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

Running a web development agency isn't easy from both the technical and customer service side of things. Luckily, Matt and Mike have been running their web development agency for 7+ years, making plenty of mistakes, and claiming even more successes over the years. In this episode, they lay out the top 5 tips insider tips that have helped them maintain a successful business for all these years including: presenting technical solutions to non-technical customers, avoiding scope creep, pushing back on customer ideas that won't work, and more.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/top-5-insider-web-developer-agency-tips

Learn with Scrimba - https://scrimba.com/?ref=htmlallthethings

Almost everyone has a unique story on how they joined the field in which they eventually made a career, but many aren't as unique as Francesco Ciulla's. His development journey has lead him to work with the European Space Agency as a full-stack developer, developer relations at Daily.dev, become a Docker Captain, and most recently create a massive YouTube following in just a few short weeks. This week Matt and Mike had the pleasure of sitting down and discussing Francesco's unique developer journey at length discussing his previous jobs, education, passion for teaching and much more!

Show Notes - https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/francescos-unique-developer-journey

Learn with Scrimba - https://scrimba.com/?ref=htmlallthethings

Web development, often hailed for its versatility, empowers us to create websites, progressive web apps (PWAs), mobile applications, and robust web-based tools. However, beneath the surface lies a complex landscape far from utopian. To make web development sustainable without the need for networking engineers, IT managers, and server admins - tools that go beyond the vanilla platform (HTML, CSS, JS) have become staples of the industry (NodeJS, Svelte/Kit, Angular, etc.). These tools provide web developers with the ability to perform complex and time-consuming tasks with relative ease and without having to touch the underlying layers of technology. The side effect is that many web developers are left learning an absolute ton of technology at a high-level, with very little expertise in one area versus another. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the current mess that web development finds itself in as they converse about the sheer amount of material to learn, abstraction layers, and more.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/web-development-is-a-mess-do-we-need-frameworks-is-there-too-much-to-learn

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Learn how to land a web development job with this week's guest, James Quick. James is a content creator that focuses on teaching web developers through his YouTube channel and podcast. Our discussion this week focused on landing and keeping a web developer role with our conversation focusing on what you should do before landing the job, immediately after getting into your role, and how to keep your career going into the future. First off, our conversation on what to do before getting a developer job focused on studying, coding practice, and standing out as an applicant. Second, we discussed what to do right after landing the role conversing about whether you should keep learning on/off work hours and whether you should make an effort to learn job-related tech or branch out. Lastly, we discussed what to do once you've had a developer job for a while, touching on whether you should bother having a side hustle, how much learning you should do, and if you should update your portfolio or not. At the end of the interview, we asked James to expand and explain Astro, a web framework for content-driven sites.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/how-to-land-a-web-development-job-w-james-quick

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Back in the days of Internet Explorer web developers struggled with keeping their websites compatible across various versions. This problem exemplified as more modern browsers like Firefox and Chrome were added to the mix, forcing many web devs to create websites that could utilize modern features and fall back onto old ones for users still on IE. Today, these problems are largely solved, but not entirely. There is still some feature disparity between Edge, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox...and even now some developers need to continue to support Internet Explorer. It's also widely known that as newer versions of these browsers seem to squash more of these differences, users won't always have the most up-to-date version of the browser due to update neglect, or system compatibility. In this episode, Matt and Mike focus on CSS feature disparity between browsers and how to handle site development when your user base doesn't all have the latest features that you're utilizing. When is it safe to use a new CSS feature on a production website? 

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/css-browser-support-when-can-i-use-this

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

React is a powerful tool that empowers web developers to create reactive websites and web apps. Unfortunately, sometimes projects built with React can struggle to reach their maximum performance potential. To solve this, Million 3 (million.js) steps in to help make your React project up to 70% faster. Million boasts a simple setup using an easy-to-use installer so that you don't need to spend hours installing and troubleshooting. In this interview episode, Matt and Mike discussed Million.js with Aiden and Tobiloba, exploring when Million should be used, when it should not be used, and what it helps with the most. With the release of Million 3 just this week, the guys learned about some cool new features that should help Million be even more useful than it already is.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/make-react-faster-using-million-3-million-js-w-aiden-tobiloba

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

When a junior developer is assigned to your team, it's easy to give them the "new guy" treatment. You might give them jobs you don't like to do or play some sort of harmless prank on them, but take it a step further and you're in danger of becoming a toxic workplace. Handing over jobs that are simply too difficult for a junior developer and ridiculing them when they inevitably fail is one large example of how a team joke can take a dark turn, forming a habit of treating junior developers poorly in the hopes that they'll "rise to the challenge." In reality, most teams would benefit from having another experienced developer, so why not help the newbie grow into someone you can trust? In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed how to challenge and mentor a junior developer by giving them achievable challenges, avoiding a "trial by fire" that they will inevitably fail. 

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/working-with-junior-developers-teaching-training-and-mentoring

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Subscription fees are any household budget's worst nightmare, but they're not limited to just your favorite TV subscriptions. Web developers are also constantly bombarded by subscription fees for everything from development tools, analytics software, and WordPress plugins. Perpetual licenses (one-time fees) are almost a thing of the past and so everything you reach for at the paid tier ends up becoming a recurring cost that you'll need to make the most of to maximize value. Not only can these costs very quickly spiral out of control, but they're also a hard sell when dealing with a client. Every WordPress developer has surely come across a client that expects a feature-add for free, when the plugin to do so is behind a monthly subscription. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the hidden costs of web development reviewing the dreaded ballooning monthly bill made up of premium WordPress plugins, SEO software, development tools, and more.

Thanks to this episode's sponsor Magic Mind. Use our link (https://www.magicmind.com/JANhtml)  and promo code (HTML20) for up to 75% off in January 2024! After January? Our code is still good for up to 20% off!

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/the-hidden-costs-of-web-development

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

Three web development topics grace this episode's contents as Matt and Mike discussed the seemingly never ending tech layoffs that keep making headlines. The guys also discussed HTMX, a lightweight UI library that has taken off in popularity recently to the pleasure of some and dismay of others - is HTMX the "Tailwind CSS" of backend technology? Finally the guys discussed how to handle your family and friends approaching you with their ideas and wanting you to work on them. We've all been there, you're at a family gathering, and someone wants to work with you on their new idea that's sure to "take the world by storm" - or in a twist, sometimes they just want you to be their mentor...what do you do if you just don't have the time? 

Thanks to this episode's sponsor Magic Mind. Use our link (https://www.magicmind.com/JANhtml)  and promo code (HTML20) for up to 75% off in January 2024! After January? Our code is still good for up to 20% off!

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/more-tech-layoffs-htmx-is-real-friends-with-ideas

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT

This week we revive an old episode format where Matt writes the show notes and interviews Mike without him knowing any of the questions or topics before recording. In this "blind episode" Matt and Mike explore building out your web developer portfolio versus a personal website that covers both your personal and professional life. The guys also discussed choosing your developer career path if you were starting out in 2024, what kind of project they would create if money were no object, and philosophically "look back" at their careers once they've come to a close.

Thanks to this episode's sponsor Magic Mind. Use our link (https://www.magicmind.com/JANhtml) and promo code (HTML20) for up to 75% off in January 2024! After January? Our code is still good for up to 20% off!

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/building-your-web-developer-portfolio-choosing-your-path-as-a-developer-and-making-an-impact-with-your-career

Scrimba Discount: https://tinyurl.com/ScrimbaHATT