ArticlesNotesArchive

Latest articles

A closer look at Tailwind CSS

(2020)
A deep-dive into Tailwind's surprising ideas hiding behind its unconventional syntax.CSS9 min read

What media query breakpoints should I use?

(2019)
Let's dive into the most common media queries are used in frameworks today.CSS6 min read

Managing Wi-Fi connections in Arch Linux with netctl

(2019)
There's an alternative to using NetworkManager, and it's not too complicated to use.Linux3 min read

State management with React hooks

(2019)
You don't always need Redux. Here's how you may use custom hooks instead.React4 min read

Setting up Babel and TypeScript

(2019)
A quick guide on setting up Babel as a TypeScript compiler.TypeScript2 min read

Fractional scaling on Linux Xorg

(2019)
Getting 1.5x scaling on Xorg isn't always very straight-forward. Here's how I got it working.Linux5 min read

Type annotations in JavaScript files

(2019)
Is it possible to get the benefits of type checking without TypeScript's syntax? Absolutely.TypeScript8 min read

Setting up an Arch Linux dev box in the cloud

(2019)
Arch Linux is a great distro for getting dev work done on the cloud.Linux7 min read

After installing Arch Linux

(2018)
Just installed Arch? Awesome! Here are some things you can try.Linux5 min read

Writing CSS-in-JS declaratively

(2018)
A look at two different writing styles for CSS-in-JS: imperative and declarative.React5 min read

Using Cloudfront as a Rails CDN

(2015)
This guide will walk you through using Amazon CloudFront as an asset CDN for your Rails app.Ruby3 min read
Notes

Inspecting JSON output in the command line

(2019)
Using jq and less together makes JSON output readable.Development1 min read

Using separate SSH keys per host

(2019)
Keep your credentials secure by using different SSH keys for different servers.Development1 min read

Freeing space with Docker

(2019)
Docker's been eating most of my disk space. Here's how I reclaimed it.Development1 min read

Vim project switcher using Startify

(2019)
Need to switch between projects in Vim? Here's a plugin I've been using for that.Vim2 min read

Demystifying Arch Linux installation

(2018)
A lightning summary of the commands for installing Arch Linux.Linux8 min read

Force git to use SSH on GitHub

(2018)
I can use HTTPS and SSH URL's for GitHub repos, thanks to insteadOf.Git1 min read

A better Hello World program

(2017)
Hello world programs aren't as useful today as they were before. Here's my modest proposal.Development2 min read

Your life is a series of side quests

(2017)
Video games organize tasks in quests. There's no reason this can't work in real life, too.Productivity1 min read

Navigate OS X with the keyboard

(2015)
Speed through the Mac OS X GUI with these shortcuts.macOS1 min read

Using ligatures in CSS

(2015)
Implement fancy typographic ligatures with just CSS... no images required.CSS1 min read

Easy color computations using Sass & Stylus CLI

(2015)
Need to lighten or darken colors easily from the command line? Here's how you can do it with Sass or Stylus.CSS1 min read

Node.js exit hooks

(2015)
Catch a Node program from exiting with these events.JavaScript1 min read
Archive

Untangling git commit graphs

(2019)
Git1 min read

Make Rails (and other dev servers) use less CPU

(2017)
Is Rails eating your CPU in development? Try this nifty trick.Development1 min read

Pitfalls of Rails mailer conventions

(2017)
Ruby1 min read

Managing side effects in Redux

(2017)
Learn to manage impure side effects in a Redux store with middleware.React3 min read

Use git merge-base for big merges

(2015)
Use this one command to help you with big Git merges.Git1 min read

Using factory_bot with custom factories

(2015)
Do you use an actual factory pattern in Rails? Set up factory_bot to use this factory.Ruby1 min read

Running NPM tasks in parallel

(2015)
You can run multiple NPM script tasks in parallel. This is great for tasks like running build watchers.JavaScript1 min read

Pausing Capybara tests

(2015)
Use the web inspector in Capybara/Selenium tests.Ruby1 min read

Getting Mocha coverage reports using Istanbul

(2015)
Here's how to get detailed coverage reports from Mocha via Istanbul.JavaScript1 min read

Bundle your gems inside your project

(2015)
Here's a tip to get the most out of your Ruby development experience.Ruby1 min read

Alfred color schemes

(2015)
Here's my nice color scheme for Alfred.MacOS1 min read

Testing generated static sites

(2015)
Ever feel guilty that your Jekyll sites don't have tests? Here's a way around that.Development1 min read

Babel class inheritance in Internet Explorer

(2015)
IE doesn't support class inheritance in Babel. Here's a way to fix that.JavaScript1 min read

Markdown in Jekyll

(2015)
Insert Markdown into any Jekyll document with this simple tag.Development1 min read

Running tests using Vim and Tmux

(2015)
The most intuitive way for me to run tests is to use tmux split panes.Vim1 min read

Installing iojs on Homebrew

(2015)
Here's how to get iojs on OSX using Homebrew.MacOS1 min read

The best way to get Google Fonts offline

(2015)
Chances are you've downloaded a few Google fonts to your computer. Here's a better way to do it.Misc1 min read

Navigate code like a pro with Ctags

(2015)
Move through code fast. Set up Ctags. Here's how.Vim3 min read

Legacy IE polyfills

(2015)
Speed along your legacy IE development with this all-purpose 8-line snippet.CSS2 min read

Speed up MacVim with Lua

(2015)
Make your OSX Vim experience better with this simple switch.Vim1 min read

GitHub two-factor authenication guide

(2015)
Secure your GitHub account with these easy steps.Git2 min read

JavaScript shortcuts using bitwise operators

(2015)
Learn some shorter ways to write some common JavaScript expressions.JavaScript1 min read

Relative paths in Jekyll

(2015)
Fix the problem with GitHub Pages's relative URLs with this snippet.Development3 min read

Hosting static sites in Heroku

(2015)
Serve simple websites for free using Heroku with this one simple tip.Development1 min read

Tools to make releasing packages easier

(2015)
Make releasing packages easier with these 2 open-source tools.Development1 min read

Cleaner Mocha stack traces

(2015)
Suppress stack trace frames from 3rd-party modules in Mocha.js.JavaScript1 min read

Inline SVG in CSS

(2015)
Create complex shapes easily by combining SVG and CSS.CSS1 min read

Organizing JavaScript for simple sites

(2015)
How do you sort JavaScript files in a Rails project? Here's one way.JavaScript1 min read

ES6 class pitfalls

(2015)
Keep aware of this one caveat when making classes in ES6.JavaScript1 min read

Refactoring long calls

(2015)
Clean up long code reasonably with these tips.Development1 min read

Using Bower and Rails in Heroku

(2015)
Use the Bower package manager in Rails projects when deploying to Heroku.Ruby1 min read

Use Bower packages like npm packages

(2015)
Ever wanted to use some frontend packages but they're not npm-compatible?JavaScript1 min read

Use Markdown for documentation

(2015)
Forget complex documentation schemes... it's really just this easy.Development1 min read

Writing Inline partials in Rails

(2015)
Organize long views into smaller sub-views with this tip.Ruby1 min read

@extend sucks

(2015)
Let me tell you why you should never use @extend again.CSS1 min read

JavaScript ORM's suck

(2015)
Database ORM's and JavaScript aren't a good mix. Here's why.JavaScript1 min read

Use Browserify to precompile npm libraries

(2015)
Keep large libraries sane using Browserify. With ES6 and CoffeeScript support!JavaScript2 min read

Get started with Mocha testing

(2015)
In 60 seconds, let's learn how to write tests for any Node.js package.JavaScript2 min read

Get started with Ansible in 2 minutes

(2013)
Provisioning servers is easy using Ansible. Here's a guide to set it up from scratch.Development1 min read

Easily make favicon.ico

(2013)
Never look for a favicon generator again.Development1 min read