Recent Posts

  A few weeks ago, the team I work on, AWS Amplify, launched brand new authentication components for React, Vue, and Angular. I want to give…

What is Amplify Studio? One of the most exciting projects I've worked on in my career, AWS Amplify Studio, just launched at Re:Invent in…

Frontend developers! Have you ever wondered why to choose a certain type of database for a project, how to create an API, how to deploy to…

AWS Amplify recently added support for Next.js 10 features, including incremental static regeneration, optional catch all routes, and image…

I first used GraphQL on a project right after its launch in 2015, and to be honest I didn't understand why we were using it. Over the years…

AWS Amplify added support for implementing Sign in with Apple to your apps! In this tutorial we'll start from zero by creating an Apple…

In this tutorial, we'll be building out a site that uses Stripe to create a checkout system, then that triggers an AWS Lambda Function…

In this tutorial, we'll be talking about authorization and how to implement it with AWS Amplify's DataStore. First, let's get on the same…

Next.js is one of my favorite tools for web development -- but it's a frontend framework. How can you build a fullstack application with it…

AWS Amplify just announced server-side rendering deployment support for Next.js ! Here's a quick guide on how to deploy both an SSR and an…

I've used Create React App non-stop to scaffold React apps, and I love it. Recently, though, I've been using Next.js for more and more…

Acronyms are always fun -- they're helpful for reducing the effort of saying out a full long-winded technical term, but they can also look…

Like many things, productivity systems are deeply personal and subjective. But, I've learned so much from other people's posts on their…

I recently had a conversation with some colleagues about whether I as a web developer often needed to have data available both offline and…

Many developers don't like the idea of low or no code, yet they use tooling to dramatically lower the amount of code they need to write…

Whenever I post a picture of my desk, I get asked what's on it, so I thought I should write it all down! First, here's a picture of the…

I am so, so excited about the brand new Amplify Admin UI, which the team that I'm on at work launched this week. You can create and…

Teaching code has been a large part of my life -- I was an education minor in college before I left to become a software engineer, and I've…

AWS Amplify uses code generation to create GraphQL queries for you when you add an API. This is super handy, but say you want to add a…

One of my favorite blogging tips is using diff formatting in GitHub flavored markdown. I use this to show what has changed in code snippets…

Did you know that you can create multiple files with the same name but different extensions all at once using the CLI? Bash/Zsh/Fish etc…

You can use props.children in React in order to access and utilize what you put inside the open and closing tags when you are creating an…

I wanted to write up some thoughts and a quick tutorial on one of my favorite development tools, Storybook. You can use Storybook which…

Amazon S3 was the first AWS service I ever used, which I would guess is a pretty common occurrence -- it's pretty simple and allows you to…

I really like adding rainbow text to my apps 🌈. There are three methods I usually use for this, so I thought I'd aggregate them into one…

You can read from a text file in Python using the open function. First, create a file with some text in it. Mine is named input.txt and…

Did you know that you can center an HTML element horizontally and vertically in just a few lines of code using CSS Flexbox? First, we need a…

You can create a card layout with just a few lines of CSS Grid code! First, we need a parent HTML element with some child elements inside it…

You most likely visit websites almost every day, whether to interact with friends on social media, to shop, to do work, or thousands of…

One of the most challenging but exciting parts of being a programmer is that the field is constantly evolving and the learning is never done…

A few weeks ago, I joined the AWS Amplify team as a Senior Developer Advocate. I am really excited to be working on a product that makes…

A few years ago, I wrote an introductory React tutorial based on a workshop I taught. Since that point in history, I've taught hundreds of…

I have been open about the fact that remote work is very difficult for me. I'm an extrovert, and the social environment at work helps to…

Almost two years ago, I donated almost everything I owned and left DC. I was at a job I was unhappy at, and I didn't know my future. I…

Have you ever felt like you just aren’t smart enough or like you’re incapable of being a programmer? Have you ever felt like an imposter and…

First off, productivity is all about balance. You will not be fully productive if you don't take breaks, don't get enough sleep, or you don…

My favorite technology discovery of 2019 was Hasura . It makes getting up and running with a full Postgres + GraphQL backend a breeze…

I absolutely love reading. At the time of writing this, I've read 25 books so far this year. Since reading is such a big part of my self…

There are so many things I wish I knew before I became a professional developer. Or a professional at all. I know I'm in a position of…

This post may seem out of place on a site for programmers, but I wanted to write something from zero. What even is programming? And, what…

Vue.js is a frontend framework that is optimized for progressive integration. That means you can have a large app with only a couple Vue…

CSS defines the way things look on your websites. HTML is your content, JavaScript adds interaction, but the appearance comes down to CSS…

When I think about who I would like to work with as a programmer, I think so much more about non-technical skills than technical skills that…

Writing blog posts can be pretty tricky -- it's hard to come up with a topic to write about let alone actually create the content. I've been…

If you're interested in learning React with Hooks first, check out the 2020 re-write of this post! I want to get back into writing more…

I will preface this by saying that I'm not professionally a designer. That being said, I like building pretty things and have had some…

Last week, I shared my tips for new developers and how to start coding. I also wanted to share my favorite free resources for learning how…

The most common question I get from blog readers is "What is your advice for new programmers?" So, I thought it was time to write up my…

According to GitHub, I have had a portfolio site since September 1st, 2016. And, according to Google Analytics, I got less than 300 views on…

As a follow up to my post on my text editor setup, I wanted to write about the other key part of my development setup -- my terminal…

As a follow up to my post from March on blogging as a developer , I wanted to give my tips for doing public speaking events as a developer…

I am a little bit obsessed with writing clean code. Code should be written for future developers (including yourself) and extendability…

"Framework" is a word used a lot in relation to code. So, what even is a framework? When we talk about frameworks, those frameworks normally…

I love the text editor setup I've been using for the past year and a half, so I want to show off my setup! Visual Studio Code has far…