Owen Bickford

Owen Bickford, a Software Engineer at SmartLogic and creator of the WebAuthn Components library, shares his journey into passwordless authentication. He discusses the benefits of WebAuthn over traditional methods and the technical challenges of secure login flows. Owen highlights common pitfalls in implementation and best practices for production. Their conversation covers the evolution of authentication, innovations like magic links and QR codes, and the importance of community-validated packages for enhancing security in web applications.

Owen Bickford, creator of the WebAuthnComponents library, dives into the future of passwordless authentication for Phoenix LiveView apps. He discusses the evolution from traditional passwords to modern passkeys and highlights security flaws in conventional systems. Owen explains how the WebAuthn API enhances user experience and security while encouraging community contributions to the library. Also covered are challenges like cross-device support and the transformative potential of hardware-based credentials, ensuring safer, more efficient web applications.

Elixir Wizards Owen Bickford and Dan Ivovich discuss web development with Elixir and Phoenix vs. Ruby on Rails, comparing history, project structure, programming paradigms, CRUD apps, LiveView vs. Turbolinks, and WebSocket usage. They also touch on testing frameworks and the benefits of knowledge in multiple frameworks.