Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats
Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski - Full Stack JavaScript Web Developers
- 48 minutes 54 seconds918: Extreme Native Perf on the Web with Superhuman
Wes and Scott talk with Loïc Houssier about how Superhuman builds lightning-fast, delightfully-designed email software. They dig into engineering philosophy, offline-first architecture, local databases, AI-powered productivity, and what it takes to create tools that people love.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 03:05 Inside Superhuman and Loïc’s role
- 06:49 Is Superhuman native? What’s the tech stack?
- 08:16 How Superhuman approaches product design and speed
- 12:17 Local-first architecture – Sync, storage, and performance
- 13:46 Vector search, AI, and privacy considerations
- 18:12 How the team ships fast and stays focused
- 21:27 Rethinking email for the future
- 26:54 Brought to you by Sentry.io
- 27:19 How calendar integration and smart features work
- 29:54 Where new ideas come from
- 31:54 Will there ever be a true dark mode?
- 33:02 Are people actually using keyboard shortcuts?
- 36:42 How shortcuts work and the role of the command palette
- 41:28 Engineering for speed – Costs and trade-offs
- 43:32 How Superhuman’s sync engine works
- 46:09 What code runs locally and what runs on the server?
- 46:51 How Superhuman handled the Google and Cloudflare outage
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9 July 2025, 11:00 am - 37 minutes 48 seconds917: AI Tools You Should Know
Scott and Wes round up the hottest AI tools you should have on your radar; from text-to-speech wizards to self-hosted image generators. They break down what they’re using, what’s worth paying for, and which tools are changing their workflows.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 00:49 Getting too cozy with your tools.
- 01:34 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
- 03:40 LangFlow.
- 08:44 Super Whisper and Whisper Flow.
- 15:00 Dia.
- 23:16 Chat apps.
- 26:58 Self-hosted.
- 34:11 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.
Sick Picks
- Scott: Rat A Tat Cat Card Game.
- Wes: Syntax Hats
Shameless Plugs
- Wes: Syntax Hats
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7 July 2025, 11:00 am - 58 minutes 24 seconds916: I got fired, what should I focus on?
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about maintaining popular open-source projects, where to start after a layoff, impostor syndrome, Scott’s recording setup, whether a computer science degree is still worth it in the age of AI, and more!
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 00:44 Brought to you bySentry.io
- 04:16 How to maintain a successful NPM package
- 08:03 What to do in Denver while attending Laracon
- 11:18 How to branch out and learn new frameworks while balancing work life and family
- 15:55 Built-in state management vs external state management
- 19:43 Suggestion for CSS battles: Removing white space and new lines after the time limit?
- 23:06 What is Scott’s recording setup?
- 27:46 Snake case vs camel case
- 31:16 Have you ever had impostor syndrome?
- 34:56 Is a degree worth it for computer science or machine learning?
- 38:41 Should I use a reverse proxy server?
- 42:03 Where to start when updating your webdev skillset
- 50:11 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
- Scott:Cardboard Cutter
- Wes:Kitchen Scissors
Shameless Plugs
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2 July 2025, 11:00 am - 33 minutes 37 seconds915: $200mo Background Agents, CLI Tooling and “Max Mode”
AI coding agents are getting wild. Scott and Wes break down the latest tools that run in the background, write code across multiple steps, and charge you $200 a month to do it. From CLI-based primitives to full-on copilots, this episode covers the next wave of dev tools and what it takes to use them effectively.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 03:13 Background Agents.
- 04:26 Appropriate tasks for background agents.
- 12:46 CLI tooling.
- 14:17 Claude Code Pricing.
- 18:20 Approaches to get the most from these tools.
- 19:56 PRD Documents.
- 20:50 Claude Taskmaster.
- 25:29 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.
Sick Picks
- Scott: RingConn.
- Wes: Dell Projector
Shameless Plugs
- Scott: Syntax on YouTube.
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30 June 2025, 11:00 am - 33 minutes 44 seconds914: 5 Upcoming + Next Gen JavaScript Features
Wes and Scott talk about the latest JavaScript proposals from TC39, including features like import defer, the powerful new random namespace, Array.fromAsync, and native clamp and upsert methods. They break down what’s coming, why it matters, and how it might improve your code.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 02:55 Brought to you by Sentry.io
- 05:37 Import Defer
- 09:30 Random Functions
- 18:32 Array from Async
- 20:56 Upsert for Maps
- 23:13 Clamp
- 27:02 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
- Scott: Anker Max USB 4-Port
- Wes: Clarkson’s Farm
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25 June 2025, 11:00 am - 50 minutes 11 seconds913: NEWS: Remix drops React, Safari 26 CSS + mega fast Vite and TypeSCript
Wes and CJ break down the latest web dev news, including big changes in Safari 26, TypeScript Native Previews, and Remix dropping React. They also chat about new proposals from TC39, Vite 7 beta, and a surprise project from the Astro team.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 00:41 Safari WWDC.
- 10:19 Remix 3 dropping React.
- 17:40 Typescript Native Preview.
- 20:53 Cursor 1.0.
- 29:12 TC39 Advances Several Proposals to Stage 4.
- 36:53 Astro Creators working on an email client.
- 39:23 Announcing Rolldown-Vite.
- 44:43 Vite 7 in Beta.
- 46:04 Angular v20 Released.
- 47:30 Take the State of CSS Survey!
- 48:40 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
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23 June 2025, 11:00 am - 26 minutes 16 seconds912: Why did Figma buy a CMS?
Wes chats with James Mikrut, founder of Payload CMS, about being acquired by Figma! They discuss building an open source business, the future of UI design, AI interfaces, and what this means for the future of Payload and Figma.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax.
- 01:06 What is Payload CMS?
- 01:56 The big announcement.
- 03:03 Why does Figma want a CMS?
- 05:23 This has got to be about AI, right?
- 09:37 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
- 10:02 What will the interface be?
- 14:02 Generative, user-specific UI.
- 16:17 Agents make everything look like ShadCN.
- 18:18 What does this mean for Payload users?
- 20:23 How this improves Payload.
- 22:31 Trying to stand out as a CMS.
- 23:35 Is this going to cost users?
- 25:12 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.
Sick Picks
- James: Triumph Street Triple, Malört Liquor.
Shameless Plugs
- James: PayloadCMS.
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17 June 2025, 3:00 pm - 47 minutes 6 seconds911: Browsers in 2025: Whats up with Arc, Dia, Firefox, Chrome and Opera GX?
Scott and Wes break down the state of web browsers in 2025, from the rise and fall of Arc and the fate of Firefox to hot takes on Opera GX, Raycast, and why power users might not be profitable. They compare rendering engines, rant about dev tools, and reveal what browser stats say about Syntax listeners.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 01:37 Rendering Engines.
- 02:11 Arc Browser.
- 02:41 Microsoft Edge.
- 03:45 Why not Brave?
- 05:25 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
- 05:50 Google Manifest v2.
- 07:32 Opera.
- 10:13 Vivaldi.
- 11:23 The death of Arc Browser.
- 19:42 Gecko.
- 22:38 Webkit.
- 29:18 Wtf is Ladybird?
- 34:14 Usage statistics.
- 39:32 Dev Tools experience ranked.
- 42:06 Tab experience.
- 43:37 Containers and profiles.
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16 June 2025, 11:00 am - 24 minutes 38 seconds910: If Statements in CSS?
Wes and Scott talk about the new If statements in CSS, breaking down how they work, why they matter, and when to use them. They explore use cases, syntax quirks, and how this feature pushes CSS closer to true conditional logic—no JavaScript required.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 01:30 Brought to you by Sentry.io
- 02:37 CSS If statements in action
- 09:08 Advanced examples and the attribute function
- 13:43 Mixing If statements with media queries
- 16:54 Can’t this be done with classes?
- 18:16 The future of CSS: declarative APIs
- 21:10 Is CSS now a programming language?
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11 June 2025, 11:00 am - 39 minutes 6 seconds909: Handling and Throwing Errors
We break down how to properly throw, catch, and log errors in JavaScript and TypeScript. They cover client-side and server-side strategies, using tools like Sentry, and how to handle errors without taking down your whole app.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
-
01:19 Error terminology.
- 01:42 Thrown and catching.
- 03:01 What’s in an error.
- 08:19 Throwing errors.
- 12:01 Promise errors.
- 17:14 Re-throwing errors.
- 18:12 Client-side errors.
- 25:26 Server errors.
- 30:09 Logging and solving errors.
- 36:16 TypeScript and errors.
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9 June 2025, 11:00 am - 50 minutes 13 seconds908: Storybook Has Evolved w/ Jeppe Reinhold
Wes and Scott talk with Jeppe Reinhold about Storybook 9’s powerful new features—including drastically reduced bloat, seamless Vite integration, and next-level component testing. They dive into visual regression testing, accessibility, performance, and best practices for writing robust, isolated UI components developers can actually enjoy testing and documenting.
Show Notes- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 01:40 What is Storybook?
- 03:48 How Storybook makes component design easier
- 04:41 Vite integration and compatibility with other tools
- 06:50 Storybook’s significantly smaller bundle size
- 13:31 Upgrading to Storybook 9
- 17:34 Testing components with Storybook
- 19:51 How do you write a component “story”?
- 24:29 Brought to you by Sentry.io
- 24:54 How visual testing works
- 28:38 How Storybook makes money
- 29:33 Best practices for component design
- 32:24 Mocking and testing strategies
- 34:49 Accessibility testing
- 40:51 Add-ons and future features
- 44:43 Storybook’s documentation
- 46:33 Sick Picks + Shameless plugs
- Jeppe: JBL Boombox 3 Wi-Fi
- Jeppe: chromatic
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