Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Special announcement: Please take our listener survey so we can better tailor the podcast to your interests.The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, has just released TraeAI, the newest entrant to the AI-enhanced IDE wars. Trae is also a fork of the VS Code IDE and offers many of the same AI features of competitors Windsurf and Cursor: chats, autocomplete, etc.Recently we reported the React team agreed to deprecate starter React repo Create React App due to changes in React 19 breaking the project. Well, our very own Jack Herrington collaborated with the TanStack team to create a drop-in replacement called create-tsrouter-app that builds TanStack Router based SPA applications to give folks who previously used CRA a better option in today’s world.Bolt.new, the browser-based AI agent continues to make news announcing a new integration with native app development framework Expo. Now, users can describe to Bolt what sort of mobile app they want in natural language, preview the code in real time on any platform, and refine their vision by chatting with the agent, and finally deploying it to the app store.News:Paige - Bolt.new & Expo integrate to build mobile apps with AI Jack - Jack’s very own Create React App replacement: create-tsrouter-appTJ - TraeAIBonus News:Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of MatterESLint supports CSS lintingFire Starters:CSS text-box-trimWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Drop Stop car seat gap fillerJack - 3D printingTJ - Onyx StormThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast

Please take our listener survey so we can better tailor the podcast to your interests.It’s only mid-February and already the State of React survey results for 2024 are in! Unsurprisingly Next.js continues to dominate as the most used React-based framework and Tailwind CSS tops the charts when it comes to CSS tools and libraries.TypeScript 5.8 beta brings TypeScript syntax one step closer to being a first-class citizen in the Node runtime. Node 23.6 unflagged experimental support for running TS files directly, but certain TS constructs like enums, import aliases and a few other things just aren’t supported. TS 5.8 beta introduces the –eraseabeSyntaxOnly flag, which will allow users to only write TS constructs that can be erased from a Node file, and will issue an error if it encounters constructs that can’t be erased cleanly.Vercel’s AI tool v0 can now import Tailwind config and Figma files. Now, designs begun in Figma can be imported to v0 to refine without the friction of design-to-code translation and custom font weights and colors can be added to directly from a custom Tailwind config file.News:Paige - TypeScript 5.8’s –eraseableSyntaxOnly flagJack - v0 can now import Tailwind config and Figma filesTJ - State of React 2024 survey resultsBonus News:Angular: The DocumentaryAstro 5.2Fire Starters:CSS hanging-punctuationWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - A Man on the Inside TV seriesJack - Strings of bee lightsTJ - Heated glovesThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

The latest wrinkle for AI coding assistant tools like Cursor and Windsurf is known as the Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP is an open protocol that allows users to provide custom tools and services to agentic LLMs like calling a third party weather service.In further AI news, OpenAI has introduced a new deep research agent designed to conduct multi-step research on the internet for complex tasks. Just give it a prompt requiring research, like which model of washing machine to buy, and ChatGPT will find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst.And as it turns out, the upgrade to React 19 broke React’s own Create React App (CRA) starter repo and the community wants it fixed and deprecated, as it’s no longer the recommended way to build a new React project in the docs. Mark Erikson, of Redux fame, opens a GitHub issue in the repo suggesting updates and solutions and the official acquiesces to fix the repo for now, and deprecate it in the docs.News:Paige - OpenAI introduces deep research agentJack - Model Context Protocol (MCP) on Cursor and WindsurfTJ - Create React App and React 19 (and here’s the issue to add Astro to the React docs)Bonus News:Dan Abramov leaves BlueskyOracle v. Deno trademark updateGitHub Copilot introduces agents with Copilot EditsFire Starters:CSS position stickyWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Handheld compressed air dusterJack - Finishing LED movie poster RPi projectTJ - Cannondale Topstone bikeThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

A groundbreaking AI contender, DeepSeek R1, is stirring the tech landscape with its low development cost and open-source model. The hosts share their mixed experiences with Devin.ai, an AI coding assistant. They also discuss new trends in TypeScript validation through a common standard schema. The conversation moves to developer frustrations with broken code and introduces innovative JavaScript array methods. Personal reflections on literature and intriguing media reveal a balance between technology and life amidst coding adventures.

This week, the team behind JavaScript runtime Bun drops some major updates into Bun 1.2. Bun introduces a built-in S3 storage API, a built-in Postgres client (with MySQL coming soon), 90% compatibility with Node.js, and it’s faster than ever before.Tailwind CSS v4 is out as well, and it boasts a new higher performance engine for 5x faster full builds, support for cutting edge CSS features like cascade layers, custom properties, and container queries, a simplified initial install and config to get going, and a first-party Vite plugin.And React Scan, built by Aiden Bai who also built Million.js, is also out this week with v0.1. Install React Scan into any React app and it will auto detect performance issues due to excessive re-rendering, and highlight the components causing the issues.News:Paige - Tailwind CSS v4.0Jack - React Scan 0.1 (aka Million.js)TJ - Bun 1.2Bonus News:StargateOpenAI’s new Operator AI agent can do things on the web for youFire Starters:Link to text fragments with #:~:text=What Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Puzzles (like the ones from Buffalo Games)Jack - Klipsch G-17 air wireless speakerTJ - Not So Super, AppleThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

The first topic of conversation this week is an unexpected new area the Expo team is tackling: Expo Application Service Hosting. EAS Hosting is a new service for quickly deploying web projects built using Expo and React Native apps. It makes it easy to compile and sign apps with custom native code, upload apps to the Play Store or App Store, and push live app updates directly to users.The Interop project, which aims to improve interoperability between major browser engines, released its accomplishments from 2024 this week. The browsers took on 17 areas of focus in 2024, and went from 46% of tests passing in January, all the way to 95% of tests passing by the end of December.WordPress makes headlines once more, as Autommatic, the WordPress hosting company owned by WP creator Matt Mullenweg cuts its contributions back on the WP open-source project from 4,000 hours per week to 45 hours per week.News:Paige - Interop 2024 highlightsJack - Expo APIs (EAS Hosting)TJ - Automattic cuts WordPress contribution hours (WordPress Drama Timeline)Bonus News:Vitest 3.0 is outThe iPhone Air could be coming later this yearFire Starters:WebXR Device APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Shrinking TV show and browser-based SwaggerEditorJack - fzf command-line fuzzy finderTJ - Switch 2Thanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

This episode begins with a cautionary tale to double check your browser extensions. Popular coupon browser extension Honey’s been caught replacing affiliate links with its own tracking codes right before checkout, as well as applying pre-selected discount codes from its business partners that aren’t always the best deals.A few weeks ago we reported Deno is petitioning Oracle to release the JavaScript trademark as Oracle’s never used it since acquiring it when it bought Sun Microsystems. This week Oracle has informed Deno they won’t voluntarily withdraw their trademark on JavaScript, and are lawyering up.And the creator of HashiCorp has built a new terminal emulator called Ghostty that’s getting a lot of buzz lately. Ghostty is written in Zig and uses platform native UI and GPU acceleration for an ultra fast terminal experience. It’s got all the expected features like split screen, key commands, and support for programs like Neovim, and is worth a shot if you’re interested in trying a new terminal competitor.News:Paige - Ghostty terminal emulator and app settings GUIJack - Honey browser extension scandalTJ - Oracle plans to fight Deno’s petition for them to release the JavaScript trademarkBonus News:Node’s experimental type stripping is now enabled by defaultFire Starters:Broadcast Channel APIWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - The Lies of Locke Lamora novelJack - Home automation and the Hue lighting APITJ - CES! Featuring things like SwippittThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

The latest survey results reveal Vite as the most loved tool, while React remains the go-to for many developers. Shadcn's new resource site offers hundreds of valuable UI tools, sparking excitement among designers and developers alike. In a game-changer move, GitHub Copilot is now available for free, enticing users to explore its potential. The podcast also tackles challenges with modern web APIs and shares personal growth insights through blogging, all wrapped up with fun discussions about tech and pop culture!

We wrap up the podcast with an end of year holiday spectacular episode! Instead of the usual news, the hosts share the biggest front end stories of 2024, the most fascinating developments, and the moments that made us happiest.Thank you, Front-End Fire listeners! We couldn’t have done this without you. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and we can’t wait to bring you more frontend goodness in 2025.Biggest Story of the Year for Frontend Devs:Paige - Vite and void(0)Jack - React 19 drama and delaysTJ - The rise in AI tooling, and how we move forward with itMost Interesting Story of 2024:Paige - Apple’s not-so-great year: Apple Vision Pro, EU legal issues, Apple Intelligence Jack - AI app builders: v0, bolt.new, etc.TJ - Wordpress DramaWhat Made You Happy in 2024:Paige - Consistent practice of hobbiesJack - Growing this podcast and quality time with friends and familyTJ - Getting back into readingThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com

In our last news episode of the year, we share that React 19 is declared stable, just in time for the holidays. It’s been a long road from release candidate in April to stability now, but it was well worth the wait. React 19 is packing a lot of features, including: Actions, hooks, form actions, the new use API, and of course, React Server Components and Server Actions.OpenAI’s been busy as well, introducing ChatGPT Pro, its $200 a month subscription for unlimited access to OpenAI o1 (the “reasoning model), GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice mode. Additionally, the startup announced the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS can now read code in a handful of developer-focused coding apps, like VS Code, XCode, Terminal, and iTerm2.There’s a new challenger to Figma for styling React-based code bases called Onlook. Onlook is a browser-based product studio that lets you design React code with Tailwind CSS using an easy-to-use interface just like you would in Figma.News:Paige - Onlook, the power Figma in your React appJack - React 19 is stableTJ - OpenAI announcements: ChatGPT Pro and Work With AppsBonus News:Quantum Computing Inches Closer to RealityiOS 18.2 and Apple IntelligenceFire Starters:Customizable Selects (Wes Bos video)What Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Black Doves TV series and The Midnight Feast bookJack - Seestar-S50 All-in-one smart telescopeTJ - Christmas Village in Grand Rapids, MIThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or Tweet us on X @front_end_fire and BlueSky.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.com