Functional Primer, Part 1 – What Is Functional Programming?

Functional programming is a universally-applicable programming paradigm that yields clear code with evident effects, that is easier to debug and maintain. This functional approach has become popular in the software world, and I wanted to do my best to provide a thorough introduction. Here’s what you can expect: Fundamental functional programming concepts and basic examples […]

CircleCI – Running Parallel iOS Test Jobs with Workflows

With the release of CircleCI 2.0, a new feature called Workflows is now included with the platform. Workflows allow you to specify how each of your individual jobs are related and define criteria about which jobs should be executed, and when. Workflows also have the ability to share data between jobs using a shared workspace. […]

Taking Advantage of the (Few) Good Parts of CSS

My attitude toward CSS used to be that it is simply unmaintainable. If in the course of development, you think things like: These styles are already a mess, so I can’t make it any worse. I can’t figure out why this is getting overridden, so I’ll just use !important. It seems like these styles are […]

Taming Your Java Environment

You may not be concerned with what version of Java or Node you are using to run your JavaScript on a regular basis. However, setting up a CI build that can run successfully and repeatedly over the years is a pretty crucial endeavor. Here are a few pointers to set up Java and Node properly […]

Loading States in React Components Using TypeScript’s Discriminated Unions

Many web applications need to load data from servers that will be shown to users. It’s important for the UI to handle loading states while the requests are in-flight. Let’s say, for example, that we have a page that will load a user’s profile. We want to be able to show a loading message, then […]

Five Ways to Spice Up Your Bash Command Prompt

On my first day or two at work, the developer I was pairing with sent me their Bash profile, which I copied, pasted, and forgot. Whenever I cracked open my Bash profile to add a Git alias or two, I would look at the line that describes my Bash command prompt and wince in terror. […]

Seamless Integration of Android’s Soft Keyboard

Recently, I was working on a feature for an application where the user would interact with Android’s soft keyboard. I found working with this keyboard to be more confusing than I would have expected for such a ubiquitous feature. Baked into most Android smartphones, it is highly customizable, but at the cost of making some […]

Increase Your iOS App Ratings with the askForReview Function

The best way to increase your iOS App Store rating is to get more people to rate your app. It is a fact of human nature that the only people who go out of their way to write a review or a rating are the ones who are not pleased with your app. If you […]

Rendering Legacy Pages inside of a React Component

Recently, I needed to implement an unusual feature for a React front end: a reusable component that displays server-rendered pages from a legacy version of the same app. If you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, I hope this guide will make life easy for you!

Ergonomic TypeScript Generics with Higher-Order Functions

Much of TypeScript’s flexibility comes from its support for generics. They’re great for building up reusable abstractions so that you can share the “how” across your codebase even as the “what” varies significantly. In this post, I’ll describe a limitation that recently got in my way, and how I worked around it.

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