763: Web Scraping + Reverse Engineering APIs

Welcome to a special live edition of Syntax, recorded at React Miami! Join Scott and Wes as they dish out games galore, from Spot the Syntax Error to JS or NAYS, all while engaging with the audience in this lively session of coding camaraderie. Plus, who’s the better programmer? Stay tuned to find out! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:54 Meet the Syntax team. 01:22 The plan for today. 02:38 .map() .filter() .reduce() 06:39 Syntax Error. 15:37 JS or NAYS. 21:08 Audience Stump’d. 24:51 Q + EH. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Scott and Wes serve up all the deets on the latest React 19 update, exploring new features like actions, web components, use()API, and document metadata. Stay tuned as they discuss the ins and outs of upgrading to React 19 and what it means for your projects. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:30 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 02:03 What’s in the update? React 19 Beta Release Notes. 03:03 Actions + server actions. Syntax Episode 766. 04:54 Using server actions for a checkout. 06:11 Web components. Custom Elements Everywhere. 09:44 use() API. 10:31 With promises. 14:25 With context. 17:32 How does Zustand work? Stately.ai. X @DavidKPiano. 18:26 No more ForwardRef. 20:05 Ref cleanup. 20:43 Document metadata. 24:14 Upgrading to React 19. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

In this episode, Scott and Wes dive into the world of local-first apps with Johannes Schickling, the mastermind behind Prisma. From databases, WASM for non-JS, to authentication challenges, they explore the ins and outs of crafting apps that prioritize local functionality. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:10 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 01:28 What is Overtone? 03:45 Can you explain the experience you’re trying to achieve? 06:43 What makes the best music app? Is it local first? 08:03 Is it best to create a local first app from the ground up? 10:31 What are the considerations when making a local first app? 13:04 What database are you using? Riffle. 16:12 How do you handle authentication? 19:15 Pick the tech based on the problem. 20:40 WASM for Non-JS or heavy lifting tasks. 24:39 How did you get SQLite running in the browser? 27:58 What about WA-SQLite, how does it compare to Riffle? TLDraw Make-real. 29:24 The backstory of Effect for TypeScript. 34:04 What actually is Effect? 39:32 Consolidating tools. 42:30 What’s a cool aspect of Effect that is often overlooked? 45:47 Building a web server with this. EffectTS RPC. 48:16 Will this ever get “Bluebirded”? 50:29 What about promises? Zio World 52:19 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs. Sick Picks Johannes: Open Telemetry, Sentry Open Telemetry. Shameless Plugs Johannes: localfirst.fm. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Scott and Wes are here to guide you through the world of React Server Components, shedding light on the intricacies of Form Actions and Server Actions. Get ready to level up your React skills as they discuss the ins and outs of these powerful features and share their expert advice on optimizing your applications. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Show 718 React Server Components. 02:04 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 03:04 What are form actions? GitHub Add React.useActionState PR 04:05 Almost entirely React. 04:31 What is the ‘server’ in Vanilla React? 06:10 Would React ever ship their own server? 07:29 What are actions? 08:34 Two huge benefits to actions. 08:45 Avoid custom useEffects or third party libraries. 09:17 Calling server code from the client without any APIS. 11:31 Some examples of actions. 12:54 Can these actions be done in a client component? 13:40 Where to use actions. 13:49 On a form submit. 15:30 In an event handler. 15:57 In a useEffect(). 17:13 How to actually use an action. React Hooks 17:30 useActionState() hook. 18:49 The state of the action. 19:35 The bound action. 19:46 The pending state. 23:16 useFormStatus() hook. 24:38 Action inputs. 26:13 Server vs client. 28:30 This is not PHP. 30:31 What is optimistic UI? 33:26 useOptimistic() hook. 37:02 Some final thoughts. 40:18 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs. Sick Picks Good Follows: Alex Katt. Scott: Tiny Portable Ultra-Mini Air Pump. Wes: AVerMedia 4k Capture Card. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

In this 3-course series, Scott and Wes serve up some JavaScript Promises treats. In part 1, they unravel the concept of promises and delve into common examples of their usage, from creating and waiting on promises, to database queries and user permissions. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:27 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 02:32 What is a promise? Promise mdn web docs. 03:27 Common examples of promises. 03:45 A fetch call to an API returns a promise. 05:54 A database query or Insert command 07:18 A request for user permissions. 07:37 A wait function. 08:08 Resolve or rejecting promises. 09:33 Creating promises. 09:46 New promise. 11:09 Promise.withResolvers(). 11:37 An async function. 14:34 Waiting on a promise. 15:09 .then(). 16:50 Await. 17:44 Why use one wait method over the other? Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Join Scott and Wes as they delve into the fascinating realm of Biome.JS alongside Emanuele Stoppa, the mastermind behind it all. Why is it written in Rust? Why are other tools so slow? Could Biome be the ultimate successor to ESLint or Prettier? Grab a seat at the table and find out! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:10 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 01:49 Who is Emanuele Stoppa and what is Biome? 03:18 What happened to Rome? 05:49 Who’s paying for Biome to be developed? 07:28 How many people are working on Biome? 09:24 Why do we even need Biome? 11:38 Why are other tools so slow? 12:55 Cost of compute. 14:01 The cache management. 14:30 Why was the decision made to move to Rust? 16:35 The bigger the company, the pricier the compute. 19:49 How to get started with Biome. 23:08 Will Biome offer more features than Prettier? 24:12 Language support. 26:02 A language parser for every language? 27:45 Will plugins need to be written in Rust? GritQL GitHub. 31:25 Ezno, TypeScript Compiler. 33:13 Will we ever see a new TypeScript type-checker? 35:38 What are your thoughts on the types proposal? Proposal Type Annotations. 38:03 What does your average day look like? 41:10 What is your role at Astro? 41:46 What other languages do you know? 43:22 Biome VCS. 45:14 GitHub action setup. 47:04 Supper Club Questions. 47:09 What text editor, theme and font are you using? 48:26 What do you do to stay up to date? 48:54 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs. Sick Picks Emanuele: Ripley IMDB, Netflix. Shameless Plugs Emanuele: Astro, BiomeJS. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Web scraping 101! Dive into the world of web scraping with Scott and Wes as they explore everything from tooling setup and navigating protected routes to effective data management. In this Tasty Treat episode, you’ll gain invaluable insights and techniques to scrape (almost) any website with ease. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 03:13 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 05:00 What is scraping? Socialblade. 08:01 Examples of past scrapers. Canadian Tire. 10:06 Cloud app downloader. 16:13 Other use cases. 16:58 Scraping 101. 17:28 Client Side. 19:08 Private API. Proxyman. 22:40 Server rendered. 23:27 Initial state. 24:57 What format is the data in? Google Puppeteer Extension. 27:08 Working with the DOM. 27:12 Linkedom npm package. 29:02 querySelector everything. 31:28 How to find the elements without classes. 34:08 Use XPath selectors for select by word. 34:53 Make them as flexible as you can. Classes change! 35:10 AI is good at this! 36:26 File downloading. 38:20 Working with protected routes. Proxyman. 40:41 Programatically retrieve authentication keys because they are short-lived. Fetch Cookie. 43:20 Deal-breakers. Mechanical Turk. 44:58 What happened with Amazon? Uniqlo Self-Checkout 46:42 Wes’ portable refrigerator utopia. 47:25 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs. Sick Picks Scott: KeyboardCleanTool. Wes: Yabai. Shameless Plugs Scott: Syntax on YouTube Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Scott and Wes discuss the delicate balance of what’s acceptable to borrow or be inspired by in web development and what crosses into territory that’s off-limits. Tune in as they share personal experiences, discuss where to find ethical inspiration, and offer tips on how to effectively capture and utilize it. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:57 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 02:26 What is okay to steal? 02:57 Color palettes. 03:14 Font stacks. 06:26 Type scales. Warp’s CSS Gradient Border. Sentry’s Date Picker. 08:52 General layout patterns. 10:39 General vibes. 11:20 What is NOT okay to steal? 11:26 Whole site designs. 13:32 Taking too many things from ‘what to steal’ list. 16:30 Text copy. Wes’ Parity Purchasing Power. 18:48 What we’ve had stolen + how it feels. 21:45 Where to find inspiration. 21:56 Code inspiration. CSS Scan Buttons. CSS Scan Box Shadows. Codrops. CodePen 25:18 Design inspiration. Bentro Grids. Dribble. Site Inspire. SaaS Landing Pages. One Page Love. Type Wolf. Mobbin. Syntax Newsletter. Hoverstat.es. Internet Gems. 32:48 UX inspiration. Good UI. The Component Gallery. Open UI. Nicely Done. 35:25 How to capture inspiration. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Scott and Wes dive into Cloudflare’s Analytics Engine and Workers with special guest Ben Vinegar, Syntax’s General Manager. Tune in as they explore Clickhouse, data tracking, infrastructure costs, and transitioning from software products to managing a podcast. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:17 Who is Ben Vinegar? Episode 434 with Ben. 02:21 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 04:00 Cloudflare analytics engine. Counterscale.dev. Episode 634 with Armin. 09:08 What is clickhouse? 11:01 Can Clickhouse be used for things outside of analytics tracking? 13:46 What kind of events are you able to track? 15:00 How do you assign values to track? Counterscale Schema. 18:40 Data type limitations. 19:55 The troubles with sampling data. 23:57 Sample intervals. 24:24 Pricing for these services. 25:34 How it actually runs. 27:31 Infrastructure costs and pricing models. 30:19 Running production apps in Cloudflare. 31:49 Cloudflare and HonoJS. 32:47 One year with Sentry and Ben’s role with Syntax. Episode 600 with David. 39:33 How does it feel going from a software project to a media project? Syntax Team. 43:00 How do you sell Syntax to Sentry? 48:37 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs Sick Picks Ben: Randy’s YouTube, Boom. Shameless Plugs Ben: Counterscale.dev Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Join Scott and Wes as they dish out the juiciest VSCode secrets for coding like a boss (or a Tolinski)! From speedy navigation to must-have extensions and the sickest themes, get ready to level up your coding game. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:47 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 01:44 A recording bug. 03:18 VSCode versions. 05:59 Tabs or no tabs. 10:32 Navigation tips. 11:35 Mouse and trackpad input. 13:43 Move, select and expand by 19:07 Interface tips. 19:17 Sidebars. 24:23 Sticky headers. 26:21 Activity bar. 30:30 Show or hide? 31:35 Profiles. 32:43 Keyboard Shortcuts. 32:49 Renaming. 34:32 Extensions. 34:45 Text pastry. 36:43 Better comments. 39:03 Auto rename tag. 40:02 Change case. 40:25 Permute lines. 41:26 File utils. 43:20 Sort JSON objects. 43:50 SQLite viewer. 44:29 Spell checker. 45:42 APC. 49:19 Themes. Syntax Theme 53:05 Final tricks. Log Wrapper 57:44 What about the AI stuff? 01:00:10 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs. Sick Picks Scott: Flicker Free Ultra Definition Phillips Bulbs. Wes: Clear Shoe Box Organizers. Shameless Plugs Scott: Syntax Newsletter. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads