Tidbits
Quick updates, thoughts, and technical snippets that don't warrant full blog posts.
Container Queries for Responsive Nav
Swapped media queries for CSS container queries on my site's navigation. The header is the container — the nav responds to its actual width, not the viewport. Same result today, but far more composable if the layout ever changes.
Read more →Stop Building Dashboards
Hot take: 80% of internal dashboards shouldn't exist. If the answer to 'how often does someone look at this?' is 'when something's broken', you don't need a dashboard — you need an alert. We've confused displaying data with acting on it.
Read more →Welcome to Tidbits
Quick updates, thoughts, and technical snippets that don't warrant full blog posts
Read more →Quick Tip: Git Commit Messages
Use the imperative mood in your commit messages. Not 'Added feature' but 'Add feature'. Not 'Fixes bug' but 'Fix bug'. It makes the history read more naturally.
Read more →Neovim Configuration Update
Switched from NVChad to LazyVim. The plugin management is much cleaner and the documentation is excellent. Highly recommend for vim veterans returning to the fold.
Read more →Design System Tip: Consistent Spacing
Use a spacing scale based on your typography. I use 4px as my base unit, scaling up by multiples. It creates rhythm and consistency.
Read more →RSS Reader Recommendation
Used to love Feedly, but switched to NetNewsWire (free, open source, Apple ecosystem). It's fast, clean, and doesn't track you. For Android, Feeder is excellent.
Read more →Web.dev Recent Updates
Great articles on performance optimization, CSS containment, and modern layout techniques. Their performance metrics guide is particularly helpful for diagnosing LCP issues.
Read more →Developer Productivity Tools
Warping back to the terminal after years in GUI land. Warp, Claude.dev, and GitHub Copilot have made my workflow faster and more enjoyable.
Read more →CSS Container Queries
Finally getting around to using container queries. The @container rule is a game changer for component-based design. No more media query frustration!
Read more →TypeScript Utility Types
Partial, Required, Pick, Omit—these utility types save hours of boilerplate. Did you know you can also create your own conditional types?
Read more →Design System Tokens
Using CSS custom properties for design tokens (colors, spacing, typography) is great, but consider also using JSON for cross-platform consistency.
Read more →Accessibility Resources
A11y Project is fantastic. Their checklists and patterns are practical and tested. Also recommend WebAIM for in-depth articles.
Read more →VS Code Extensions
My current VS Code setup: Prettier, ESLint, Tailwind CSS IntelliSense, gitLens, and GitHub Copilot. The extension ecosystem is incredible.
Read more →Learning Resources
Frontend Mastery has excellent courses on modern CSS, React, and performance. FreeCodeCamp still rules for beginners. CSS-Tricks is my reference bible.
Read more →Terminal Tips
Learn the basics of your shell. grep, awk, sed, and find can save hours of manual work. Use aliases to speed up your workflow.
Read more →CI/CD Tips
GitHub Actions is powerful. Use matrix builds for testing multiple environments. Cache dependencies to speed up workflows. And always fail fast on errors.
Read more →AI in Development
AI isn't replacing developers—it's replacing the parts of development we hate. Debugging, boilerplate, documentation. The creative work? Still ours.
Read more →Mental Health for Developers
Burnout is real. Take breaks. Get enough sleep. Exercise. And remember: your worth isn't tied to your productivity.
Read more →Learning Rust
Rust is challenging but rewarding. The borrow checker is frustrating at first, but once it clicks, you'll write safer code. Start with The Rust Book.
Read more →Design Principles
Every element should earn its place. If it doesn't add value, it's clutter. Ruthless simplicity wins.
Read more →Code Readability
Write code for the next developer who will read it. That's often future-you. Clear names, small functions, and comments for why—not what.
Read more →API Design
RESTful conventions still rule. Use nouns for resources, verbs for actions (on collections). Consistency beats cleverness every time.
Read more →Testing Strategy
Test pyramid: more unit tests, fewer integration and E2E. Unit tests are fast and cheap. E2E tests are slow but catch integration issues.
Read more →Documentation
Good documentation is a love letter to future-you. Document decisions, not just code. The why is more important than the what.
Read more →Career Growth
Focus on impact, not just activity. Shipping features is good. Shipping features that solve real problems is better. Track your impact.
Read more →Learning in Public
Sharing what you learn accelerates your growth. Blog posts, tweets, videos—even short snippets help others and solidify your understanding.
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