Scott and Wes break down the state of web browsers in 2025, from the rise and fall of Arc and the fate of Firefox to hot takes on Opera GX, Raycast, and why power users might not be profitable. They compare rendering engines, rant about dev tools, and reveal what browser stats say about Syntax listeners.

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Wes and Scott talk about the new If statements in CSS, breaking down how they work, why they matter, and when to use them. They explore use cases, syntax quirks, and how this feature pushes CSS closer to true conditional logic—no JavaScript required.

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We break down how to properly throw, catch, and log errors in JavaScript and TypeScript. They cover client-side and server-side strategies, using tools like Sentry, and how to handle errors without taking down your whole app.

Show Notes

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Wes and Scott talk with Jeppe Reinhold about Storybook 9’s powerful new features—including drastically reduced bloat, seamless Vite integration, and next-level component testing. They dive into visual regression testing, accessibility, performance, and best practices for writing robust, isolated UI components developers can actually enjoy testing and documenting.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 01:40 What is Storybook?
• 03:48 How Storybook makes component design easier
• 04:41 Vite integration and compatibility with other tools
  • Vite

• Jeppe: JBL Boombox 3 Wi-Fi

• Jeppe: chromatic

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Wes rebuilt his personal site from Gatsby to a modern stack using Waku, React Server Components, and Cloudflare Workers — all while keeping the same design. Scott and Wes break down the pain points with Next.js, MDX, image handling, caching, and the custom setup that now powers a blazing-fast blog.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 01:03 Barcelona Conference.
• 04:09 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
• 04:33 Existing stack, goodbye to Gatsby.
• 06:11 New stack, the goals for moving.
• 06:56 So what is the new stack?
  • 08:32 Challenges with NextJS.
  • 08:58 Problems with plugins.
  • 09:30 Problems with dynamic imports.
  • 10:21 Problems with Cloudflare deployment.
• 12:37 Landing on Waku.
• 13:59 Hot Tips functionality updates.
• 16:30 Blog Posts + JavaScript Notes.
• 17:09 Moving from Gatsby.
• 19:03 Page speeds.
  • 19:29 Removing nav resizing process.
  • 21:03 Writing custom MDX plugins.
• 23:28 Hosting.
  • 24:08 Why is the build so fast?
• 28:01 Pricing.
• 32:25 Caching.
• 34:49 Migration errors.
• 36:37 CSS.

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Wes and Scott talk with VC Dan Levine about how developers can raise venture capital, what investors look for in early-stage startups, the realities of bootstrapping vs. fundraising, and why great ideas often start as simple side projects.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 00:55 Dan’s background and career
• 03:10 Is it common for tech investors to come from a tech background?
• 04:40 How can developers raise money?
• 08:35 What investors look for
• 12:39 How much funding is enough?
• 15:41 Are founders working with multiple investors?
• 18:26 What can you use the money for?
• 22:49 How much influence do investors have in the business?
• 29:56 Brought to you by Sentry.io

• Dan:
  • Dandelion Chocolate

• Dan: Linear

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CJ steps in for Scott and joins Wes to share his experience working with Nuxt, from routing and data fetching to the pros and cons of the framework. They break down the Nuxt ecosystem, directory structure, and how it handles server routes and modules.

• 00:00 Syntax Meetup!
• 00:26 Welcome to Syntax
• 01:21 The deal with Nuxt.
  • CJ’s Nuxt Course.
• 02:51 Why do you like Vue?
• 04:52 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
• 05:17 Routing with Nuxt.
  • h3 - The Web Framework for Modern JavaScript Era.
  • Nuxt Guides.
• 06:12 Built on Nitro.
• 06:49 The Nuxt Ecosystem.
• 07:52 API Route Support.
• 08:15 Nuxt Directory Structure.
• 09:09 Does Nuxt do too much for you?
• 11:15 Data fetching in a Nuxt app.
• 13:25 RPC, Form Actions, Server Actions?
• 15:00 Nuxt Server Folder Hastle.
• 15:57 useFetch Hook.
  • CJ’s Nuxt Crash Course.
• 17:29 Core Modules and Community Modules?
  • Nuxt Modules.
  • shadcn-nuxt.
  • @nuxt/ui.
  • DaisyUI.
  • Pinia.
• 21:17 Nuxt Hosting.
  • Deploy.
  • hub.nuxt.
• 23:59 Anything you don’t like?

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In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and CJ answer your questions about OpenAI’s $3B Windsurf acquisition, the evolving role of UI in an AI-driven world, why good design still matters, React vs. Svelte, and more!

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
  • Devs Night Out

• CJ: Portable Chainsaw

• CJ: Nuxt

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Scott and Wes are joined by Erich Gamma, creator of VS Code, and Kai Maetzel, Copilot Lead, to share some big news about the future of VS Code and Copilot. They discuss what it means for developers, how AI is shaping the future of coding, and why staying open to the community is key.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 01:00 The inception of VS Code.
• 02:49 VS Code adoption.
• 04:31 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
• 04:55 Syntax Denver Meetup!
• 05:19 The big announcement.
• 06:25 The current state of Copilot and VS Code.
• 08:31 The challenges with LLMs running outside of the codebase.
• 09:31 How to make a business case for AI.
• 10:47 The maturing of the AI landscape.
• 13:01 The limitations of extensions.
• 14:06 Open source vs closed source.
• 14:49 Copilot’s context is public.
• 19:23 Is context language-specific?
• 21:23 How does this affect paid Copilot features?
• 23:27 Secrets of Copilot’s server-side.
• 28:36 What will be open and what will not?
• 29:03 Is Copilot’s UI influenced by VS Code forks?
• 31:31 Maintaining VS Code identity in forks.
• 33:07 What does open-sourcing GitHub Copilot mean for Cursor and Windsurf?
• 38:42 Were you surprised to see VS Code forks?
• 40:03 Are other extensions able to tap into the AI offerings?
• 43:20 There’s work to be done.
• 44:13 The timeline.
• 45:39 Simulation Tests (S Tests).
• 48:07 How to test LLMs.
• 49:10 The future of software development with AI.
• 52:47 What’s your favorite model?

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Wes talks with Peter Pistorius about RedwoodSDK, a new React framework built natively for Cloudflare. They dive into real-time React, server components, zero-cost infrastructure, and why RedwoodSDK empowers developers to ship faster with fewer tradeoffs and more control.

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 00:52 What is RedwoodSDK?
• 04:49 Choosing openness over abstraction
• 08:46 More setup, more control
• 12:20 Why RedwoodSDK only runs on Cloudflare
• 14:25 What the database setup looks like
• 16:15 Durable Objects explained – Ep 879: Fullstack Cloudflare

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