SitePen artwork

SitePen

388 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratings

Enterprise Web Apps Done Right

Technology News Tech News javascript developer framework front end node programmer internet web development programming
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

Writing Tests that Work

June 30, 2020 17:18

Your team realizes that testing is valuable. Your team creates tests for already completed features. The result was encouraging and your team even found a few bugs hiding in the application. Your team returns to feature development and attempts to add new tests. Features took more time to complete because of the need to create […] The post Writing Tests that Work appeared first on SitePen.

Why Automated Testing Matters

June 30, 2020 17:07

Your software development team released an MVP application into production. The application only had a few features and the codebase is far from perfect, but there are big plans for the future! Your team presses on, adding features and your user base continues to grow. After a few months, cracks begin to surface. Users started […] The post Why Automated Testing Matters appeared first on SitePen.

Smart Contracts: A Tutorial

June 17, 2020 17:26

Introduction Now that we’ve demystified smart contracts and better understand what they are and how they work, let’s build our own contract on top of the Ethereum blockchain. Because smart contracts are computer programs at their core, many of the concepts that we’ll use to build a basic contract will seem familiar. Major advancements in […] The post Smart Contracts: A Tutorial appeared first on SitePen.

Demystifying Smart Contracts

June 17, 2020 17:25

Smart contracts are often described as a transformative new technology that borders on magic, able to remove third-parties and monetary risk alike from business deals using the power of the blockchain. The autonomous execution and enforcement of an agreement may sound like something out of a Harry Potter novel, but the maturation of blockchain-based programming […] The post Demystifying Smart Contracts appeared first on SitePen.

An Even More Modern Terminal-Based Development Environment

June 15, 2020 12:00

It’s been a year since I last talked about my development environment. Many things remain the same: I’m using neovim, zsh, and tmux. However, I have made a few changes to improve usability and make my day-to-day work feel faster. I’m using a new terminal application, my vim environment has changed dramatically (at least behind […] The post An Even More Modern Terminal-Based Development Environment appeared first on SitePen.

The Importance of Good Software Architecture

June 10, 2020 12:48

What is Software Architecture? Software architecture is the analysis, thought and design considerations that form the foundational scaffolding for a successful software system. If you write software for work or as a hobby, whether you know it or not, you’re already dealing with software architecture and the processes of making architectural decisions within your applications. […] The post The Importance of Good Software Architecture appeared first on SitePen.

Progressively Adopting TypeScript in a Dojo Toolkit Application

June 03, 2020 20:38

TypeScript has become a mainstay of modern web development libraries. Consuming functions and widgets written by a third party can be error-prone without some type of guidance. Introducing static typing to the interfaces doesn’t just reduce misuse, it has added benefits including intelligence code completion. Dojo Toolkit is one of the earliest libraries to facilitate […] The post Progressively Adopting TypeScript in a Dojo Toolkit Application appeared first on SitePen.

A Smooth Transition: Designing for the Development Handoff

June 03, 2020 18:35

In an olympic sprint relay, four runners operate as a team to sprint a total of four hundred meters. In order to compete at a record-setting level, an athlete needs to be capable of running one hundred meters in less than ten seconds. The training and dedication it takes to get to this level of […] The post A Smooth Transition: Designing for the Development Handoff appeared first on SitePen.

Business Analysis: One of the Overlooked Areas of Successful Software Development

June 02, 2020 17:04

“What problem are we trying to solve?” As a career business analyst, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve asked this question. More often than not, stakeholders are ready to discuss solutions before dissecting the problem itself. The result? A half-baked “solution” that may or may not address the key problem, and likely […] The post Business Analysis: One of the Overlooked Areas of Successful Software Development appeared first on SitePen.

Disciplined Engineering – Part 3: Refining Your Engineering Process

May 21, 2020 17:39

This is part 3 of the Disciplined Engineering series.  It is for teams that have an established engineering process with confidence around the quality of their application. This article will help improve your engineering game by identifying the common patterns that will further improve your team’s focus on quality. If you don’t  have an established […] The post Disciplined Engineering – Part 3: Refining Your Engineering Process appeared first on SitePen.

Disciplined Engineering – Part 2: Creating Code Confidence

May 21, 2020 17:39

This is part 2 of the Disciplined Engineering series. It focuses on improving the confidence of the code produced by your team. If you haven’t already, we recommend reading Part 1: Building an Engineering Process as a prerequisite for these practices. You can also check out Part 3: Refining Your Engineering Process. Creating Code Confidence Ensuring the quality […] The post Disciplined Engineering – Part 2: Creating Code Confidence appeared first on SitePen.

Disciplined Engineering – Part 1: Building an Engineering Process

May 21, 2020 17:38

This is part 1 of the Disciplined Engineering series.  It is for teams that want to establish a culture of engineering excellence for their organization. For teams that already have an established process, we recommend reading Part 2: Creating Code Confidence. If you’re looking to further improve upon your process, please check out Part 3: Refining Your […] The post Disciplined Engineering – Part 1: Building an Engineering Process appeared first on SitePen.

Snapshot Testing: Benefits and Drawbacks

May 19, 2020 16:15

Snapshot testing has become very popular for front end-development over the last few years. The term has almost become synonymous with Jest and React, but it can be used to test more than just components. This article provides a brief overview of what snapshot testing is, what it isn’t, and how it might be helpful […] The post Snapshot Testing: Benefits and Drawbacks appeared first on SitePen.

Sensible Improvements in TypeScript 3.9

May 15, 2020 20:18

The recent TypeScript 3.9 release primarily focuses on performance and stability, but it does include some language updates that are worth a closer look. Expansion of uncalled function checks Continuing its quest to save you from yourself, TypeScript 3.9 expands on the uncalled function checks that were introduced in version 3.7. These checks report when […] The post Sensible Improvements in TypeScript 3.9 appeared first on SitePen.

Performance Testing with k6

May 13, 2020 15:35

There’s an old adage in the software industry – premature optimization is the root of all evil. A corollary to this should be – no optimization is just as bad as premature optimization. It is often true that effort spent optimizing a system before features are properly implemented, correct and stable is effort wasted, but […] The post Performance Testing with k6 appeared first on SitePen.

Accessibility Inspectors: A Basic Guide

May 06, 2020 17:10

As accessibility-minded developers working on accessibility-minded teams, we strive to design and build inclusive applications that yield a pleasant experience for all users. However, despite our best efforts we may make mistakes and implement features in a sub-optimal way, or worse, discover that some users cannot use those features at all. Fortunately, in recent years […] The post Accessibility Inspectors: A Basic Guide appeared first on SitePen.

Virtual Reality in 2020

May 05, 2020 18:08

Virtual reality (VR) is one of the most interesting emerging technologies for the web in 2020. Recently at HalfStack Phoenix I shared insights on VR, WebVR, the web, and what makes VR a lasting technology that will change the way we interact with information over the coming decade. To better understand the adoption trajectory of […] The post Virtual Reality in 2020 appeared first on SitePen.

Progressively Adopting TypeScript in an Application

April 30, 2020 14:00

SitePen is a huge advocate for TypeScript and the benefits of having well typed code. TypeScript is especially powerful when used by medium and large teams that want to find ways to increase their overall confidence in their code. One of the questions we get asked often is how can we migrate a codebase that […] The post Progressively Adopting TypeScript in an Application appeared first on SitePen.

TypeScript Cheat Sheet

April 10, 2020 17:30

This cheat sheet is an adjunct to our Definitive TypeScript Guide. Originally published Nov 6, 2018. Last updated on May 29, 2020 for: TypeScript 3.9 Usage Install Run Run with a specific config Triple slash directives Reference built-in types Reference other types AMD Compiler comments Don’t check this file Check this file (JS) Ignore the […] The post TypeScript Cheat Sheet appeared first on SitePen.

The Definitive TypeScript Guide

April 10, 2020 16:30

Originally published Oct 29, 2018. Updated May 29, 2020. This article describes the features and functionality of TypeScript 3.9.  One of the most interesting languages for large-scale application development is Microsoft’s TypeScript. TypeScript is unique in that it is a superset of JavaScript, but with optional types, interfaces, generics, and more. Unlike other compile-to-JavaScript languages, TypeScript […] The post The Definitive TypeScript Guide appeared first on SitePen.

Getting Started with React Native

April 06, 2020 19:49

What is React Native React Native is a JavaScript framework for writing hybrid native mobile applications for both iOS and Android platforms. React Native uses the same JSX and React development approach you would take for developing for the browser, but applications get built as native applications in Objective-C (for iOS) or Java (for Android) […] The post Getting Started with React Native appeared first on SitePen.

Architecture Spotlight: Event Sourcing

April 02, 2020 12:16

Event sourcing is a powerful architectural pattern that records all changes made to an application’s state, in the sequence in which the changes were originally applied. This sequence serves as both the system of record where current state can be sourced from, as well as an audit log of everything that happened within the application […] The post Architecture Spotlight: Event Sourcing appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 55: AST, Uses, and Tooling

March 24, 2020 13:44 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MB

We look at what AST is currently used for and how it already serves at the backbone of many tools you’re familiar with. The post Episode 55: AST, Uses, and Tooling appeared first on SitePen.

New TypeScript Features that Improve the Developer Experience

March 18, 2020 12:24

In many ways TypeScript is more like a powerful linting and documentation tool to author better JavaScript, rather than a separate programming language. One significant benefit of TypeScript is its deliberate support for some of the latest ECMAScript language features. Updating to new versions of TypeScript provides support for new language features but in a […] The post New TypeScript Features that Improve the Developer Experience appeared first on SitePen.

What Makes Intern Different

March 10, 2020 12:13

Intern has always taken a different path in the pursuit of flexible automated web app testing. In the early days, Intern leveraged AMD modules when most other testing frameworks were not modular or only supported CommonJS modules, allowing Intern to support modular code in any environment. Intern was also one of the first tools to […] The post What Makes Intern Different appeared first on SitePen.

Why did we start TSConf?

March 06, 2020 19:34

The ubiquity of JavaScript is undeniable; it’s the universal language of the web — a position that no other languages hold. JavaScript is flexible, able to adapt and grow as the web grows. But that flexibility is often the downfall of JavaScript; without a disciplined team working diligently to keep the codebase maintainable, JavaScript can […] The post Why did we start TSConf? appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 54: Tools We Love

March 06, 2020 14:13 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MB

Inspired by others sharing their favorite software and web development tools, we thought it would be great to get together and compare our notes. The post Episode 54: Tools We Love appeared first on SitePen.

HalfStack Conference – Phoenix, January 2020

March 03, 2020 13:33

HalfStack is a series of tech conferences focused on half of the web development stack – specifically, the part you interface with. It lives up to its claims of being “an authentic, high value experience for attendees and sponsors focused on UI-centric JavaScript and web development.” Friday, January 17, 2020 Alamo Drafthouse, Chandler, Arizona The […] The post HalfStack Conference – Phoenix, January 2020 appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 53: Single Point of Failure

February 18, 2020 18:21 - 53 minutes - 49 MB

We explore why so much responsibility falls onto a single engineer in many software projects. We go on to review a project lifecycle on a healthy team. The post Episode 53: Single Point of Failure appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 52: Holiday Special

December 23, 2019 18:55 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MB

The team covers a range of topics like static site generators, new TypeScript language features, and more! The post Episode 52: Holiday Special appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 51: The Illusion That We Are Writing Javascript

December 06, 2019 21:58 - 43 minutes - 40 MB

We reminisce about a gentler time in which we would have a fun idea, create a new directory, and immediately start coding. The post Episode 51: The Illusion That We Are Writing Javascript appeared first on SitePen.

Exploring the Network Information API

November 18, 2019 14:31

In 2007, we were invited to speak at the Apple WWDC event. At the time we didn’t know why we were invited. We later learned that because there was initially no native SDK, developers were advised to use JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create iPhone apps, and were encouraged to attend our session. Obviously the […] The post Exploring the Network Information API appeared first on SitePen.

How to Pick a Web Mapping Library for your App

November 07, 2019 14:04

With the boom of location-based technologies like mobile location services and the Geolocation API in the browser, we have seen the growth of mapping and location inside of applications. Alongside this we have seen numerous mapping libraries appear for the web, allowing developers to build map based experiences into their apps. These libraries abstract away […] The post How to Pick a Web Mapping Library for your App appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 50: Classical vs. Functional in TypeScript

October 15, 2019 20:11 - 46 minutes - 43 MB

Our main topic this week revolves around the tradeoffs within the two of the biggest patterns in modern programming — classical and functional. The post Episode 50: Classical vs. Functional in TypeScript appeared first on SitePen.

JSConf US 2019: Pushing JavaScript Beyond the Browser

September 30, 2019 16:21

As a first-time JSConf attendee, I happily embraced the welcoming culture and fun atmosphere – surfing, anyone? But I was even more impacted by the presentations centered around JavaScript expanding beyond the browser, using JavaScript to help others, and the focus on community. Of course I’m an avid JavaScript engineer and believer (why else would […] The post JSConf US 2019: Pushing JavaScript Beyond the Browser appeared first on SitePen.

Next Generation Virtual Scrolling

September 25, 2019 12:55

Rendering large data sets in the browser while optimizing for performance and accessibility is a complex problem. The current approach to handling long lists of data is using an infinite scroll pattern to incrementally load and render data just before the data enters the view. This approach comes with trade-offs that we will look at […] The post Next Generation Virtual Scrolling appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 49: Beyond JavaScript – Time Zones, Gesture Recognition

September 24, 2019 19:02 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MB

Our final episode from JSConf US features interviews with Daniel Cousineau and Charlie Gerard around the theme of using JavaScript beyond the typical web site. The post Episode 49: Beyond JavaScript – Time Zones, Gesture Recognition appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 48: Growth – Imposter Syndrome, Helping JavaScript Newcomers

September 20, 2019 16:38 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MB

The fifth episode of our 6-part series from JSConf US 2019 features interviews with David Whittaker and Suzie Grange around the theme of growth. The post Episode 48: Growth – Imposter Syndrome, Helping JavaScript Newcomers appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 47: Backends – SMS Browser, Streaming Audio & Game Engine

September 19, 2019 19:25 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MB

In the fourth episode of our 6-part series recorded at JSConf US 2019, the team interviews Alexandra Sunderland, Sara Fecadu, and Florian Rival around the theme of backend services. The post Episode 47: Backends – SMS Browser, Streaming Audio & Game Engine appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 46: Access – Libraries, Braille

September 18, 2019 17:44 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MB

In the third episode of our 6-part series recorded at JSConf US 2019, the team chats with Patricia Realini and Theodore Vorillas around the theme of access. The post Episode 46: Access – Libraries, Braille appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 45: Declaration – CSS, Music, Components

September 17, 2019 18:07 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MB

Our second episode in the 6-part series from JSConf US 2019 features interviews with Lara Schenck, Adam Giese, and Luke Herrington around the theme of declarative code. The post Episode 45: Declaration – CSS, Music, Components appeared first on SitePen.

Getting Started with Electron, Typescript, React and Webpack

September 17, 2019 12:55

If you need to build a desktop application today, Electron is an increasingly common choice. It is cross-platform and is built using the same web technologies that you probably already know. We’re long-time users of Electron at SitePen, and have previously talked about Setting up Electron with Dojo. Here we will explore an opinionated approach […] The post Getting Started with Electron, Typescript, React and Webpack appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 44: Community – Open Source, Call for Proposals

September 16, 2019 16:47 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MB

In the first episode of our 6-part series from JSConf US 2019, we talk with Tierney Cyren and Peter Aitken around the theme of community. The post Episode 44: Community – Open Source, Call for Proposals appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 43: Fun with Art

August 30, 2019 11:58 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MB

Our final episode from NEJS features interviews with Adrienne Tacke and Trent Willis around the theme of using art to personalize and elevate our experiences. The post Episode 43: Fun with Art appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 42: Rethinking Deployment

August 29, 2019 12:30 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MB

Listen in as the team talks with Phil Hawksworth, Fred Schott, and Jeremy Wagner around the theme of rethinking how we build and deploy web applications. The post Episode 42: Rethinking Deployment appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 41: Giving Voice

August 28, 2019 13:27 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MB

In this episode, we welcome Ash Banaszek and Tatiana Mac to discuss the importance of using our voice. The post Episode 41: Giving Voice appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 40: Beyond JavaScript

August 27, 2019 12:56 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MB

This episode features interviews with Kas Perch, Luke Bonaccorsi, and Sebastian Golasch around the theme of using JavaScript beyond the typical website. The post Episode 40: Beyond JavaScript appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 39: WASM: Doing More Than Just Heating up your Computer

August 21, 2019 14:03 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MB

The team discusses all things WebAssembly, starting with an introduction to what WASM is, it's history, and why it's useful over other technologies and plugins that have come before. The post Episode 39: WASM: Doing More Than Just Heating up your Computer appeared first on SitePen.

Episode 38: #private vs private: Adding ES private to TypeScript

August 07, 2019 18:22 - 1 hour - 57.7 MB

This week we'll be talking about the ECMAScript #private field proposal and how its implementation affects TypeScript—which already has a type of private field that uses the private keyword. The post Episode 38: #private vs private: Adding ES private to TypeScript appeared first on SitePen.

Using Progressive Enhancement to Design for Accessibility

August 05, 2019 14:44

The web is for everyone. That includes web apps built on web architecture. If you haven’t heard the word “accessibility” mentioned in the last couple of years, you may have been living under a rock. Building accessible, inclusive web apps that support users with disabilities is becoming standard protocol. Have you updated Slack lately? Those […] The post Using Progressive Enhancement to Design for Accessibility appeared first on SitePen.

Guests

Justin Searls
1 Episode
Paul Campbell
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@pottedmeat 6 Episodes
@nicknisi 6 Episodes
@itorrey 5 Episodes
@developerpaul 4 Episodes
@carson_howard 1 Episode
@_matt 1 Episode
@codingchaos 1 Episode
@agubler_ 1 Episode