Trending Posts

Trending

Project Stories

How We Built a Bluetooth Connected Mobile App in 4 Weeks

Here's how we prototyped a cross-platform app for tablets meant to find and connect to a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device in 4 weeks!

Patrick Pale Software Consultant and Developer, member of Cell Beta. Critical thinker, rugby winger, and TV show binger.

Categories

Most Recent View more recent posts →

Culture • Aug 29

3 Reasons Celebrating Wins is More Than Just Fun

When my software development team reached a major milestone, we formally celebrated it. Here are 3 reasons why celebrating wins is important.

Development Practices • Aug 28

Disposable vs. Durable Code: You Can’t Build Rome with Sticky Notes

There’s a time for code that's quick, dirty, utterly disposable. Then there’s durable code you build for the long haul.

C# • Aug 27

Switch Statement Guide for C#

C# has multiple different syntaxes for switch statements and expressions. Here is what they are and how to use them.

View more recent posts

Developer Tools View more Developer Tools posts →

Post title: A Guide to Browser DevTools - The Debugger

Developer Tools

A Guide to Browser DevTools – The Debugger

read post

Pictured is author Teagen Kiel with his development team. Post title: Build Static Pages with Strapi in Next.js

Developer Tools

Build Static Pages with Strapi in Next.js

read post

Pictured is author Jing Fan writing on a whiteboard. Post title: How and When to Use Feature Flags in NextJS

Developer Tools

How and When to Use Feature Flags in NextJS

read post

Pictured is author Patrick Bacon with co-workers. Post title: Log Your Entire ZSH History

Developer Tools

Log Your Entire ZSH History

read post

View more Developer Tools posts

UX/Design Tools View more UX/Design Tools posts →

View more UX/Design Tools posts

React / Redux View more React / Redux posts →

Pictured is author Jared Surato. Post title: Smarter Data Fetching with TanStack Query: Reusable Patterns and Optimistic UI

React / Redux

Smarter Data Fetching with TanStack Query: Reusable Patterns and Optimistic UI

Here are a few especially helpful patterns for real-world projects, including reusing query configuration across components.

Use React Hook Form with Zod Validation: Part One

React / Redux

Use React Hook Form with Zod Validation: Part One

React Hook Form is a library that smoothly handles forms in React. Let's look at examples of how to use React Hook Form with Zod validation.

Improve Asynchronous State UX in React with useOptimistic

React / Redux

Improve Asynchronous State UX in React with useOptimistic

React 19’s useOptimistic hook helps reduces annoyances by providing a built-in hook for Optimistic Updates.

View more React / Redux posts

Web Apps View more Web Apps posts →

Web Apps

Build a 3D Product Configurator with Babylon.js

read post

How to Build and Publish Browser Extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

Web Apps

How to Build and Publish Browser Extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

read post

Embedding Payload CMS 3.0 Admin UI in Your Next.js App

Web Apps

Embed Payload CMS 3.0 Admin UI in Your Next.js App

read post

About a year ago, I used Remix on a short prototype app to that displayed a series of reports and I loved it. For those who don’t know. Remix is a framework for building websites. It uses React JS as a base and adds some specialized compiling. The app was a great use case for Remix for a few reasons. First, the pre-built stacks got the app deployed quickly. The main parts of Remix that shined were its prefetching, directory-based routing, and its loader functions. The prefetching helped the reports load faster because some data would be retrieved before the user navigated. The directory-based routing made it easy to setup the structure of the app. Last, Remix’s loader functions were able to retrieve small amounts of data each as it was needed. I am now using Remix on a second website that has a different structure than the prototype and we aren’t able to use the same features to the same degree. This time around, I am finding myself using fewer of the features mentioned previously. We aren’t using perfecting because we have a single page with a lot of complexity. We have fewer loader functions retrieving lots of information at once which makes them perform worse. The main difference that I found between the two projects is that the prototype was a multipage app and the second has been turning into a single page app (SPA). Based on Remix's documentation and my experience the best use cases for Remix are ones that can be modeled as multiple pages. Challenges for single page apps For this post, when I refer to a single page app I am referring to an app that tries to pack a variety of behaviors onto a single route. An example would be Google Calendar. Pictured below: In order to render this page, we need to load a few different things. We need to load all the events for this month, all the calendars for the user, and the details for the apps along the lefthand side. Then to use the app, we need to track which event is selected. When the user drags an event, we need to keep track of the calendar it is on. Then when it is placed, an alert is displayed if there are any conflicts. This state and behavior may need to be done in one component, which means one loader function. We may also want to perform component tests which are only partially supported in Remix, based on this git conversation. Make it optimal Instead, let’s talk about structuring an app to leverage Remix’s strengths. I am assuming we want to make use of Remix’s speedy loading while getting around some of its component testing limitations.The files that are used for routing should each be responsible for retrieving, displaying and mutating a limited set of information. As an example of a UI structure that could work well in Remix let’s look at Slack. Slack's UI can be visually broken down into three sections. The workspaces are on the far left. Then the channels within the selected workspace are listed, and lastly, we have the current chat for the selected workspace. A Remix app with this UI could have a URL like: slack/workspace2/proj-new-website. The root of the app would get the list of all workspaces, then /workspace2 would load the details for the selected workspace. Lastly, the chat window for /proj-new-website would load the chats and display them. This app can be modeled as a multipage app because the responsibilities are spread at different levels of the page instead of being concentrated in one component, like with the Google Calendar example. This would be a Slack-like app, and a better use case for Remix than a calendar app. Use the right tool for the job Remix is a powerful tool for web development. It can produce polished prototypes quickly and can build performant production apps. However, an app in Remix needs to keep Remix's design principles in mind. This means splitting the app's pages into pieces that can be loaded and rendered separately and keeping components as simple as possible in order to limit component testing on the frontend. Designing an app this way will enable the app to leverage the performance benefits promised by Remix.

Web Apps

Remix is Incredible — If It Fits Your Use Case

read post

View more Web Apps posts

Development Practices View more Development Practices posts →

View more Development Practices posts

DevOps & System Admin View more DevOps & System Admin posts →

Hot Reloading Kubernetes with Skaffold

DevOps & System Admin.

How to Hot Reload Kubernetes with Skaffold

read post

Docker Compose Dependency Management Isn't a Silver Bullet

DevOps & System Admin.

Docker Compose Dependency Management Isn’t a Silver Bullet

read post

Working with Docker Containers Made Easy with the dexec Bash Script

DevOps & System Admin.

Working with Docker Containers Made Easy with the dexec Bash Script

read post

How and Why You Should Add Color to Your Scripts

DevOps & System Admin.

How and Why You Should Add Color to Your Scripts

read post

View more DevOps & System Admin posts

Extracurricular Activities View more Extracurricular Activities posts →

A close-up shot of an illuminated NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics card installed in a desktop computer. The "GEFORCE RTX" branding is prominently lit in white on the side of the card, while the background is dark with subtle pink and blue lighting reflecting from other components inside the PC case.

Extracurricular Activities

Jellyfin Hardware Transcoding with Nvidia Graphics Cards on Unraid

If you're migrating from Plex to Jellyfin, one of Jellyfin’s biggest advantages is free hardware transcoding without requiring a Plex Pass.

A screenshot of the homepage app, illustrating a blog post titled How to Run the Homepage App Via Its Docker Image

Extracurricular Activities

How to Run the Homepage App Via Its Docker Image

Here's how I run the Homepage application as part of my home lab. It's another service running as part of a Docker Compose environment.

Extracurricular Activities

Bringing Your Raspberry Pi on the Road: A Portable Pi Setup Guide

With this Portable Pi Guide, you'll make your Raspberry Pi travel-ready using Tailscale and your phone’s hotspot — no extra gear needed.

View more Extracurricular Activities posts

.NET / WPF View more .NET / WPF posts →

View more .NET / WPF posts

Personal Optimization View more Personal Optimization posts →

Core node from previous image is now flanked on left and right side by blue boxes that contain the example child nodes text defined in the previous paragraph. The boxes are connected by arrows.

Personal Optimization

Map the Path To Your Long Term Goals

read post

Pictured is developer & post author Joe Chrysler. Post title: Habits & Tools for a Smoother Digital Life

Personal Optimization

Habits & Tools for a Smoother Digital Life

read post

Pictured is author Jonathan Chaffer writing on a whiteboard. Post title: A Minimalist Approach to Knowledge Management: Rethinking How I Use Obsidian

Personal Optimization

A Minimalist Approach to Knowledge Management: Rethinking How I Use Obsidian

read post

An example of a Priority List made with Apple Reminders

Personal Optimization

Why I Use Apple Reminders (and Keep Coming Back to It)

read post

View more Personal Optimization posts

TypeScript View More TypeScript posts →

View More TypeScript posts

React Native View more React Native posts →

Don't Reinvent the Wheel or the Modal. Use React Native Reusables Instead.

React Native

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel or the Modal. Use React Native Reusables Instead.

React Native Reusables is a toolkit that lets you instantly add pre-built, customizable, and time-tested components to your React Native app.

How to Style MUI Line Chart Components

React Native

How to Style MUI Line Chart Components

Styling an MUI component can be challenging. This guide shows ways to customize the LineChart component to achieve your desired look.

Embrace App Monitors: A Solution for State Changes in React Native

React Native

Embrace App Monitors: A Solution for State Changes in React Native

Let's look at why relying solely on useEffect might make your code a bit of a puzzle and how App Monitors can alleviate this issue.

View more React Native posts

Growing as Makers View more Growing as Makers posts →

Pictured are buttons with Atomic Object's values written on them, including "Share the Pain."

Growing as Makers

Embrace Uncertainty: Tips for New Atoms

read post

A red-bellied woodpecker. Post title: The Power of Awareness

Growing as Makers

What Are You Looking At? The Power of Awareness

read post

Growing as Makers

Game On: A Roundup of Fun Tools for Learning Tech Skills

read post

Getting Hired: Online Class or Personal Project?

Growing as Makers

Getting Hired: Online Class or Personal Project?

read post

View more Growing as Makers posts

Atomic Thinking View more Atomic Thinking posts →

Pictured is author Shivhaun Sera under the "Proton Wall" of recognition. Post title: 3 Reasons Celebrating Wins is More Than Just Fun

Culture

3 Reasons Celebrating Wins is More Than Just Fun

When my software development team reached a major milestone, we formally celebrated it. Here are 3 reasons why celebrating wins is important.

Author Nick Hazekamp, writing about C# and durable code

Development Practices

Disposable vs. Durable Code: You Can’t Build Rome with Sticky Notes

There’s a time for code that's quick, dirty, utterly disposable. Then there’s durable code you build for the long haul.

Pictured is author Allen Janyska looking at a monitor and talking to a co-worker. Post title: Switch Statement Guide for C#

C#

Switch Statement Guide for C#

C# has multiple different syntaxes for switch statements and expressions. Here is what they are and how to use them.

View more Atomic Thinking posts