March 2020 Summaries

Scoping down work into manageable pull requests (PRs) is essential for developers, as it reduces cognitive load on reviewers, makes testing easier, and facilitates iteration. Small PRs are easier to review, test, and iterate on, reducing the risk of side effects and making it clearer what changes are being made. To scope down work, developers can use tools such as clear expectations of output, branching, labels, feature flags, and tracking what's left. By breaking down large projects into smaller pieces, reviewers can focus on one task at a time, and teams can work more efficiently, with fewer side effects and less mental overhead. Additionally, using the Single Responsibility Principle and limiting the number of changes in each PR can also make review and iteration easier.

You can configure your custom domain name in Netlify DNS, which impacts both how people find your site and the kind of site performance they experience. When using Netlify DNS, you have three primary options: a bare domain (no subdomain) or a subdomain on Netlify, or a bare domain with another DNS provider. The recommended setup is to use a subdomain that uses the www. prefix and sets up CNAME records to map it to your Netlify site's URL. This configuration allows for fast page load times regardless of where visitors are located, thanks to advanced traffic direction and routing around network-level issues. Using an A record on the bare domain can also be done with a static IP address from Netlify, but this doesn't allow for advanced traffic direction. Ultimately, using a subdomain is recommended for optimal performance and flexibility in managing DNS records.

Netlify has improved its build pipeline, allowing large site deployments on Netlify to be nearly twice as fast. This change will benefit JAMstack sites with 10,000 files or more, enabling them to deploy without timing out. The improvement was achieved by shifting heavy load operations to the end and deduplicating efforts, while also expanding concurrency and maturity in testing and observability. With this faster deploy functionality, users can iterate faster, respond to minor requests quicker, and roll back changes instantly, all while maintaining stability and reliability through Netlify's multi-cloud Application Delivery Network with a 99.99% SLA.

Migrating a WordPress site to the Jamstack involves setting up a new Gatsby site, installing necessary plugins like WPGraphQL and WPGraphiQL, creating pages from WordPress data using GraphQL queries, adding a shared layout and styles, creating pages from WordPress posts, using WordPress settings to configure the Gatsby site, deploying the site to Netlify using the Netlify CLI, and automatically triggering deploys whenever changes are made in WordPress. The process involves several key steps, including setting up a new Gatsby site, installing necessary plugins, querying for WordPress data using GraphQL, creating pages from that data, adding styles and layouts, deploying the site to Netlify, and configuring WordPress settings to trigger automatic deploys when content is updated. With these steps, developers can create a fully functional Jamstack frontend for their WordPress sites, automating the rebuild process whenever code or content changes.

Netlify is offering free services for six months to individuals and community members creating sites, apps, and tools that help people understand the COVID-19 pandemic. These services include a free Pro Team Plan with unlimited collaborators, unlimited bandwidth and build minutes, and free add-ons such as Analytics and Identity. The company believes that this opportunity can help people around the world access vital information during these uncertain times. Netlify has partnered with Contentful to deliver a customizable template website for COVID-19 news, and individuals interested in building their own site must submit an application to qualify.

What do you need to do if you have an existing site running on complex infrastructure and want to start serving some of that site from the Jamstack? Thankfully, there is a simple solution using the high performance layer of logic possible at the Netlify CDN. By adding a single line of configuration to a _redirects file or netlify.toml, we can catch all requests for URLs which can be satisfied by assets deployed to the CDN and proxy others through to existing infrastructure. This approach enables wildcard proxying of all paths requested on our domain through to an equivalent path of another resource, making it incredibly fast and perfect for gradually introducing Jamstack to your stack or managing a complete migration from legacy stack to Jamstack.

The Netlify schematics have been tested and published to npm, allowing users to create and manage their Angular projects more efficiently. The testing process involved reviewing the initial test file, adding tests for file creation and editing, building and running the schematics, and publishing them to npm. The schematics now include a `netlify-config` file that can be used to configure Netlify settings, as well as a `.gitignore` file that includes the private config file. The testing process ensured that the files were created and edited correctly, and the schematics are now available for use by others in the Angular community.

The text discusses creating Netlify schematics for Angular projects, focusing on the process of generating a blank schematic, setting up ng-add functionality, making the schema, and creating configuration files. The author provides an overview of how to create a new file with sensitive information and edit or create a .gitignore file. They also introduce the concept of tree manipulation using the `Tree` object from `@angular-devkit/schematics`. Additionally, they provide resources for further learning on building Angular Jamstack apps and managing developer experience.

The JAMstack architecture is experiencing rapid growth in popularity among developers, but understanding its community and best practices can be challenging due to the numerous options available. To address this issue, a community survey is being conducted to gather insights into the types of sites being built with the JAMstack, tools used, and common pain points faced by users. The survey aims to provide reassurance that developers are making good choices and gain a better understanding of the ecosystem as a whole. The results will be shared online and at JAMstack conference events, offering valuable information for both newcomers and experienced professionals in the community.

The author aims to make development processes for Angular and Netlify seamless and easy, leveraging Angular Schematics and ng add functionality. They created a resource to help users create their own schematics project, which currently adds a `netlify.toml` file with build command information and a `netlifyConfig.json` file with API credentials, ensuring sensitive data remains local. Users can find the current version of the Netlify schematics in a repository and run it by executing `ng add netlify-schematics`, prompting for project information such as build command, directory, Netlify API ID, Personal Access Token, and project name. The author plans to continue evolving this project and invites users to provide feedback or requests through the Netlify Community.

JAMstack Conf London update: now an online event due to public health risks related to coronavirus (COVID-19), the event will bring the global JAMstack community together virtually at the end of May, with registrants receiving a refund and registration for the virtual event opening soon. The conference is still planned as an in-person event, October 6-7, 2020, in San Francisco, with interest forms available for attendees to receive updates as the event approaches. The online event will feature a revised sponsorship prospectus and discussions on sponsorship options for the virtual event in May.

The term "JAMstack" has grown in popularity over the past 5 years since its coinage by Netlify co-founders Matt Biilmann and Chris Bach, with a flexible and far-reaching approach to web development that is sometimes misunderstood due to its simplicity. To address this, freeCodeCamp created an extended video explaining the core principles of JAMstack, common misconceptions, and providing examples starting with simple cases and gradually increasing complexity. The video covers topics such as hosting architectures, static assets vs static experiences, security, performance, and enables of the architectural model including static site generators, tooling and automation, browser capabilities, services, and the API economy. It also delves into specific use cases like client-side rendering targeted content and demonstrates a gradual migration to the JAMstack for existing sites, providing additional resources for further learning.

The RedwoodJS framework is a full-stack JAMstack framework that extends beyond static site generators, offering a stronger opinion on technologies used from frontend-to-backend. It builds upon open source technologies that have independently proven themselves as standalone tools, such as GraphQL, Babel/webpack, Lambda functions, and Prisma. With its convention over configuration approach and Rails-like scaffolding, RedwoodJS aims to provide a unified developer experience for dynamic apps, separating concerns between frontend and backend while maintaining a strong separation of concerns. This allows developers to take advantage of the speed of JAMstack while still having access to the features they need for their applications.

Vue 3 introduces a significant shift in how cross-component state management and reactivity work, with changes in the underlying system powering reactivity and new API syntax that makes change detection more explicit. The introduction of composition functions provides a clean, flexible way to compose logic inside and between components, allowing for encapsulation of state management related logic without added complexity or performance issues. This enables developers to manage state in a more declarative manner, reducing the need for abstracted patterns like Mixins and Higher Order Components (HOCs). The new syntax also introduces reactive state declared via `ref` and `reactive`, allowing for mutable and reactive references regardless of type.

Netlify's UX team developed a shared terminology for code reviews called the Feedback Ladder, which helps establish standards and improves communication among developers. The ladder has five levels: Mountain (blocking and requires immediate action), Boulder (blocking but doesn't require immediate action), Pebble (non-blocking but requires future action), Sand (non-blocking but requires future consideration), and Dust (non-blocking, "take it or leave it"). This system helps teams convey the severity of feedback in a concise manner, reducing communication issues and increasing shipping velocity.

Netlify has secured $53 million in Series C funding, led by EQT Ventures, to further its vision for the web and the JAMstack category. The company aims to push forward its mission to change the web with a developer-friendly platform that enables faster, leaner, more scalable and secure sites. With over 800,000 developers and businesses already on board, Netlify is now seeing rapid growth in adoption of its platform, with an estimated 8 percent of the internet population visiting a Netlify-hosted site each month. The JAMstack ecosystem has matured significantly, with new use cases emerging, including headless CMSs, site generators, and serverless functions. With this funding, Netlify plans to invest in new features for enterprise customers and grow deeper integrations with the JAMstack ecosystem.