Read JavaScript and TypeScript lessons from production
Learning from tutorials is great! You follow some steps, learn a smol lesson, and feel like you got this. Then you go into an interview, get a question from the boss, or encounter a new situation and o-oh.
Shit, how does this work again? 😅
That's the problem with tutorials. They're not how the world works. Real software is a mess. A best-effort pile of duct tape and chewing gum. You need deep understanding, not recipes.
I took a bet on JavaScript in 2005 when it was known as DHTML. It's been my favorite language ever since. These essays are the good stuff you can't learn from a tutorial.
Leave your email and get the JavaScript Essays series - a series of curated essays and experiments on modern JavaScript. Lessons and insights learned from practice building production software.
Latest JavaScript articles from Swizec
6 articles from 2023 · show all
November 2023
The efficacy of TypeScript
TypeScript may streamline code navigation and catch semantic errors, but it doesn't guarantee fewer bugs or faster fixes.
October 2023
TypeScript runtime vs types at run-time
Understanding the nuances of TypeScript: it adds static types to JavaScript, reducing bugs by checking code validity pre-run. But imagine if we had types at run-time too - validating inputs, enhancing error messages. A dream, but a nice one.
Bun – first impressions
I've been using Bun in a few side-projects and I like it a lot
July 2023
Update state during render, better explained
A few readers wrote in to say that the React Can Update State During Render email last week made no sense. Here's a better explanation.
June 2023
React can update state during render
An unexpected feature of React: updating state during render. It's a UX and performance optimization
January 2023
My biggest React App performance boost was a backend change
Performance lives in the unlikliest of places. Follow the metrics.