Web Design: No Matter What

Monday, December 11, 2017

No Matter What

Everything But the Kitchen sync

Front-end

First up, how to create a React app with zero configuration using Parcel [blog.jakoblind].

How Airbnb fixed React performance on their listing pages [medium/airbnb-engineering].

A 30-second guide, aimed at React Native devs, to Flutter [dev.to].

React Native Typography [github/hectahertz] offers pixel-perfect, native-looking typography for React Native.

When writing async functions in JavaScript, a guide to the difference between “await”, “return”, and “return await” [jakearchibald].

Token Effort

Back-end/programming

What’s new in Chrome 63 [developers.google].

NPMGraph [npm.broofa] is a tool that’ll let you visualize npm modules' dependencies in the browser.

Something to look forward to: persistent, drive-by cryptomining is on the way to a browser near you [blog.malwarebytes].

TokenPlex [github/proy24] is a Node/Express framework that’ll let you aggregate cryptocurrency data from the web and provide easy-to-digest endpoints.

In a Groove

Jobs, positions, engagements, duties and assignments (mainly jobs)

Senior full-stack engineer | mobile engineer [Groove] remote.

Want your next open position here? You should! 47,000+ very qualified readers will see it and a slightly smaller number of those will apply! Go here and place your ad [sitepoint].

No Shrinking Violet

Design/UX/product

Ultraviolet is the Pantone color of the year for 2018 [pantone]. I mean, it’s nice, I guess?

The state of UX in 2018 [trends.uxdesign].

An intro to “design workouts” and why they’re super helpful for building great design teams [smashingmagazine].

On a similar tip, Designercize [designercize] offers prompts for whiteboard design practice.

And how Google approached designing for SPAN 2017, this year’s edition of their annual design and tech conference [design.google].

No Matter What

News/business

Bulgaria seized some Bitcoin back in the Spring, and it’s now worth US $3 billion [venturebeat]. I guess crime does pay, but not the way you’d think.

A great piece on WeChat, which basically rules the smartphone market in China [a16z].

Apple’s acquiring Shazam [techcrunch]. I’d imagine the song playing in the Shazam offices now is Kool and the Gang’s Celebration, but there’s only one way to tell.

Physicists have discovered a new form of matter: excitonium [phys]. It’s a fine name, don’t get me wrong, it just feels a little like they rushed to name it while still celebrating the discovery. Well done, though.

Reasons to run a small business on the side of your regular gig [medium/@noahhl].

Don’t Hate the Player

Everything else (apps, fun tools, gaming, culture, funny stuff)

Hands-on with VR Settlers of Catan [arstechnica].

The best Apple apps of the year, according to… Apple [developer.apple].

An algorithm helps to write some science fiction [wired].

Finally, two trailers to end today’s newsletter:

The fun-looking Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom [youtube/universal].

And a proper trailer for the kinda excellent-looking Ready Player One [youtube/warnerbros], a documentary about a future once VR Settler’s of Catan has caught on.

Hi! I'm back! Hope your weekend was lovely, and today's newsletter was similarly lovely. I'll have another newsletter tomorrow, that will also be lovely, but I'll be spending the rest of the day trading bricks for grain, plus maybe some wool if things go well. I'm definitely referring to Catan, and not my personal life. Definitely.

Back tomorrow to earn more victory points! Again, in Catan, not in life. Yep.