HTML All The Things - Web Development, Web Design, Small Business
320 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 18 ratingsThe adventures of Matt Lawrence and Mike Karan through the world of web development, web design, and small business management. As web development agency owners for the better part of a decade, they’ve worked with all sorts of technologies, through the rise of responsive web design, the revolution of serverless computing, and the popularity gain of many no-code tools for small business owners. They commonly discuss foundational web development technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript - including popular frameworks and tools such as Tailwind CSS, Svelte, WordPress, Vue, and more.
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Episodes
Celebrating 300 Episodes: What’s Next for HTML All The Things?
April 15, 2024 20:29 - 41 minutes - 48.9 MBToday we celebrate this past week's milestone of 300 released episodes. Now we know that this number is a bit wishy-washy because we have some "side episodes" like Tidbits and Web News...and it doesn't help that we changed how we number our episodes in the feed at some point down the line. But despite all that, we're considering the episode that released just this past Tuesday as of recording this, as episode 300! In this special edition episode, we won't be talking so much about web develo...
Make a Project, Get a Job w/ Puru
April 11, 2024 06:13 - 43 minutes - 41.6 MBThis week we had the pleasure of sitting down with the creator of MacOS Web, Puru Vijay to discuss how creating projects can help land you a job in the web development field. MacOS Web has come up in Puru's job interviews and has helped him build a connection with the development community, including those that are hiring. He is also passionate about contributing to open source projects and ensuring that navbars at the bottom of smartphones have left-handed and right-handed detection. Matt a...
Should Junior Developers Use ChatGPT to Help Them Write Code?
April 09, 2024 06:05 - 1 hour - 77.3 MBAI is a hot topic these days with LLMs dominating much of the tech talk we see online. In the web development scene, chatbots like ChatGPT and Copilot are able to develop and debug code through simple conversational prompts that don't require complex developer-level knowledge. This simplicity has brought with it a lot of discussion and debate about AI's role in the development space. Will it replace all developer jobs? Is it simply another tool to increase a developer's productivity? Should ...
Beware of Vendor Lock-In
April 02, 2024 06:00 - 59 minutes - 63 MBVendor lock-in in web development refers to a situation where a company becomes overly reliant on a single vendor's products or services, making it difficult and costly to switch to another provider. This can lead to several issues, such as reduced flexibility, high switching costs, and a lack of interoperability with other systems. This might mean that a business is using a specific technology stack or platform that does not easily allow for migration to other systems, potentially leading t...
Free Tiers Are Dangerous
March 26, 2024 06:00 - 1 hour - 85.9 MBFree tiers are no stranger to web developers as many look to them to get them started on a new tool, try out hosting, or help with some basic design work. The problem is that free tiers are sometimes downgraded, or even completely removed from existence if a service decides that they're more trouble than they're worth. For those relying on free tiers to do their work, this can spell disaster and even cause some businesses to shut down. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the dangers of ...
CSS: Styling the Web & Learning Through Content w/ Kevin Powell
March 21, 2024 06:00 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBKevin Powell, known to many as the King of CSS, joins Matt in this packed episode to discuss the current status of CSS, how to tailor your content absorption for learning, and more. The duo discussed whether or not popular CSS toolkits (ie SASS, TailwindCSS) outweigh the need to learn vanilla CSS. They also discussed whether naming conventions like BEM are still relevant since most web developers use frameworks that have localized CSS per component. And that's just getting started, the guys ...
WordPress Is a No-Code Tool That Requires Coding
March 19, 2024 06:00 - 1 hour - 77.6 MBWordPress is a very popular tool for making websites that can be easily extended to get the job done. While the original focus of WordPress was blogs, over time other websites started being created with it through the use of plugins like WooCommerce (eCommerce sites), ACF (dynamic data-driven sites), and Elementor (sites that can be built visually). This versatility fuels WordPress' continued popularity, but also brews a community that believes it's a bloated and dated tool. Having recently ...
Technical Interviews Exposed w/ Kyle TechSquidTV
March 14, 2024 06:00 - 1 hour - 79.8 MBWith the tech job market seemingly exploding with layoffs recently, nailing your technical interviews is possibly more important than ever. With that said, there are a lot of opinions out there on how much prep you should be doing and whether you should be applying everywhere, or just to a few select places so you can focus your studies. This week we had that pleasure of speaking with Kyle from TechSquidTV to discuss all things technical interviews. We also discussed what to do after you've ...
Junior Developer vs Senior Developer
March 12, 2024 06:00 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBProgressing through your web development career is unique depending on the companies you decide to work for, but there are some common positions that companies will use to help guide their promotion process. These positions include junior developer, developer (intermediate), senior developer, tech lead, and staff engineer. Each one of these positions will have a unique flare depending on who's setting up the teams but in general as you climb the ladder through them you'll collect more cash, ...
Work-Life Balance for Web Developers in 2024
March 05, 2024 09:06 - 1 hour - 93.5 MBWork-life balance is an important topic to talk about in the tech field, especially in 2024 with the recent layoffs and overall industry downturn. It can be easy to sacrifice some personal time to log extra hours at the office in an attempt to give yourself some job security or impress your boss. The problem is that this can be a slippery slope that leads you to work all the time for no additional pay and if your company restructures, or has problems keeping up revenues, you may still get a ...
Top 5 Insider Web Developer Agency Tips
February 27, 2024 08:17 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBRunning a web development agency isn't easy from both the technical and customer service side of things. Luckily, Matt and Mike have been running their web development agency for 7+ years, making plenty of mistakes, and claiming even more successes over the years. In this episode, they lay out the top 5 tips insider tips that have helped them maintain a successful business for all these years including: presenting technical solutions to non-technical customers, avoiding scope creep, pushing ...
Francesco’s Unique Developer Journey
February 22, 2024 07:00 - 1 hour - 54 MBAlmost everyone has a unique story on how they joined the field in which they eventually made a career, but many aren't as unique as Francesco Ciulla's. His development journey has lead him to work with the European Space Agency as a full-stack developer, developer relations at Daily.dev, become a Docker Captain, and most recently create a massive YouTube following in just a few short weeks. This week Matt and Mike had the pleasure of sitting down and discussing Francesco's unique developer ...
Web Development Is a Mess: Do We Need Frameworks? Is There Too Much to Learn?
February 20, 2024 07:00 - 58 minutes - 68.6 MBWeb development, often hailed for its versatility, empowers us to create websites, progressive web apps (PWAs), mobile applications, and robust web-based tools. However, beneath the surface lies a complex landscape far from utopian. To make web development sustainable without the need for networking engineers, IT managers, and server admins - tools that go beyond the vanilla platform (HTML, CSS, JS) have become staples of the industry (NodeJS, Svelte/Kit, Angular, etc.). These tools provide ...
How to Land a Web Development Job w/ James Quick
February 15, 2024 07:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBLearn how to land a web development job with this week's guest, James Quick. James is a content creator that focuses on teaching web developers through his YouTube channel and podcast. Our discussion this week focused on landing and keeping a web developer role with our conversation focusing on what you should do before landing the job, immediately after getting into your role, and how to keep your career going into the future. First off, our conversation on what to do before getting a devel...
CSS Browser Support: When Can I Use This?
February 13, 2024 07:00 - 44 minutes - 51.1 MBBack in the days of Internet Explorer web developers struggled with keeping their websites compatible across various versions. This problem exemplified as more modern browsers like Firefox and Chrome were added to the mix, forcing many web devs to create websites that could utilize modern features and fall back onto old ones for users still on IE. Today, these problems are largely solved, but not entirely. There is still some feature disparity between Edge, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox...and ...
Make React Faster Using Million 3 (Million.js) w/ Aiden & Tobiloba
February 08, 2024 07:00 - 28 minutes - 28.6 MBReact is a powerful tool that empowers web developers to create reactive websites and web apps. Unfortunately, sometimes projects built with React can struggle to reach their maximum performance potential. To solve this, Million 3 (million.js) steps in to help make your React project up to 70% faster. Million boasts a simple setup using an easy-to-use installer so that you don't need to spend hours installing and troubleshooting. In this interview episode, Matt and Mike discussed Million.js ...
Working with Junior Developers: Teaching, Training, and Mentoring
February 06, 2024 07:00 - 49 minutes - 56.3 MBWhen a junior developer is assigned to your team, it's easy to give them the "new guy" treatment. You might give them jobs you don't like to do or play some sort of harmless prank on them, but take it a step further and you're in danger of becoming a toxic workplace. Handing over jobs that are simply too difficult for a junior developer and ridiculing them when they inevitably fail is one large example of how a team joke can take a dark turn, forming a habit of treating junior developers poo...
The Hidden Costs of Web Development
January 30, 2024 21:32 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBSubscription fees are any household budget's worst nightmare, but they're not limited to just your favorite TV subscriptions. Web developers are also constantly bombarded by subscription fees for everything from development tools, analytics software, and WordPress plugins. Perpetual licenses (one-time fees) are almost a thing of the past and so everything you reach for at the paid tier ends up becoming a recurring cost that you'll need to make the most of to maximize value. Not only can thes...
More Tech Layoffs, HTMX is Real, Friends with Ideas
January 24, 2024 07:00 - 58 minutes - 60.9 MBThree web development topics grace this episode's contents as Matt and Mike discussed the seemingly never ending tech layoffs that keep making headlines. The guys also discussed HTMX, a lightweight UI library that has taken off in popularity recently to the pleasure of some and dismay of others - is HTMX the "Tailwind CSS" of backend technology? Finally the guys discussed how to handle your family and friends approaching you with their ideas and wanting you to work on them. We've all been th...
Building Your Web Developer Portfolio, Choosing Your Path as a Developer, and Making an Impact with Your Career
January 17, 2024 07:00 - 1 hour - 92.3 MBThis week we revive an old episode format where Matt writes the show notes and interviews Mike without him knowing any of the questions or topics before recording. In this "blind episode" Matt and Mike explore building out your web developer portfolio versus a personal website that covers both your personal and professional life. The guys also discussed choosing your developer career path if you were starting out in 2024, what kind of project they would create if money were no object, and ph...
Essential Gear Guide for Web Developers in 2024
January 10, 2024 07:00 - 2 hours - 145 MBIt's a new year, maybe it's time for some new gear? If you're a web developer just getting started this year, or looking to maximize your productivity with the latest gadgets, this week's episode has got you covered. We broke up our gear selections into three budgets including minimum, moderate, and max. Matt and Mike discussed gear ranging from budget refurbished laptops that can help you get started on your web development journey, to fancy sets that can accommodate not only web developmen...
Is JavaScript Enough?
January 03, 2024 07:00 - 47 minutes - 58.3 MBWe've all heard of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript - the latter being used in both frontend and backend technologies. Despite the utility and versatility of JavaScript, other languages still exist and thrive off of large fanbases such as PHP and Python. Why is this? Isn't JavaScript enough? In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed programming languages that you might find useful as a web developer (or other developer for that matter) other than JavaScript. The duo covered the pros and cons of each...
Get Started in Web Development for Free
December 27, 2023 07:00 - 44 minutes - 53.6 MBLearn web development for free with learning resources from all over the web including courses, YouTube channels, and written guides. The holidays are in full swing with many people spending their newfound free time trying their hand at learning web development for the first time. Some are even planning to learn coding as their new year's resolution so they can try their hand at a new career. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed a collection of free learning resources so that you can s...
AI Prompts for Success as a Web Developer
December 20, 2023 07:00 - 1 hour - 79.8 MBAI tools have taken off over the past year touching almost every aspect of the internet, and web development is no exception. Chatbots like ChatGPT and Copilot (Bing Chat) can be used to help write code, troubleshoot, and learn web development in a way that is much more interactive than a traditional Google search. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed how they use these AI tools in both their learnings and production work. The duo covered how to approach these new AI chatbots as they're ...
You’re Learning Web Development the Wrong Way
December 13, 2023 22:04 - 1 hour - 91.4 MBThere are a lot of courses and guides out there to help you start learning web development. Despite this abundance, it's unfortunately very easy to fall into a common learning pitfall, such as following a tutorial that's out-of-date, or taking a course that glosses over important parts of the process. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed commonly learning pitfalls and how to avoid them. They also discussed how to go beyond courses to ensure you're learning as much as you can before landi...
Make Web Development Easy, Avoid Needless Complexities
December 06, 2023 07:00 - 1 hour - 82.3 MBWeb developers have a lot of tools to build websites with, but this vast selection opens the door for needless complexities. Needless complexities weigh projects down and can make troubleshooting problems a nightmare. Unforeseen issues arising from tangled webs of WordPress plugins, third-party services updating their endpoints unexpectedly, and installed-yet-forgotten features have taken down more websites than we can count. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed how and why you should av...
Learn To Use AI To Become A Better Web Developer
November 29, 2023 10:02 - 1 hour - 89.4 MBAI has been taking the tech world by storm for the past year or so as new chatbots and tools are created seemingly every day. These tools can help revolutionize the every day workflow for a web developer and Mike has been embracing these changes with open arms. In this episode Matt and Mike discussed this "AI revolution" and how Mike uses these new tools to compliment and enhance his every day tasks on the job. The guys also discussed the massive shake up that OpenAI had with their CEO Sam A...
Are We Expecting Too Much From Our Web Developers?
November 22, 2023 09:43 - 1 hour - 79.9 MBAre web developers required to do too much? Websites and web apps are getting more complex as some startups rely on web developers to deliver critical company infrastructure, marketing sites, and ecommerce stores. The problem with all these responsibilities is that the knowledge base for web developers has grown exponentially over the past decade, making it a struggle to keep up for existing developers and increasingly difficult for aspiring devs to break into the field. In this episode, Mat...
Are Websites Eternal? The Longevity of a Website
November 15, 2023 07:00 - 53 minutes - 65.3 MBWhen you deploy a website how long do you think it'll last before it needs some maintenance, or a design refresh? Will it keep running as long as the hosting bill is paid? This week, Matt and Mike discussed the longevity of a website and whether or not its realistic to assume that they'll run forever - eternally, if you will. Even though they're pieces of software, websites are susceptible to problems that require maintenance, and some websites need regular preventative maintenance to keep t...
Why Improving Your Focus Will make You A Better Web Developer
November 08, 2023 07:00 - 59 minutes - 71.7 MBOut of all the developer productivity tips, enhancing your focus is probably the most important because it can increase your work output, helps keeps you motivated, and can improve your quality of code. In this episode Matt and Mike discussed why focus and concentration is so important to developers and what you can do to help improve it through practice and habit forming. Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcasts/why-improving-your-focus-will-make-you-a-better-web-developer Sc...
3 Web Development Projects | Full-Stack Struggles #3
November 01, 2023 06:00 - 50 minutes - 62.9 MBLearning web development is difficult, even if you're already familiar with it and just looking to update your skills. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss Matt's continued learning journey as he works towards understanding modern full-stack development through Svelte and SvelteKit. This time, Matt has taken a step back from his original project, a passive income tracker, and instead decided to change his approach. Instead of learning full-stack development, struggling through creating and...
Git in School, Good Code Reviews, Is PHP Back?
October 25, 2023 07:42 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBIn this episode, Matt and Mike discussed a collection of web development topics including git in school, what makes a good code review, and the return of PHP. Git for version control is a major part of most web developers' toolkits although there seems to be a lack of git training in schools, the place where learning git basics could help future graduates' resumes look a bit more favorable. Code reviews are commonplace in web development teams, but they're not all cut from the same cloth - w...
Should Junior Developers Work for Free to Get Experience?
October 18, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBYou can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job - a classic problem for many beginners across several industries. This problem also plagues web developers as junior devs are left handing out hundreds of applications sometimes failing to get an interview let alone a job. For some, the opportunity to work for free will come up as a low barrier to entry to get some experience, but this move is controversial. Not only are you missing out on money, but you're als...
What I’d Expect From a Junior Developer
October 11, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 82 MBWhen you take your first job as a junior developer you may be nervous about what type of tasks you'll be assigned and the expected quality level of your deliverables. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed some of the types of tasks that you may be assigned as a junior developer. They walk through how and what a manager may ask you to do, and how much detail you're likely to receive before getting started. These tasks range from simple tests of your UI layout skills, through your ability t...
The Cost of Bad Documentation and How to Fix It
October 04, 2023 06:00 - 45 minutes - 54.1 MBDocumentation helps web developers navigate CSS frameworks, WordPress plugins, and helpful npm packages. Without it, we're left doing trial-and-error for hours, or left to community support from potentially dated forums. When documentation is bad, it can cost the documentation owner customers and trust from the community, but when it's good, it can save developers time and drive trust in the product. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the price of bad documentation and what makes docum...
Sneak Peek at Svelte 5 | Learn to Embrace Change
September 27, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 84.9 MBSvelte 5 is coming and with it the addition of Svelte 5 Runes, a replacement for the let, =, export, and $: that we use in Svelte today. Runes replaces this old syntax with function syntax to achieve the same old things and more. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss a brief history of Svelte before diving into what was shown off so far about Svelte 5 Runes. The duo then discuss the learning experience for those studying Svelte 4 and whether they should stop and wait for Svelte 5. This lead...
SEO for Small Businesses
September 20, 2023 06:49 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBSEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how websites prepare and portray themselves to search engines like Google and Bing. The goal of SEO is to generate as much traffic (ideally organic traffic) as possible from the right people - namely prospective customers. The problem with SEO is that many industries and specific keywords are very competitive and require a lot of effort by someone that knows what the search engines want. In order for them to operate effectively they'll need to work with a ...
Web Development Pitfalls: The Dangers of DIY Auth
September 13, 2023 06:00 - 59 minutes - 70.3 MBAuthentication is a critical part of modern websites and web apps. Everything from ecommerce stores through membership sites will almost always have some form of authentication for their users. As a web developer, creating an authentication system can seem daunting because of the security that's involved in storing people's passwords and sensitive account data. It's difficult to keep up with all the security threats out there when you're juggling a DIY authentication system, maintenance, and...
How to Choose the Right Stack for Your Clients
September 06, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 61.7 MBIt can be difficult to choose the right tech stack for your website or web app because there are so many to choose from. There are more traditional stacks like LAMP, MERN, and MEAN...as well as new serverless stacks that use Vercel/Netlify, Next.js, and Planetscale (MySQL). Furthermore, if you're working for a client in an agency or freelance, a single tech stack might not cut it. It's not uncommon for a client to bring you in to work on their website, setup their newsletter, and code up a n...
Project Planning for Web Developers
August 30, 2023 06:00 - 50 minutes - 63.9 MBProject planning sounds like it's the job of a project manager, but the truth is that a web developer interacts with so many parts of an online project that project management skills are crucial. When working as a freelancer, or for a small business, there might not even be a project manager on staff, leaving the web developer to manage their own team, time, and communications. Sprints/scrum and agile seem to dominate the project management space and have helped a lot of teams be successful,...
Do Web Developers Need Side Hustles?
August 23, 2023 06:00 - 58 minutes - 71 MBSide hustles are a popular choice when looking to make additional money on top of your primary income. There are seemingly countless ways to make a little money on the side and many of them are done online. With that said, web developers, whose job it is to create online experiences, should arguably have an upper hand in this space with their technical knowhow and exposure to online marketing. This week, Matt and Mike discussed whether a web developer should start a side hustle. They covered...
Why Is the Web Developer Job Market So Tough Right Now?
August 16, 2023 06:00 - 41 minutes - 51.2 MBFinding a job as a web developer is difficult right now. We're hot off the heels of the crazy hiring spree during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now companies are tightening their belts. We see tech companies constantly laying people off, and we've been hearing about a recession for the past year or so. The good news is that finding a job as a web developer isn't impossible, as there are still a lot of companies looking for web developers. Many of these companies are outside tech, however, inste...
What Type of Hosting Should You Use? (Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Reseller, WordPress, NodeJS)
August 09, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 128 MBChoosing the right web host is crucial for your project's success. Web hosting should be seen as the foundation in which your website or web app is built upon. It doesn't matter if you make your app with this framework, that plugin, or have the best content in the business - if the hosting goes down, your project goes down. The problem here is that as a web developer and especially a junior developer, you've spent the majority of your time building and learning on your local machine. Hosting...
Succeeding in Your First Week as a Junior Developer
August 02, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 78.3 MBYour first week as a junior developer can be nerve wracking and anxiety inducing. Not only are you meeting a team of new people, but you're starting a new job as a newbie to coding. This week Matt and Mike discuss how to make the most of your first week of the job, making a great first impression on your team members, and hopefully letting you absorb as much knowledge as you can. By handling social situations with grace, asking valuable questions, and being honest about your capabilities; yo...
How a Hackathon Changed Their Lives w/ Paolo and Antonio
July 26, 2023 06:00 - 55 minutes - 60.5 MBWeb development hackathons can be a fun way to do some friendly competitive programming. The result is often a few great portfolio pieces for those involved and a cool prize for those that come out on top. For Paolo Ricciut and Antonio Sarcevic they not only won the Best Ecosystem Integration award at the SvelteHack Hackathon, but they created a project that could help push the Svelte/Kit industry forward with the creation of SvelteLab. SvelteLab is an in-browser code editor that quickly set...
JavaScript Basics: Learn These Concepts First
July 19, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 61.5 MBLearning JavaScript from scratch can be as much about syntax as it is programming concepts, especially when it's your first language. Concepts like knowing how and why you need a place to store bits of data (variables), re-using code snippets instead of writing them repeatedly (functions), making decisions (conditional statements), and working with collections of data (arrays and looping) are all second nature to experienced developers. These concepts are the foundational building blocks tha...
Failure Will Make You a Better JavaScript Developer
July 12, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 85.8 MBFailure is a hard pill to swallow, but it's failure that allows us to grow as developers. When you're learning a language like JavaScript, there are a lot of concepts to take in, and even more ways to accomplish the same task. Sometimes, you'll choose a method that works...only to find out later that it's the "wrong" way to do it because of security, or efficiency. When that happens, many JavaScript developers will take the failure hard and let imposter syndrome take hold. In reality, these ...
Next.js App vs Pages Router
July 05, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 75.6 MBNext.js is a popular React framework that recently made some controversial changes with its 13.4 update. App router was moved to stable in this release bringing React server components, nested routers & layouts, simplified data fetching, streaming & suspense, and built-in SEO support. Unfortunately, some web developers are not excited for this release, with a few questioning if these changes align with what React initially aimed to solve. In this episode, Matt and Mike discussed the Next.js ...
Can You Learn JavaScript Through ONLY Project-Based Learning?
June 28, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 80.4 MBHTML, CSS, and JavaScript are foundational web development technologies that Matt and Mike recommend web developers learn before trying out a framework (ie React, Svelte). Out of these three pillars, JavaScript is the most difficult to learn, especially for people that have never been exposed to programming before. Learning how to think and solve problems like a computer (programmatic logic) coupled with writing and understanding a brand-new syntax is no easy feat. These difficulties have sp...
How SvelteKit Makes Full-Stack Easy
June 21, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 78.6 MBFull-stack development is one of the most difficult web development positions as it covers both the frontend and backend of a website. The frontend is responsible for the user interface, including any logic that powers that interface (ie animations, show/hide elements). The backend is responsible for features working from a server, typically handling security-heavy functions (ie credit card usage), and data manipulation (ie saving your profile changes). Luckily the combination of Svelte on t...