This past month at OAK’S LAB, we smashed through objectives and closed out the quarter at the top of our game. Now, more than ever, we are looking forward to what the future will bring to our company, our department, and our projects. While we kick off Q4 on a high, let’s look back at what we discovered. We learned from interesting questions posed in the community, explored a number of new libraries, and signed up for some exciting events on the horizon. Here’s what we were reading and watching in September 2022.
Engineering News and Insights
Introducing Signals — Preact
Preact (a 3kb version of React) has introduced a new way of state management to their library. To quote from the article, “Signals are a way of expressing state that ensure apps stay fast regardless of how complex they get.” This kind of state management is not new on frontend libraries/frameworks, which hopefully can push React to have something similar.
Speed up your workflow with Console shortcuts.
Is a better console possible? While debugging applications on the browser, sometimes a console is the best way to see the behavior. Did you know your Chrome Console can do much better? Check out this video from the Google Chrome Developers to learn how to use shortcuts to speed up your workflow.
JavaScript APIs you don’t know about
The JavaScript environment is getting bigger and bigger, and browser APIs are extending every release. This article covers the least known APIs that you might have missed and explains how they are also some of the most useful ones.
Also, Safari is bringing more.
Should I write my own JavaScript framework?
There are billions of JavaScript frameworks out there, and currently, there is a debate going on in the community about writing your own. Should you build your own and push the boundaries of the whole landscape? We’ve found an article and an answer (or rather… a journey) for you to decide for yourself.
How to improve Largest Contentful Paint for faster load times
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is a Core Web Vital metric to track how many seconds it takes to paint your application (text, images, elements with background images, videos, etc.). Improving that metric means faster applications, so what can we do about it? Check out this article to discover how to optimize LCP and improve user experience.
Can JavaScript do that? Optical Character Recognition
Did you know that JavaScript can do Optical Character Recognition(OCR)? Your browser or your Node.js application can do that for you, so you don’t need any other language for this. Discover pure JavaScript OCR for more than 100 Languages on GitHub.
Attention to TypeScript
Typescript can be annoying to solve and hard to figure out sometimes. But, once you have learned, Typescript is another programming language. Here are some courses, websites, and workshops we have gathered for you to extend your TS knowledge.
Bonus: Translate your Typescript errors into a human-readable form.
Libraries to Browse
Styled-components (V6 is on the way)
Prisma has released version 4.3.0, and they have a preview feature for the multiSchema.
Microsoft has released its new version of TypeScript; it’s in beta right now, but it’s bringing many valuable features.
Upcoming Events
Now that summer is almost over, the event calendar is filling up for the fall. Here’s what we’re watching.
ViteConf
Date: October 11th-12th
Stackblitz is hosting the Vite Conference to bring you a full day of launches, learnings, and celebrations from the projects reimagining Web Development.
This is a free and virtual event.
React Brussels | The First React Conference in the heart of Europe
Date: October 14th
The first React conference in Brussels will feature a list of speakers ranging from talents at Netflix and Postman to SolidJs and Typescript. You can also attend workshops about different tools and technologies that are part of the React ecosystem.
This event is online and in-person. Tickets are on sale now.
Firebase Summit 2022
Date: October 18th
The 7th annual summit of Firebase in New York City will teach you how Firebase can help accelerate app development, run your app with confidence, and scale your business.
This event is online and in-person.
React Advanced London
Date: October 21st + 24th
A global network of field experts in React, React Native, GraphQL, and TypeScript will host a hybrid event over 2 days in London. The first day will be remote-friendly, and the second will be remote-only.
This event is online and in-person. Tickets are on sale now.
Next.js Conference
Date: October 25th
Vercel is holding the 3rd annual global user conference for Next.js. In celebration of six years of Next.js, the team will unveil some of the largest improvements at the conference.
This event is online and in-person.
A Final Challenge
We’re closing out our newsletter with another engineering challenge.
Let’s see how much you know generators in JavaScript and if you are able to use them. Try to write a function that produces a generator, and for each call, it will give numbers between the first parameters, including both ends.
Need help? See the answer at the end of the article.
If you or someone you know is looking for an engineering position either remotely or in Prague, check out our job openings. We’re hiring!
Our Jobs
Do you want to shape the future and help build companies from scratch? Here is a list of job openings available right now at OAK’S LAB.
- QA Analyst (Tester), Prague
- Engineering Manager, Prague, Remote
- Senior Frontend Engineer (React), Prague, Remote
- Tech Lead, Prague, Remote
- Frontend Engineer (React), Prague, Remote
- Full Stack Engineer (Node.js / React), Prague, Remote
- Backend Engineer (Node.js), Prague, Remote
That’s the end of the September 2022 Engineering Monthly Round-Up. Thank you for reading, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the articles, libraries, insights, and events we shared. We look forward to seeing what next month brings our way. If you have any comments, suggestions, or other interesting material to share, please feel free to comment below or send me an email directly at ugur@oakslab.com. Thank you again, and we’ll be back next month.
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