In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about maintaining popular open-source projects, where to start after a layoff, impostor syndrome, Scott’s recording setup, whether a computer science degree is still worth it in the age of AI, and more!

• Full Stack App Build | Travel Log w/ Nuxt, Vue, Better Auth, Drizzle, Tailwind, DaisyUI, MapLibre

• Eye Tracking Study on camelCase and under_score Identifier Styles

• Ep 798: Self Hosting: Reverse Proxy Servers

• Syntax YouTube Channel

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AI coding agents are getting wild. Scott and Wes break down the latest tools that run in the background, write code across multiple steps, and charge you $200 a month to do it. From CLI-based primitives to full-on copilots, this episode covers the next wave of dev tools and what it takes to use them effectively.

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Wes and Scott talk about the latest JavaScript proposals from TC39, including features like import defer, the powerful new random namespace, Array.fromAsync, and native clamp and upsert methods. They break down what’s coming, why it matters, and how it might improve your code.

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Wes and CJ break down the latest web dev news, including big changes in Safari 26, TypeScript Native Previews, and Remix dropping React. They also chat about new proposals from TC39, Vite 7 beta, and a surprise project from the Astro team.

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Wes chats with James Mikrut, founder of Payload CMS, about being acquired by Figma! They discuss building an open source business, the future of UI design, AI interfaces, and what this means for the future of Payload and Figma.

Show Notes

Sick Picks

• James: Triumph Street Triple, Malört Liquor.

Shameless Plugs

• James: PayloadCMS.

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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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