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TLDR Web Dev <dan@tldrnewsletter.com>

August 15, 11:07 am

TLDR WebDev
JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python are still the most used languages, but Python has become the most desired, with developers increasingly favoring it 

TLDR

 TLDR Web Dev 2024-08-15

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Articles & Tutorials

Sort, sweep, and prune: Collision detection algorithms (13 minute read)

This blog post explores collision detection algorithms in video games. It starts by explaining the naive approach, which involves checking every pair of objects for collisions, and its limitations in terms of performance. It then introduces the concept of sorting objects based on their position to reduce the number of unnecessary checks. By sorting objects and implementing an early break condition, the algorithm becomes more efficient, especially in scenarios where objects are evenly distributed.
Optimizing SPA load times with async chunks preloading (8 minute read)

You can speed up client-side rendered apps by preloading the necessary page chunks before they're needed, avoiding delays caused by lazy loading. By injecting a small script during the build process, you can make sure that route-specific chunks load in parallel with the app's entry point.
Managing Effects (11 minute read)

This article introduces three key rules to manage React side effects properly: keep side effects out of the render process, place side effects triggered by events in event handlers, and use useEffect to handle side effects that synchronize with external systems.
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Opinions & Advice

Developers hate their job, but like to code outside work (12 minute read)

JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python are still the most used languages, but Python has become the most desired, with developers increasingly favoring it over JavaScript. AI tools are rapidly being adopted, with most developers using them to write code, although many are still cautious about relying on AI for testing. Most developers dislike their jobs, but still enjoy the practice of coding.
My chatbot builder is over-engineered, and I love it (10 minute read)

This author, a solo developer, shares his experience building a chatbot builder called Fastmind. He used React for the frontend, Hono for the backend, and Convex for the database. The architecture has separate frontend applications for the chatbot builder, chat widget, and marketing website.
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Launches & Tools

Solution brief: Synthetic Monitoring + APM for a flawless end-user experience and reliable endpoint uptime (Sponsor)

Finding the root cause of an issue gets harder the further down your stack it is. The solution? Use Synthetic Monitoring to run self-healing tests that narrow your focus, and Datadog APM to collect distributed traces of requests across your backend services and databases. See how it works
Rate My OpenAPI (GitHub Repo)

Rate My OpenAPI is a suite of tools designed to help software developers using OpenAPI to design and implement their APIs. It makes sure that the APIs you develop are meeting quality and usability standards.
ObsoHTML (GitHub Repo)

ObsoHTML is a Node.js script that scans HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and TypeScript files in a designated directory to detect outdated or proprietary HTML attributes and elements. It assists in identifying and updating deprecated HTML code to align with modern web standards.
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Miscellaneous

How I won $2,750 using JavaScript, AI, and a can of WD-40 (20 minute read)

This developer won $2,750 in a marketing video contest by using JavaScript, AI tools like ChatGPT and Elevenlabs, and a strategic understanding of the contest's rules. They identified key factors that made the contest winnable, such as the judging criteria favoring video entries and the availability of multiple prizes. The developer then used Playwright to scrape the competition and determine which entries were less likely to win based on quality and type. Finally, they used ChatGPT to generate code for calculating their odds of winning based on the number of entries submitted, leading them to submit eight videos and win seven prizes.
Inside the "3 Billion People" National Public Data Breach (16 minute read)

The complex situation surrounding the "National Public Data" data breach involved the alleged leak of billions of records containing personal information. The breach is difficult to analyze due to the fragmented nature of the leaked data, which has been distributed in various forms and sizes by anonymous actors. This author outlines the different sets of data he has encountered, including social security numbers, email addresses, and other personal information, and explores the challenges of attributing the data back to its source.
The Pitfalls of In-App Browsers (7 minute read)

In-app browsers, embedded within native mobile apps, often lack key features, compromise user privacy, and offer inconsistent UI/UX, leading to a suboptimal browsing experience.
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Quick Links

An approach to optimizing TypeScript type checking performance (18 minute read)

This article presents a method for optimizing TypeScript type checking performance by using a systematic approach of branching, adjusting code, and measuring the impact with benchmarking tools.
YTCH (Website)

YTCH - if YouTube had actual TV channels.
Japanese web design: weird, but it works. Here's why (12 minute video)

Japanese website design often appears cluttered and outdated to some, but it's rooted in unique psychological principles that cater to local user preferences (which is explored in this video).
Epic judge says he'll β€˜tear the barriers down' on Google's app store monopoly (4 minute read)

Judge James Donato ruled that Google will be forced to open its Android app store to rival stores, effectively ending its monopoly, and will issue a final ruling on the specifics in two weeks.

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Thanks for reading,
Priyam Mohanty, Jenny Xu & Ceora Ford


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