CategoryTools

May 1, 2020 — In recent years a slew of ‘readability’ programs have appeared to help us tidy up the things we write. Used everywhere from newsrooms to browser plugins, these systems offer automated feedback on how writing can be clearer, neater, and less contrived. Sounds good right? Well, up to a point. Readability programs may seem like a godsend, but the worst thing writers can do is write to please them above all others. Finding your voice is hard enough without also trying to sound like everyone else. Read more…

April 29, 2020 — Today, as designers, we are lucky as never before because there are dozens of tools available for us to design wireframes and also smoothly integrate this activity in our general design process. In this article, Anton Suprunenko will take a deeper look at one of the most simple yet quite often underrated activities in web development: the design of wireframes. You’ll learn what wireframes are, why we need to design them, how to get the most out of the designs, and how to take it to the next level. Read more…

April 27, 2020 — Developers often worry about the SEO of their SPAs (Single Page Applications) and how well they would do on Google searches (blogs, portfolio websites, product websites, and so on). Sometimes, they also worry about how complex building a server-side rendered application might be. In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to create server-side rendered applications by using Nuxt.js, how to configure your application for development, and how to deploy to Heroku. Read more…

April 23, 2020 — Node.js is an interesting tool for web developers. With its high level of concurrency, it has become a leading candidate for people choosing tools to use in web development. In this article, we will learn about what makes up Node.js, give it a meaningful definition, understand how the internals of Node.js interact with one another, and explore the project repository for Node.js on GitHub. Read more…

April 22, 2020 — Flutter has already made quite a splash on the mobile development scene. Now it’s taking on bigger devices as well. In this article, Carmine Zaccagnino will show you what you need to know to be ready to take on the task of developing web and desktop apps using this wonderful cross-platform framework. Flutter is a lovely framework, very easy to use, and its extreme cross-platform support only makes it more essential to learn and start using. So, go ahead and start trusting Flutter for web apps, too! Read more…

April 20, 2020 — Skeleton screens offer a better user experience by reducing loading-time frustration. By focusing on progress instead of wait times, it create the illusion for users that information will be incrementally displayed on the screen. In this tutorial, Blessing Krofegha will show you what a skeleton screen UI is and some types of skeleton screen libraries, along with their pros and cons. We’ll build a YouTube-like skeleton screen UI using React Loading Skeleton. Then, you can experiment on your own with the skeleton screen React package of your choice. Read more…

April 17, 2020 — A month is a long time to stay on top of things. Here you’ll find an overview of everything we’ve been working on and have also enjoyed reading over the past month. Of course, you can always find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and also stay updated with our RSS feed as well as our Smashing Newsletter (sent out every second week with all sorts of goodies!). Read more…

April 15, 2020 — React provides a few built-in Hooks like useState. You can also create your own Hooks to reuse stateful behavior between different components. The example below shows a counter whose state is managed using the useState() hook. Each time you click on the button, we make use of setCount() to update the value of count by 1. In this article, Adeneye David Abiodun covers the rules of React Hooks and how to effectively start using them in your projects. Please note that in order to follow this article in detail, you will need to know how to use React Hooks. Read more…

April 8, 2020 — In this article, Chidi Orji will create a set of API endpoints using Express from scratch in ES6 syntax, and cover some development best practices. Find out how all the pieces work together as you create a small project using Continuous Integration and Test-Driven Development before deploying to Heroku. Read more…

April 6, 2020 — Writing is a crucial skill every software developer should cultivate. And writing on your own technical blog can have immense benefits to your career as a software developer and help you cultivate your skills and expertise. Creating and hosting a technical blog provides an opportunity to do just that. In this article, Zara Cooper will take a look at how to deploy a blog for free and with minimal effort using Hugo and Firebase. Read more…