grid-template-areas is a CSS property that provides a visual, intuitive way to define grid layouts. It represents a paradigm shift in how developers approach layout design: instead of counting column lines, calculating spans, and doing mental math to size items, you create a semantic "map" of your layout directly in your CSS code using named areas. This post will explore the concept of grid-template-areas in depth, covering: - What grid-template-areas are - How they work - Important rules and common pitfalls - A comparison with traditional line-based placement - Real-world examples demonstrating their power What Are They? grid-template-areas allow you...
Installing a package like sharp involves more than just downloading JavaScript files. Developers frequently encounter "native modules"—packages that include C or C++ code. These modules interact directly with the underlying operating system and hardware, providing performance benefits or functionality that JavaScript alone cannot achieve such as high-performance image processing. However, this power comes with a strict constraint: binary compatibility. This post covers why native Node.js packages are version-dependent, focusing on the role of the Node.js Application Binary Interface ABI, the node-gyp build tool, and a practical case study with the popular sharp package. The core issue: The Node.js ABI The...
I answered this question in Quora: Why is my WordPress site fast on a desktop but slow on a mobile? but I thought it deserved a deeper dive here along with some updated references since this is not strictly a WordPress issue but more of a developer education issue. The answer: Because desktop and mobile are completely different beasts. It is a common, often maddening frustration for developers: you build a beautiful WordPress site, test it on your high-end MacBook Pro connected to a stable office fiber connection, and it flies. The animations are smooth, the pages load instantly, and...
Over the years I've collected a set of principles and mental models that I constantly try to apply when writing code successfully and unsuccessfully. These are not specific to any one programming language or framework, but rather general guidelines that help improve code quality, maintainability, and developer productivity. This post covers the background of common architectural rules, details specific principles and models, and provides practical code examples to illustrate their application. Background In software development, engineering teams often encounter conflicting advice regarding code structure and optimization. The most common maxims include: Don't Repeat Yourself DRYhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27trepeatyourself : This principle prevents code...
When releasing software, there are two aspects that can ver very challenging: managing changes and communicating those changes to users. Semantic Versioning SemVer is a widely adopted system that addresses both of these challenges by providing a clear and consistent way to version software, both the one you write and the dependencies you consume. This post will cover the fundamentals of SemVer, how to apply it in your projects and some tools to help automate the process What is SemVer? Semantic Versioning, often abbreviated as SemVer, is a standardized versioning system for software. It provides a strict set of rules...
Java has always been a complicated choice for me. While the language is robust, the ecosystem has fragmented into disparate paradigms—Spring, Jakarta EE, Android, JavaFX—each with its own conventions and deployment strategies. This often mirrors the fragmentation found in the JavaScript web ecosystem. However, when I began architecting the TEI Visual Editor, Java was the only viable choice. The XML processing stack required for this project Saxon, Jing, Apache FOP, Apache Ant is deeply rooted in the Java ecosystem. A browser-only solution was ruled out due to specific technical constraints. This post outlines the architectural decisions, technical constraints, and implementation...
Qualitative coding transforms unstructured text interviews, field notes into structured data to reveal patterns. When combined with XML Extensible Markup Language, you create a dataset that is both human-readable and machine-computable. This post outlines effective coding strategies and an XML-based workflow for anthropological and usability studies, along with code examples for extracting insights. Coding Strategies Here are four high-value strategies for anthropological and usability studies. Attribute Coding The "Who" and "Where" Goal: Log essential descriptors about the participant or the setting. When to use: At the very beginning of the file or session. Application: Anthropology: Demographics Age, Clan, Village. Usability:...
My background is in humanities and I've never stopped researching how to integrate technology into humanities research. XML has been a core technology in this space for decades. In this post, I will explore why XML remains relevant for humanities scholars, what it is, and how to use it effectively. Is XML a good tool for humanities? Yes, absolutely. XML eXtensible Markup Language is currently the undisputed "gold standard" for text-based Digital Humanities DH research and long-term digital preservation. While newer, lightweight formats like JSON JavaScript Object Notation currently dominate modern web development and API data transfer, XML remains superior...
XML eXtensible Markup Language has been a foundational technology for data representation and exchange since its inception in the late 1990s. However, with the rise of alternative data formats like JSON JavaScript Object Notation and YAML YAML Ain't Markup Language, many developers question whether XML remains relevant in today's technology landscape. This post explores the current relevance of XML, its strengths and weaknesses, the modern landscape of XML technologies, and the scenarios where it continues to be the superior choice. What is XML? XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format...
When working with publishing content in the future, the hardest thing is to keep track of when things are scheduled to go live. The Eleventy Publishing Calendar Plugin provides a visual calendar interface to help content creators and editors see their publishing schedule at a glance. This post provides an explainer of the Eleventy Publishing Calendar Plugin, breaking down the code into its key components and explaining the process step by step. Overview The plugin creates a graphical calendar view for Eleventy's publishing schedule. It gathers post metadata, groups posts by date, and generates an HTML grid calendar with navigation...
