Introducing WebContainers: Run Node.js natively in your browser

StackBlitz, if you've not used it before, is an online IDE based on VS Code. It's a lot like CodeSandbox if you've used that. The reason they've got everyone talking about them at the moment is because of WebContainers, a new feature that runs Node.js apps in the browser. This would already be cool except that StackBlitz isn't doing any server-side virtualization here. It's actually running Node in your browser using WebAssembly. On top of that, you're able to leverage browser dev tools to debug both client and server code. Oh and they've got a PWA that works offline.

This is a big deal. Seriously, try one of the demo links in the announcement post. This looks to me like the next generation of online code editors and, who knows, maybe even code editors in general.

What I'm thinking about: Identity

Nicholas Zakas reflects on a time he, a frontend engineer, was asked to help with a backend issue and how it changed his mindset about his identity.

That is who I was. That is what I did. Frontend stuff. Not backend stuff, never. Just frontend stuff.

Fig

Fig adds VSCode-style autocomplete to your existing terminal.

This is a really cool tool that I recently got early access to. It cleverly draws UI over your terminal window to provide: explanatory tooltips, autocomplete suggestions, directory listings, etc. Because it's just drawing on top of your terminal, it works with pretty much any terminal app. I've been shocked by how well it works. Highly recommend checking it out!

Things your manager might not know

Julia Evans on things we might assume our managers know and therefore don't explicitly tell them. I really liked Julia's conclusion:

Being good at telling your manager the right information at the right time and asking for what you need is a superpower. It makes you way more valuable to have on a team (because your manager knows they can trust you to give them the information they need), and it’s more likely that you’ll get what you want (because you’re making it easy for them to do that!).

This skill takes a lot of time to learn but it’s pretty easy to practice. You can take a few minutes to reflect before your 1:1 with your manager and think about what might be important to bring up with them.

The 5-Minute Stretching Routine You Should Do Daily

Normally this is not the type of content I share. With that said, these stretches have helped me a lot in the last 15 months as I've spent a lot of time using a computer, sitting (or, thankfully, standing) for hours on end. If you're reading this, I'm willing to bet you can relate to that. So give this a shot!