Friday Issue Nr.146

2025-11-14

back

This Friday is all about the rise of TypeScript: AI influence has made it the most used language on GitHub. The roundup of why startups still choose React also covers Angular, Vue and Svelte, with the latter keeping the satisfaction crown. Dig into a detailed look at source maps internals, and HTMX leaping to fetch() with a major breaking change in v4.0. For the CSS crowd, check out high-performance syntax highlighting, container queries, and fun with line-clamp and view transitions. The week brings mixed headlines too: the ever-confusing UK/EU cookie law news, clever accessibility tips, and technology that turns brain scans into rough thought captions. And for pure fun, Friday’s Scope Creep game. Happy Reading!

JavaScript News

The state of GitHub in 2025

Loads of data, but most interestingly, it appears that AI has pushed Typescript into becoming the most used language on GitHub.

https://github.blog/news-insights/octoverse/octoverse-a-new-developer-joins-github-every-second-as-ai-leads-typescript-to-1/

and this one also is interesting

https://github.blog/developer-skills/programming-languages-and-frameworks/typescripts-rise-in-the-ai-era-insights-from-lead-architect-anders-hejlsberg/

Using Atomic State to Improve React Performance

Isn’t it a bit strange that you need to use third-party libraries to improve performance for the library? Maybe. React gives you freedom to use Context, Redux, Jotai, Zustand or whatever else, but I would prefer an out-of-the-box solution.

https://runharbor.com/blog/2025-10-26-improving-deeply-nested-react-render-performance-with-jotai-atomic-state

Why startups choose React

Actually, the post reviews React, Vue, Svelte and Angular. There are some interesting findings, and my favourite is that Svelte maintains the highest satisfaction, which I agree with.

https://evilmartians.com/chronicles/why-startups-choose-react-and-when-you-should-not

How source maps work

That is a great deep dive into how source maps are structured, encoded, decoded and how they work under the hood.

https://www.polarsignals.com/blog/posts/2025/11/04/javascript-source-maps-internals

HTMX 4.0

The owner promised that there would never be HTMX 3.0, and he kept this promise. So, there is HTMX 4.0, and the main change is that it has moved from XMLHttpRequest to fetch(). Also, this is a breaking change, and they promise to keep v2.0 updated for years while offering v4.0 as the next version.

https://htmx.org/essays/the-fetchening/

The Web Animation Performance Tier List

https://motion.dev/blog/web-animation-performance-tier-list

HTML & CSS News

Syntax highlighting with CSS highlights API

“The CSS Custom Highlight API provides a way to style arbitrary text ranges without modifying the DOM structure.”

https://pavi2410.com/blog/high-performance-syntax-highlighting-with-css-highlights-api/

The forgotten power of URLs

https://alfy.blog/2025/10/31/your-url-is-your-state.html

How much do web elements know about things around themselves?

There is a long list of information they know, for example, user preferences, device size, orientation, and the number of items in the container, among others.

https://nerdy.dev/components-can-know

CSS Container Queries

Interesting example of how to use Container queries units.

https://ryanmulligan.dev/blog/transition-to-the-other-side/

Accessibility story

Can we trust browsers with accessibility, and why do we use outline:0 ?

https://medienbaecker.com/articles/trusting-the-browser

View Transition examples

Practical example with table sorting and form filling with steps.

https://piccalil.li/blog/some-practical-examples-of-view-transitions-to-elevate-your-ui/

CSS line-clamp

We all know the old trick with overflow:hidden; white-space:nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis , but there is also a multiline clamp available.

1
p {
2
  /* Safari & Firefox */
3
  -webkit-line-clamp: 3;
4
  display: -webkit-box;
5
  -webkit-box-orient: vertical;
6
  overflow: hidden;
7
  
8
  /* Chromium */
9
  line-clamp: 3;
10
}

https://blog.logrocket.com/css-line-clamp

All about anchors and how to position them

https://frontendmasters.com/blog/perfectly-pointed-tooltips-a-foundation/

Mixed News

Europe’s cookie law messed up the internet

Right, this is more than nothing if the idea of the proposal will be in discussion by the end of 2025, then by the end of 2026, maybe there will be changes in the Digital Fairness Act and then probably another 2-3 years to accept and a few years to implement the solution in browsers. There is a hope. Somewhere.

https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-cookie-law-messed-up-the-internet-brussels-sets-out-to-fix-it/

You should write an Agent

The best way to truly grasp agents (and their limits or possibilities) is to build one yourself. Whether you're a fan or a sceptic, hands-on experience is critical to making real judgments about the tech.

https://fly.io/blog/everyone-write-an-agent/

Scope Creep - an interactive game you always wanted to play (on Fridays)

https://scope-creep.xyz/

Brain scans and AI

In short, technology can’t read the thoughts of random people. However, using AI and brain scans, it can caption human thought. This technology could create communication tools for patients with paralysis, or perhaps it could even develop new interfaces that allow us to use our minds to control physical devices literally. Feels like living in a Sci-Fi book.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/researchers-develop-mind-captioning-using-brain-scans-and-ai

Comment on BlueSky and Mastodon

Andris Švarcs

Somehow, I've survived over 15 years as a web developer without losing my interest in the craft. Quite the opposite, with so many great improvements in the Web standards, what was nearly impossible now is easy to make.

My career has been a wild ride through small agencies and big corporations, building everything from finance apps to health dashboards.

I'm that annoying person who needs to understand products beyond just slinging code. I ask questions like 'Why is this feature important?' and 'How will this improve the customer journey?' – you know, the kind of questions that make project managers reach for the pint aspirin. This curiosity has led me down the rabbit holes of design, accessibility, and SEO. Because apparently, making websites pretty, usable, and findable wasn't challenging enough on its own.

P.S. If this bio sounds too polished, blame my evil AI twin. I'm still working on teaching it sarcasm.

Copyright © since 2021, Andris Švarcs. All rights reserved.

Lets connect

bluesky

youtube

linkedin