Newsletter - March 2024

My thoughts on my favorite stories from March including full-stack React frameworks, Node.js, and the Arc Browser.

Newsletter - March 2024

In case you missed it, I'm shifting the focus of this newsletter off of exclusively "Web Tech" into more of my thoughts on links and stories that interest me from the past month. Here's my favorite links from March!

Eloquent JavaScript 4th Edition

The 4th edition of this fantastic book was released this month. I own the 2nd edition published back in 2014, and it helped me understand the language better than any other resource I read back then. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend ordering a copy or reading it online for free.

Eloquent JavaScript

TanStack Start

I caught this tweet at the beginning of the month and was intrigued. I think TanStack Router brings some interesting ideas to the router game, so a full-stack framework built on top of that could be very compelling. It's easy to see a proliferation of frameworks in any domain as a negative because it contributes to fatigue, and a sense of always being behind the curve. However, I see it as a positive when smart people build new frameworks because they bring fresh ideas that existing players can adopt in their own ways. More on that in the next link 👀

Theo on React Router

This is a great video to watch to get some perspective on how we got to this point in time with regards to Next.js, React Server Components, Remix, and React Router. The TLDR is that with the release of SPA mode in Remix, there may come a day where React Router as we know it today is no more, and simply becomes the SPA mode of Remix.

As someone who has used React Router for a number of years now, I think this makes sense and I'm positive about the convergence. It will make the progression from a SPA only architecture with React Router to a server powered architecture with Remix actually feasible for teams with mature applications.

Node.js Site Redesign

Speaking of competition, Node.js has been pushed by newcomers like Bun and Deno to give it's marketing a bit of a facelift. The new site is modern and friendly to new developers. It's hard to believe the Node was started 14 years ago already. I remember being so excited about the ability to run JS on the server, and how lightweight and UNIX-y Node felt in the early days. It was such a welcome alternative to the heavier frameworks in Java and C# that dominated my sphere of software at the time.

Node.js — Diving into the Node.js Website Redesign
Node.js® is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.

Browser Company Funding Round

Awhile back I did a trial run of using Arc as my default browser for a few months. It was a positive experience overall, but I felt it was just a little too different and foreign so I made the switch back to Brave. Since then, however, they've released some new AI features and a compelling Dev Mode that might just make me stick. Alongside this funding announcement, they've also started a video series called We Might Not Make It. I think it's a brilliant piece of marketing, and the two videos they've released so far are actually a very insightful look into the future of what a browser could be.

The Browser Company raises $50M at a $550M valuation | TechCrunch
The Browser Company, which makes the Arc browser, has raised $50 million in a round led by Pace Capital at a $550 million valuation, TechCrunch has

I'm dropping some other links here that I thought were interesting or useful, but didn't have much commentary on. Enjoy!

Interaction to Next Paint is officially a Core Web Vital 🚀 | Blog | web.dev
Interaction to Next Paint is now a stable Core Web Vital metric, replacing First Input Delay.
Capo.js: A five minute web performance boost
You want a quick web performance win at work that’s sure to get you a promotion? Want it to only take five minutes? Then I got you. Capo.js is a tool to get your <head> in order. It’s based o…
WebSockets vs Server-Sent-Events vs Long-Polling vs WebRTC vs WebTransport | RxDB - JavaScript Database
Explore the pivotal roles of WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, Long-Polling, WebRTC, and WebTransport in shaping real-time web apps. Dive into their unique advantages, limitations, and optimal use cases for informed development choices.
Modern Git Commands and Features You Should Be Using
<p> All of us - software engineers - use <code class=“inline”>git</code> every day, however most people only ever touch the most basic of commands, such as…

A Deep Dive into the Architecture of Pokemon Go

Last Words

Also, I wrote a blog post recently about using Clojure to help me win my Formula 1 Fantasy league. If you missed it, check it out!

Optimizing My F1 Fantasy Team with Clojure
I wrote a Clojure program to generate possible F1 fantasy teams for me, and learned some valuable lessons in the process.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts, and subscribe!