thinkxl

There are ways where you don't have to maintain 2 code bases. For example with react, when doing SSR, you can import your components from the client and use them in the server, allowing you to keep minimal functionality (links, text, images, etc.) when the JavaScript is off.

There is one function on the server that you need to use to render any component you imported.

It's funny how devs feel threatened by a non-JS trend. Even when their favorite frameworks are providing tools to accomplish minimal functionality when JavaScript is off.

Server side rendering has been a big priority in React, Vue, Redux, ReactRouter, etc.

> For the same reason we build features in websites that work for blind people (aria tags everywhere), disabled people (accessible buttons), people who speak different languages (i18n), VIM users (GMail keyboard shortcuts), etc.

From a comment below.

the list of sites on https://hnpwa.com/ vs this https://news.ycombinator.com/

These:

- Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja by John Resig (my favorite)

- Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke

Also, there is a trend to shame old technology, or better said, to shame devs that use jQuery, Backbone, or similar.

> "Oh, why are you using Backbone? That's an old and obsolete technology. You should learn React/Vue/Elm."

(Vue is easy to learn for new devs, though)

The dev is not familiar with functional programming or other paradigms that React suggests or requires you to know. He may be in a early learning process where Backbone/jQuery makes it easier for him to start on building webapps.

You shouldn't if you are happy with Disqus. Isso is an open source, self hosted alternative.

I wrote about my pivoting story in here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13532415

tl;dr: was 28 sales manager in Mexico, no English. Today I'm 33, frontend lead developer in US.

Sorry for the link, I don't want to write everything in here again.

I see people everywhere complaining about how frontend development is moving too fast, and stories like mrits.

In 2011 I was sales manager in Mexico, doing WordPress sites for free on the side just for fun. In 2012 I migrated to the US with my family (legally). Then I worked in maintenance for 6 months until they fired me because I couldn't talk English.

After that I decided to try to live from building websites. I started to learn JavaScript and CSS, because already knew some HTML.

So I landed some clients as freelancer doing fixes on old sites, updating WordPress. When I landed my first WordPress site from scratch I didn't know how to do it, so I bought a book on the topic and used the gig as practice while reading the book.

I was able to maintain my family doing responsive WordPress sites. Then I started to get issues with all the grid frameworks and stuff, it was too complicated to make a simple website responsive.

So I started to do what everyone tells you not to do: "don't reinvent the wheel". I got myself to build my own grid, I did it, and I still use it Today. The process was painful because I didn't knew any real CSS so forced myself to learn it, when I got it done I was very confident I could do any layout in CSS.

One freelance gig I got was a SEO tool to count the amount of words, paragraphs, syllables, etc. of a given text, it was really exiting, because I knew I had to learn JavaScript to do it. At that time Backbone was really complicated for me, so I did it but really mostly copy/pasting stuff, I was happy with the result but not with the methodology. One thing I really learned from this project, is how to setup my development environment with Grunt.

So at this point I knew enough CSS and how to setup task runners.

From 2013 to 2015 I did only freelance work, then I got a full-time job at a small advertising agency, doing WordPress sites.

I was able to get my paycheck doing stuff that wasn't complicated for me, get a PSD, make it a responsive WordPress site (with the grid I did) and done. So I was able to learn JavaScript on my free time, so I did what worked for me in CSS again, go a reinvent the wheel.

I did my own "Backbone"-like framework, and was able to learn about Object-oriented programming and how to do it in JavaScript using prototype inheritance. Then I found out about React, and started using it too, learned about functional programming, pure functions, immutable data, declarative syntax.

At this point I was using Gulp, Sass, Babel, NPM, learned how to use the command line too, Vim, Tmux, was using Linux as my primary OS, and other very cool tools.

So in 2016 I landed an interview for a company where the job title was frontend developer, so for me was like no more "make my logo bigger" website clients. I got the job, Today I do only JavaScript using React/Redux/React-Router, I learned Vue.js on the side and learned Python too, so now I can do my own backend using Bottle/Flask on my freetime, learned about MongoDB, Postres, SQLite.

And these days I'm building my own virtual dom implementation to understand better how it works. And yes, a new JavaScript framework gets released everyday, and yet I try to use as many as I can, spend a couple hours building a todo app, reading the source code to see what I can learn from it, etc.

Right now I'm loving preact, and couple days ago found out https://github.com/hyperapp/hyperapp which is really cool.

The point of my boring story is:

- frontend development moves fast, get with it. Don't expect to learn something and keep using the same shit for ever.

- learn JavaScript, not frameworks. If you understand the language you are going to be able to understand any framework better

- if you want to learn, reinvent the wheel

- avoid the hype

- if you are freelance and need to make a simple app and you are comfortable with jQuery, go fucking do it in jQuery and don't mind about the new cool stuff yet.

- Backbone, Angular, Ember, React, Vue, or Preact? Whatever, when I open the source code of a project built on any of those frameworks I only see JavaScript patterns, that's it.

If you get a job and they are using something you don't like or something you don't know, read the documentation, learn the basic idioms and try it. Again, at the end, it's just JavaScript.

I mean, I was 29 when I started my journey, no English, no CSS, no JavaScript, no knowledge about software development good practices. Now I'm 33 and very happy with my job as frontend lead developer.

##frontend on freenode, we are off-topic almost all the time.

Never.

I have deleted most of my gmails, now I only have one because is the main email where I have a lot of accounts signed up that I don't remember, when I get an email from those services I change my email immediately.

Now I use http://posteo.de as my main email, any new contact or new service I use this email. The only con is that I can't use my own domain on this, but I don't really care.

The only thing that keeps me from closing all my google accouns is google maps, for a person that sucks memorizing street names and locations this is very useful for me.

I use https://posteo.de/en and am very happy so far, it's 1 EUR per month.

Features for the curious:

- 2 GB email account

- 100% green electricity

- Saved data can be encrypted data

- Two-factor auth

- Ad-free

- Sign up without personal details

I'm not related with them in any way, just a customer. The only con is that you can't use your own domain.

You are right, it won't change, if someone want to use SQLite or another option (even Redis) they can fork it, this is an app for learning purposes.

I wanted to play with database with a very simple application also I only knew how to use MongoDB.

Just to clarify, this is a very early project, and it needs a lot of work, this is some of the stuff that is in my TODO list:

- Responsive Web Design

- User management (login/register/etc)

- Expiration time

- Documentation on how to run your own instance of Rocketb.in

- Use https://mongolab.com/ for DB

That is what I have in my mind right now.

Rocketbin author here, this is my first Python and Flask project, so probably you will see a lot of stuff that is not a "good practice".

I only have experience in MongoDB that is why I'm using it, probably in the future I can use something better.

I have a common `.gitignore` file for all my projects, since I am a front-end developer I never had the need to ignore *.pyc files, because I never used it before

Also I really don't care what people think about me :)

Sorry if I sound like a dick but is true, that is my first project with a "back-end" so it won't be something amazing (yet) I'm still working on it.

Thanks :)

Thanks and yes, I will keep that in mind.

Got it, Meteor.

Thank you, I appreciate your comment :)

I wanted to try MeteorJS, personal preference

Why not? in the mean time I just did it as an experiment that came out as a comment on freenode ##frontend, if it goes well in a month or so, I will take some time from my current paid work to create a custom theme for this site.

Empty hopes? do you have data to confirm that?

little effort? we are not that experts as you

Also I will just drop this just here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product

Thanks for your comment :)

lol, just by opening it?

Yes is a known issue that I need to fix, sorry about that and thank you :)

I just had to create a package with my CSS: http://www.telesc.pe/docs/custom-themes/

and tweak two lines of JavaScript to alter the number of results per day.

To install it I followed this:

http://www.telesc.pe/docs/installing-telescope/

Used this to deploy:

https://github.com/arunoda/meteor-up

On a 1GB Ram 30GB SSD Disk node-v0.10.30 on Ubuntu 14.04 Digital Ocean droplet

And got the domain on google domains, and that's it.

Thanks! :)

Not sure, I feel mine sometimes very slow, here is a list of Meteor/Telescope sites:

- http://www.bootstrappers.io/ - http://dataforgood.co/ - http://sidebar.io/

You can check if is only mine or all Meteor related.

Regarding to your question, I have no specific demographic target, just general Front-end developers that are willing to learn, help or give feedback, it has only two weeks I have nothing specified yet about demographics.

it should be fixed now.