Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

896: Do I Still Need To Know JS/CSS/HTML with AI? × How To Sell An App × Is React Context Bad? × More

895: React Server Components: Where are we at?

Scott and Wes break down the current state of React Server Components — what they are, how they work, and why they’re so controversial. From framework support to bundling complexity, it’s everything...

894: Open Source Matters w/ Chad Whitacre

Wes and Scott talk with Chad Whitacre, the newest member of the Syntax team, about all things open source—licenses, controversies, economics, and ethics. Chad breaks down what most people misun...

893: Everyone Is Talking About MCP

Scott and Wes break down the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a new open standard that gives AI agents secure, tool-like access to your dev environment. They cover how it works, why it’s a big deal for...

892: The History of Syntax

Wes and Scott talk about the origins of Syntax, sharing how a friendly course name conflict led to a mastermind group, then a podcast, and eventually a full-blown media brand. They also reflect on...

891: Light and Dark Mode

Light mode? Dark mode? Scott and Wes break down the best ways to implement theme switching in CSS, from prefers-color-scheme to manual overrides. Plus, tips on handling shadows, icons, and the drea...

890: Accepting Money on the Internet in 2025

Wes and Scott talk about the ins and outs of accepting payments online—from choosing processors like Stripe and PayPal to handling fraud, taxes, custom checkouts, and more. Show Notes...

889: Planning A Build

Scott and Wes talk about the planning process for a major redesign of the Syntax.fm website. They share their thoughts on organizing tasks, choosing tech, handling styling, and the debates that c...

888: You Need a Monorepo × Client Only React × TanStack + More

887: Vibe Coding Is a Problem

Is Vibe Coding the future of software development or just a fun way to experiment? Scott and Wes talk about coding with AI, the risks of ignoring the details, and the cool (and sometimes cursed) proj...

886: AWS and IAC for Dummies with SST

Wes and Scott talk about Infrastructure as Code and how SST makes deploying to AWS easier than ever. They dive into SST’s features, developer experience, and how it simplifies managing services...

885: CSS Fonts Fallbacks, Variable and Trimming

Scott and Wes dig into the wild world of CSS fonts—covering fallbacks, variable fonts, and new tricks like text-box-trim. They also break down font-display, font kits, and how to avoid layout sh...

884: Typescript Just Got 10x Faster

Wes and Scott talk with Anders Hejlsberg and Daniel Rosenwasser about TypeScript’s leap to native code. They discuss the challenges, trade-offs, and the decision to port TypeScript to Go, unlocki...

883: Web Vitals Explained

What are Web Vitals, and why should you care? Scott and Wes break down metrics like LCP, FCP, CLS, and INP, explaining what they measure, how they impact your site’s performance, and how to track them...

882: Aaron Francis is putting PHP in Your JS Files

Wes and Scott talk with Aaron Francis about Fusion for Laravel, a new way to seamlessly integrate PHP into JavaScript. They discuss how Fusion expands on Inertia, its potential for React support, an...

881: What Happened to Remix. Worth Using Axios? Client Only Next.js?

Scott and Wes answer your listener questions! They debate Axios vs. Fetch, discuss whether Next.js is overkill without a backend, talk htmx and Alpine, dive into tech career transitions, and tackle...

880: Creator of Home Assistant: Web Components, Self Hosting and Home Hacking

Wes and CJ talk with Paulus Schoutsen, creator of Home Assistant, about the future of smart homes, AI-powered automation, and open-source innovation. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:29 What...

879: Fullstack Cloudflare

Wes and CJ break down everything Cloudflare—from Workers and R2 Storage to Hyperdrive and AI Gateway. Get the scoop on what makes Cloudflare tick, the quirks of their ecosystem, and whether ve...

878: You Are Sleeping On Nuxt, Nitro and Vue w/ Daniel Roe

Wes and Scott talk with Daniel Roe about Nuxt and Nitro, demystifying the UnJS ecosystem, serverless deployments, open-source sustainability, and the future of full-stack web development....

877: Tailwind 4

Tailwind 4.0 is here, and Scott and Wes break down all the spicy new features, from CSS-powered configs to first-class container queries. Plus, they dig into Tailwind Oxide, @property magic,...

876: MIDI & Music in the Browser

Wes and Scott talk about the Web Audio and Web MIDI APIs, diving into how they enable powerful music and sound manipulation in the browser. They explore MIDI messaging, synthesizing audio, crea...

875: JavaScript Signals Explained

JavaScript is missing a built-in way to make variables reactive—but Signals might change that. Scott and Wes break down what Signals are, how they compare to React state, and how different framew...

874: Fast Apps - Easy Perf Wins

Is your app feeling sluggish? Scott and Wes break down the biggest performance bottlenecks—like bloated assets, slow databases, and waterfall requests—and share easy wins to make your site feel...

873: Standard Schema: The Universal JavaScript Data Interface

Wes and Scott talk about the standard schema for data validation, a collective effort by various library authors to create a unified interface. They discuss the benefits, how it works, and its im...

872: Too much AI × Disappointed in Firefox × Planning New Projects × Hard Truths

Wes and Scott answer questions about HTML semantics, TypeScript, adapting to AI’s impact on web development, and the best and worst browsers for developers. They also tackle project planning, de...

871: Coding Agents Cursor + Windsurf Tips

Scott and Wes explore the world of coding agents, diving into tools like Cursor and Windsurf that promise to change how we write and manage code. They discuss modes, workflows, and practical tips...

870: Windsurf forked VS Code to compete with Cursor. Talking the future of AI + Coding

Wes and Scott talk with Kevin Hou and Varun Mohan from Windsurf about the evolving landscape of AI in coding, and the future of software development. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:50 The...

869: Node + TypeScript in 2025

Scott and Wes explore the experimental world of running TypeScript in Node, breaking down the differences between type stripping and compiling. They cover the pros, cons, and quirks of the curren...

868: The State of JavaScript

Wes and Scott talk about the State of JavaScript survey, tends, popular features, and the evolving landscape of tools and frameworks. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:27 Brought to you by Sen...

867: Zero Sync is the Future of Data Loading

What’s the deal with Zero Sync? Scott and Wes dive into this cutting-edge database tech, exploring its real-time interactivity, blazing-fast performance, and how it stacks up against the com...

866: 2025 Web Development Predictions

Scott and Wes look into their crystal ball to predict what’s coming in web development next year. From the rise of on-device AI to the vanilla CSS comeback, Bun’s big moves, and React’s evolution,...

865: CSS Performance × Rate Limiting × Array Sort Behavior - STUMP'd

Scott and Wes challenge each other’s knowledge on everything from array sorting quirks to browser isolation types in a rapid-fire trivia format. They dive deep into performance optimizations, TypeScr...

864: Durable Objects × Tab State Hacks × Headless CMS Choices + More

Scott and Wes ring in the new year, answering listener questions on the rise of durable objects, handling tricky tab state in e-commerce apps, and their top picks for headless CMS. They also chat abo...