystems. This week Oracle has informed Deno they won’t voluntarily withdraw their trademark on JavaScript, and are lawyering up.
And the creator of HashiCorp has built a new terminal emulator called Ghostty that’s getting a lot of buzz lately. Ghostty is written in Zig and uses platform native UI and GPU acceleration for an ultra fast terminal experience. It’s got all the expected features like split screen, key commands, and support for programs like Neovim, and is worth a shot if you’re interested in trying a new terminal competitor.
News:
Paige - Ghostty terminal emulator and app settings GUIJack - Honey browser extension scandalTJ - Oracle plans to fight Deno’s petition for them to release the JavaScript trademarkBonus News:
Node’s experimental type stripping is now enabled by defaultFire Starters:
Broadcast Channel APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - The Lies of Locke Lamora novelJack - Home automation and the Hue lighting APITJ - CES! Featuring things like SwippittThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com -
To start us off, the State of JS 2024 survey results were recently released, and there’s lots of interesting stats to share. Vite continues to be the most loved framework and build tool amongst all JS devs, React continues to be the most used framework amongst JS devs at work, and SvelteKit and Astro are the two meta frameworks JS devs are most interested in trying out. Fun fact: 67% of respondents say they use ChatGPT to help them write code, but estimate only 12 - 20% of their code in a project is AI-assisted.
In keeping with the AI trend, VS Code announced a fee plan for GitHub Copilot: no trial, no subscription, no credit card required. Limits apply, but it’s a great opportunity for devs who aren’t sure if Copilot is worth the cost to try it out.
Shadcn has also released its new resource site Awesome Shadcn UI. The site contains 13 categories, 200 resources, and lots of useful links to templates, UI libraries, components, color customizations, animations, and more.
News:
Paige - State of JS 2024 survey resultsJack - Shadcn UI design system resourcesTJ - Announcing a free GitHub Copilot for VS CodeBonus News:
Matt Mullenweg imposes a “holiday break” on WordPress and asks Redditors what other drama he should create in 2025Fire Starters:
Clipboard APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:
Paige - Tulsa King TV seriesJack - Hue Play HDMI sync box 8KTJ - Updating my blogThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.
Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com - Mostra di più
