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Development Practices

Code Review: A New Developer’s Guide

Reviewing code as a new developer can be daunting. I've written a guide to code review best practices to help you.

Isabella Wloch Software Consultant and Developer at Atomic Object, Ann Arbor. Passionate about human centered software design and development.

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Developer Tools • Dec 11

Payload CMS 3.0 – The Good, the Great, and the Challenges

I've been using Payload CMS 3.0 to build a complex healthcare application. The version 3 release has been both exciting and challenging.

Platforms & Languages • Dec 10

Solve Optimization Problems with MiniZinc and Google OR Tools

Let's take a look at MiniZinc and Google's Operations Research (OR) Tools. I'll also touch on how to integrate them into your Node backend.

Growing as Makers • Dec 09

How to Pick a Conference: Advice from a Fish out of Water

It can be overwhelming to pick a conference, especially if you're new to the industry! Here are some questions you should ask yourself.

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Developer Tools View more Developer Tools posts →

Payload CMS v3: The Good, The Great, and The Challenges

Developer Tools

Payload CMS 3.0 – The Good, the Great, and the Challenges

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Stupid Network Tricks Using socat

Developer Tools

Stupid Network Tricks Using socat

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Pictured: a TypeScript snippet. Get the Most Out of Payload CMS Custom Translations

Developer Tools

Get the Most Out of Payload CMS Custom Translations

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SSH Keys on macOS, Part 2: Building a key system (pictured: a developer's hands on a keyboard)

Developer Tools

SSH Keys on macOS, Part 2: Building a Key System

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UX/Design Tools View more UX/Design Tools posts →

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React / Redux View more React / Redux posts →

Will server actions and components replace route handlers in NextJS?

React / Redux

Will Server Actions and Components Replace Route Handlers in NextJS?

With NextJS 13, along came server components and server actions. Are they an effective replacement for route handlers in Next altogether?

TanStack Query (Formerly React Query): The Basics

React / Redux

TanStack Query (Formerly React Query): The Basics

Let's walk through the fundamentals of TanStack Query, including queries, mutations, and query invalidation, and provide practical examples.

Tips for Using React Testing Library to Write Unit Tests

React / Redux

Tips for Using React Testing Library to Write Unit Tests

These are my top tips for anyone using the React Testing Library package for their unit tests. I hope they help you avoid major pain points.

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Web Apps View more Web Apps posts →

Embedding Payload CMS 3.0 Admin UI in Your Next.js App

Web Apps

Embed Payload CMS 3.0 Admin UI in Your Next.js App

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About a year ago, I used Remix on a short prototype app to that displayed a series of reports and I loved it. For those who don’t know. Remix is a framework for building websites. It uses React JS as a base and adds some specialized compiling. The app was a great use case for Remix for a few reasons. First, the pre-built stacks got the app deployed quickly. The main parts of Remix that shined were its prefetching, directory-based routing, and its loader functions. The prefetching helped the reports load faster because some data would be retrieved before the user navigated. The directory-based routing made it easy to setup the structure of the app. Last, Remix’s loader functions were able to retrieve small amounts of data each as it was needed. I am now using Remix on a second website that has a different structure than the prototype and we aren’t able to use the same features to the same degree. This time around, I am finding myself using fewer of the features mentioned previously. We aren’t using perfecting because we have a single page with a lot of complexity. We have fewer loader functions retrieving lots of information at once which makes them perform worse. The main difference that I found between the two projects is that the prototype was a multipage app and the second has been turning into a single page app (SPA). Based on Remix's documentation and my experience the best use cases for Remix are ones that can be modeled as multiple pages. Challenges for single page apps For this post, when I refer to a single page app I am referring to an app that tries to pack a variety of behaviors onto a single route. An example would be Google Calendar. Pictured below: In order to render this page, we need to load a few different things. We need to load all the events for this month, all the calendars for the user, and the details for the apps along the lefthand side. Then to use the app, we need to track which event is selected. When the user drags an event, we need to keep track of the calendar it is on. Then when it is placed, an alert is displayed if there are any conflicts. This state and behavior may need to be done in one component, which means one loader function. We may also want to perform component tests which are only partially supported in Remix, based on this git conversation. Make it optimal Instead, let’s talk about structuring an app to leverage Remix’s strengths. I am assuming we want to make use of Remix’s speedy loading while getting around some of its component testing limitations.The files that are used for routing should each be responsible for retrieving, displaying and mutating a limited set of information. As an example of a UI structure that could work well in Remix let’s look at Slack. Slack's UI can be visually broken down into three sections. The workspaces are on the far left. Then the channels within the selected workspace are listed, and lastly, we have the current chat for the selected workspace. A Remix app with this UI could have a URL like: slack/workspace2/proj-new-website. The root of the app would get the list of all workspaces, then /workspace2 would load the details for the selected workspace. Lastly, the chat window for /proj-new-website would load the chats and display them. This app can be modeled as a multipage app because the responsibilities are spread at different levels of the page instead of being concentrated in one component, like with the Google Calendar example. This would be a Slack-like app, and a better use case for Remix than a calendar app. Use the right tool for the job Remix is a powerful tool for web development. It can produce polished prototypes quickly and can build performant production apps. However, an app in Remix needs to keep Remix's design principles in mind. This means splitting the app's pages into pieces that can be loaded and rendered separately and keeping components as simple as possible in order to limit component testing on the frontend. Designing an app this way will enable the app to leverage the performance benefits promised by Remix.

Web Apps

Remix is Incredible — If It Fits Your Use Case

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Vercel: A Valuable Debugging Tool

Web Apps

Vercel: A Valuable Debugging Tool

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Common CSS Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Web Apps

Common CSS Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

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Development Practices View more Development Practices posts →

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DevOps & System Admin View more DevOps & System Admin posts →

Docker Compose Dependency Management Isn't a Silver Bullet

DevOps & System Admin.

Docker Compose Dependency Management Isn’t a Silver Bullet

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Working with Docker Containers Made Easy with the dexec Bash Script

DevOps & System Admin.

Working with Docker Containers Made Easy with the dexec Bash Script

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How and Why You Should Add Color to Your Scripts

DevOps & System Admin.

How and Why You Should Add Color to Your Scripts

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Tailscale Takes All the "Fun" Out of VPNs

DevOps & System Admin.

Tailscale Takes All the “Fun” Out of VPNs

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Extracurricular Activities View more Extracurricular Activities posts →

How I Created Abstract Classes in Godot

Extracurricular Activities

How I Created Abstract Classes in Godot

Godot does not support abstract functions. The good news is, there are ways to work around this and fake abstract classes.

From Zero to Unraid: The Perfect Home Server OS

Extracurricular Activities

From Zero to Unraid: The Perfect Home Server OS

When you're building a home server, choosing the right operating system can feel overwhelming. My choice? Unraid.

Adding a new LVM Thin pool to Proxmox (mostly) by hand

Extracurricular Activities

Add a New LVM Thin Pool to Proxmox (Mostly) by Hand

Add a new LVM Thin pool, based on multiple disks, as a Proxmox storage.

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.NET / WPF View more .NET / WPF posts →

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Personal Optimization View more Personal Optimization posts →

The Power of Stepping Away: Recharge Yourself with a Break

Personal Optimization

The Power of Stepping Away: Recharge Yourself with a Break

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Trying to Land Your First Job In Tech Post-Grad? 3 Things Not to Do

Personal Optimization

Trying to Land Your First Job In Tech Post-Grad? 3 Things Not to Do

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How To Be a Good Internal Consultant

Personal Optimization

How To Be a Good Internal Consultant

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Kids Playing Soccer

Personal Optimization

Transferring Athletic Skills to Professional Success: Lessons from the Soccer Field

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TypeScript View More TypeScript posts →

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React Native View more React Native posts →

How to Style MUI Line Chart Components

React Native

How to Style MUI Line Chart Components

Styling an MUI component can be challenging. This guide shows ways to customize the LineChart component to achieve your desired look.

Embrace App Monitors: A Solution for State Changes in React Native

React Native

Embrace App Monitors: A Solution for State Changes in React Native

Let's look at why relying solely on useEffect might make your code a bit of a puzzle and how App Monitors can alleviate this issue.

Resolve "Non-std C++ Exception"

React Native

Resolve “Non-std C++ Exception” in React Native with the “lsof” Command

React Native is powerful, but, like any technology a developer has to work through an occasional errors, such as the "Non-std C++ Exception".

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Growing as Makers View more Growing as Makers posts →

Four people sit at a meeting table

Growing as Makers

How to Pick a Conference: Advice from a Fish out of Water

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I Am a Better Programmer Because of Pottery - illustrated by a photo of the author's pottery projects

Growing as Makers

5 Pottery Disciplines That Shaped Me Into a Better Programmer

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You Can Grow Your Developer Intuition

Growing as Makers

You Can Grow Your Developer Intuition

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Learn to Trust Your Instincts as a New Developer

Growing as Makers

Learn to Trust Your Instincts as a New Developer

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Atomic Thinking View more Atomic Thinking posts →

Culture

Navigating Change: How Businesses Can Thrive in Uncertainty

Three Grand Rapids business leaders recently shared their stories about navigating change and uncertainty. Here's what I learned.

Exploiting opportunities and managing risk in software development

Resources for Clients

Understanding Risk in Software Development: Ignorant vs. Honest

You probably associate risk with the stock market or extreme sports. But risk in software development is prevalent for clients.

3 Benefits of Remote Work (and Why We Chose Co-Location)

Workplace

3 Benefits of Remote Work (and Why We Chose Co-Location)

When an organization is considering remote-first versus co-located teams, it should consider these three benefits of remote work.

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