Published in ITNEXT·Jul 28, 2019Animating Visibility with CSS: An Example of React HooksBuild a reusable, functional animation component for using React Hooks. — Animations delight users. And you’d think, by the sheer volume of articles, that React Hooks delight developers. But for me, fatigue was starting to creep into my opinions on Hooks. But serendipity saved me, as I found an example that was a good match for React Hooks, rather than just…JavaScript7 min readJavaScript7 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Aug 27, 2018How to secure Microservices on AWS with Cognito, API Gateway, and LambdaHandling auth is painful. But most applications need to authenticate users and control what resources they can access. Microservices, though growing in popularity, can add complexity. You need to secure both the user’s actions and the interactions between services. AWS offers some great building blocks for…AWS9 min readAWS9 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Feb 16, 2017How to build animated microinteractions in ReactMicrointeractions guide a user through your application. They reinforce your user experience and provide delight. You may have seen some of the slick examples of microinteractions on Dribble or CodePen. But do you know how to build your own library of similar UI widgets? In this article, I’ll focus on…React8 min readReact8 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Feb 13, 2017If we build it, why would anyone care?A prospective founder must ask: is my idea viable? But this question also must be addressed throughout the startup’s life. This story is my cheat sheet for evaluating the viability and strategy of startups. I spent 10 years with Pivotal Labs (now Pivotal), working with hundreds of startups. Some like…Startups7 min readStartups7 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Jan 30, 2017Share Code between React and React Native AppsDevelopers are adopting Higher Order Components (HOC) Stateless Functional Components, and for good reason: they make it easier to achieve code reuse, a coveted aspiration of developers. There are many articles on HOC and Functional Stateless Components. …React10 min readReact10 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Jan 12, 2017How to build an Electron app using create-react-app. No webpack configuration or “ejecting” necessary.I recently built an Electron app using create-react-app. I didn’t need to muck about with Webpack, or “eject” my app, either. I’ll walk you through how I accomplished this. I was drawn to the idea of using create-react-app because it hides the webpack configuration details. But my search for existing…JavaScript7 min readJavaScript7 min read
Published in justideas.io·Dec 14, 2016Explaining the Joy of Refactoring (to the non-developer)I thought of the above sketch when I recently was explaining why refactoring can be joyous for a developer. A common workflow pattern is to make something work, however you can. Once you have it working, you clean up your code (refactor), such that the external behavior/functionality is unchanged, but…1 min read1 min read
Published in justideas.io·Nov 20, 2016Debugging tests in WebStorm and create-react-appTL;DR: Here is a GitHub repo that has a create-react-app project with necessary dev dependencies and the WebStorm run configurations. npm install and open the project in Webstorm. You can set a breakpoint in App.test.js and run the Tests configuration in debug mode to try it out. (This has only…Reactjs3 min readReactjs3 min read
Published in justideas.io·Oct 27, 2016The Field of Dreams TestWe all know the line; but a startup should ask: “If we build it, will anyone care?” It can be very tempting to jump to developing an idea and then get caught up in the excitement of creative flow and possibilities. …Startups3 min readStartups3 min read
Published in justideas.io·Oct 23, 2016North Star Questions and PrinciplesI think it is easy to lose focus, especially in a startup. There is always too much to do, so much to learn and explore, changing pressures, limited resources…and the list goes on. For me, I gain comfort and clarity from North Star Questions and Principles. These are a few…Strategy2 min readStrategy2 min read
