January 2018 Summaries

The author, a developer, explores the challenges of handling API data in component-driven applications, particularly when dealing with multiple calls to fetch data from APIs like Contentful. They discuss various approaches, including abstracting API calls into models or utilities, using state management libraries like Redux or Vuex, and implementing the "render props" pattern. The author finds that the "render props" pattern provides a clean way to handle API calls in React and Preact applications, allowing them to define the visual presentation while hiding the complexity of the API call. They also discuss how this pattern can be adapted for use with Vue.js, leveraging scoped slots to pass data into the component's content. The author concludes that this approach makes it easy to fetch data in simple apps following a component mindset, but recognizes the need for proper abstractions when dealing with significant complexity.

Contentful-Wizard is a JavaScript library that helps authors and content editors visualize entries and content types in their applications, making it easier to understand the visual relationship between elements and their corresponding content. The library creates links to the respective entries in the Contentful web app, allowing users to discover more about the content. It can be customized and supports easy integration with modern JS frameworks, usage via npm or as a standalone .js file, and provides a thorough explanation of its features in the README.md. The library is an example of how Contentful's extendable architecture can be used to implement custom components, and it offers a roadmap for future features.

Today, we're excited to announce the release of incoming links, a new API search parameter that allows you to specify an entry or asset ID and returns all entries that contain a link to that entry in any of its fields. The feature is designed to simplify navigation and management of content graphs by making it easier to identify and update linked entries. This release addresses a common pain point for users who manage large amounts of content, where updating individual pages can be time-consuming and navigating the hierarchy can be complex. With incoming links, users can now easily visualize and remove circular references in their content model, track obsolete entries, and anticipate the impact of actions on child entries. The feature is available both through the API and in the web app, providing a more streamlined experience for users.

In this article, the author discusses augmented reality (AR) and Google's ARCore library, which allows developers to build AR apps on Android devices. The author uses ARCore to create a pirate-themed app that can display multiple objects, including action figures, in a virtual environment. The app extends the original ARCore demo by adding new features such as rendering different objects and layout rendering. The author provides an example of how to add custom textures and layouts to the AR scene, allowing for more flexibility in creating AR content. The article concludes with a call to action to explore the ARCore guide from Google Developers and build own AR apps.