About Me #

I've been working on web-related projects since 1994 when I was a sophomore in college.

As such I've had a seat for most of the evolution and revolution of the web and I've gone through several of its evolutions.

I've learned that newer technologies are not necessarily better, we're susceptible to the hype cycle where the latest technology is so hot right now.

I've also learned that we can't learn it all.

All three parts of the web stack (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) have become extremely complex entities on their own, both the defaults and the advanced and third-party features.

Current Areas of Interest #

These are the technologies I'm currently interested in.

AI #

AI has exploded into the technology landscape, transforming how we interact with software and data. But my biggest interest lies in understanding its applications for for web development.

One side of the equation is understanding AI, how it works and what's the human impact of the technology in society and on the web.

The other side is exploring how AI can be leveraged to enhance web development, from automating repetitive tasks to creating more personalized user experiences.

Web Assembly #

WebAssembly (Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. It is designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications.

My favorite use of WASM is to use it to integrate compiled libraries for high performance and to reduce JavaScript's pain points.

New CSS and JavaScript Features #

New JavaScript features are released frequently and integrated into the annual language specification once they reach Stage 4 in the TC39 maturity model.

Tracking their progress through the TC39 process and the browser implementations helps both developers to fully implement new features and standards bodies get real-world feedback on how the features work in the real world.

CSS features are more complicated.

Because there are so many different CSS specifications and they each progress at their own pace,it becomes harder to track and even harder to decide what to implement.