If you've ever wondered how chat applications like Slack, Discord, or WhatsApp work behind the scenes, this tutorial will show you. You'll build a real-time chat server from scratch using Go, learning the fundamental concepts that power modern commun...  ( 36 min )

Today Quincy Larson interviews Robby Russell. Robby created the open-source project Oh My ZSH. Oh My Zsh is a framework for managing your Zsh configuration for your command line terminal. It's been extremely popular among developers for more than a d...  ( 7 min )

This issue of What’s !important is dedicated to our friends in the UK, who are currently experiencing a very miserable 43-day rain streak. Presenting: the five most interesting things to read about CSS from the last couple of weeks. Plus, the latest features from Chrome 145, and anything else you might’ve missed. TL;DR: lots of content, but also lots of rain. What’s !important #5: Lazy-loading iframes, Repeating corner-shape Backgrounds, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 5 min )

Designing for mental health means designing for vulnerability. Empathy-Centred UX becomes not a “nice to have” but a fundamental design requirement. Here’s a practical framework for building trust-first mental health products.  ( 21 min )

In most languages, the stack and heap are two ways a program stores data in memory, managed by the language runtime. Each is optimized for different use cases, such as fast access or flexible lifetimes. Go follows the same model, but you usually don’...  ( 11 min )

Extracting text from PDFs sounds simple until you try to do it. And it can be even more challenging for JavaScript developers, with various libraries to choose from and so on. I encountered this problem while I was building my SaaS app. I scoured thr...  ( 22 min )

Most React developers don’t break the data fetching process all at once. It usually degrades gradually, slowly. Traditionally, you may have used a useEffect here, a loading flag there, and an error state along with it to tackle data fetching. Moving ...  ( 18 min )

Learn to take a full-stack React, Go, and MongoDB application from local development to a fully containerized production environment. We just posted a full course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel that will help you master Docker orchestration,...  ( 4 min )

This is the second part of a small two-part series. In this article, we will explore another type of grid: a pyramidal one. We are still working with hexagon shapes, but a different organization of the elements., while exploring other different shapes. Making a Responsive Pyramidal Grid With Modern CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 12 min )

Nowadays, being able to present an idea, project, or achievement is a must-have skill. The ability to showcase and talk about your work can determine whether you’re getting that degree, funding, or approval. But while effective communication is impor...  ( 9 min )

For more than a decade, Heroku defined what “developer-friendly deployment” meant. Push code, forget servers, and focus on shipping features. That promise shaped an entire generation of platform-as-a-service products. In 2026, that landscape is chang...  ( 7 min )

Why Personalization Breaks Most AI Agents Personalization is one of the most requested features in AI-powered applications. Users expect an agent to remember their preferences, adapt to their style, and improve over time. In practice, personalization...  ( 12 min )

To protect your applications against threats, it’s helpful to understand the methods that attackers can use against you. We just posted a course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel that will help you master the fundamentals of cybersecurity and e...  ( 4 min )

The new contrast-color() function is not fully supported yet. But can we still implement it in a cross-browser friendly way using other new CSS features? Approximating contrast-color() With Other CSS Features originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 8 min )

Autonomy is an output of a technical system. Trustworthiness is an output of a design process. Here are concrete design patterns, operational frameworks, and organizational practices for building agentic systems that are not only powerful but also transparent, controllable, and trustworthy.  ( 22 min )

Can we make pie chart that's semantic, with flexible markup, and avoids using a JavaScript library? Here's how I tackled it. Trying to Make the Perfect Pie Chart in CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 15 min )

CSS-only bar charts are one of those things we've tackled a bunch of times in different ways. But how can modern CSS features finally make it not only trivial, but fun? CSS Bar Charts Using Modern Functions originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 6 min )

Prescriptive class name conventions are no longer enough to keep CSS maintainable in a world of increasingly complex interfaces. Can the new `@scope` rule finally give developers the confidence to write CSS that can keep up with modern front ends?  ( 15 min )

You’d think that publishing a VS Code extension is an easy process, but it’s not. You have to publish your theme in at least two places. No Hassle Visual Code Theming: Publishing an Extension originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 7 min )

Combobox vs. Multi-Select vs. Listbox vs. Dual Listbox? How they are different, what purpose they serve, and how to choose the right one. Brought to you by Design Patterns For AI Interfaces, **friendly video courses on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.  ( 12 min )

I've always thought that creating a VS Code theme was a lot of work. But lo and behold, it took less than six hours to get it working, then a day or two to polish up my final tweaks. No-Hassle Visual Studio Code Theming: Building an Extension originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 10 min )

Let’s make the most of the shortest month of the year with a new collection of desktop wallpapers that are sure to bring a smile to your face — and maybe spark your creativity, too. All of them were designed with love by the community for the community and can be downloaded for free. Happy February!  ( 15 min )

Neither Chrome, Safari, nor Firefox have shipped new features in the last couple of weeks, but fear not because leading this issue of What’s !important is some of the web development industry’s best educators with, frankly, some killer content. What’s !important #4: Videos & View Transitions, Named Media Queries, How Browsers Work, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 6 min )

AI coding tools like agents can be valuable allies in everyday development work. They help handle time-consuming grunt work, guide you through large legacy codebases, and offer low-risk ways to implement features in previously unfamiliar programming languages. Here are practical, easy-to-apply techniques to help you use these tools to improve your workflow.  ( 16 min )

The new ::search-text pseudo (Chrome 144) matches are yellow while the current target (::search-text:current) is orange, but ::search-text enables us to change that. Styling ::search-text and Other Highlight-y Pseudo-Elements originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 7 min )

Stu Robson's ReliCSS (clever name!) tool can excavate outdated CSS in your codebase that have modern CSS solutions. ReliCSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 4 min )

In CSS, we can create “stacking contexts” where elements are visually placed one on top of the next in a three-dimensional sense that creates the perception of depth. Stacking contexts are incredibly useful, but they’re also widely misunderstood and often mistakenly created, leading to a slew of layout issues that can be tricky to solve.  ( 19 min )

Accessibility advice around modals have commonly taught us to trap focus within the modal. Upon further research, it seems like we no longer need to trap focus within the (even in modal mode). There is No Need to Trap Focus on a Dialog Element originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 9 min )

A while back, Temani tacked a repeating grid of hexagon shapes. Well, he's updated it with modern CSS features that result in fewer magic numbers. And it's impressive! Responsive Hexagon Grid Using Modern CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 11 min )

The @custom-media at-rule has landed in Firefox Nightly! I couldn’t find it in the release notes but Adam Argyle’s on the beat noting that it’s behind a flag for now. Look for layout.css.custom-media.enabled I often forget the exact name of … Open Props @custom-media Recipes originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 4 min )

Developing effective agentic AI requires a new research playbook. When systems plan, decide, and act on our behalf, UX moves beyond usability testing into the realm of trust, consent, and accountability. Victor Yocco outlines the research methods needed to design agentic AI systems responsibly.  ( 22 min )

Semantic HTML does a lot more accessibility work than we usually give it credit for already — and ARIA is simple to abuse when we use it both as a shortcut and as a supplement. I Learned The First Rule of ARIA the Hard Way originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 8 min )

Amit Sheen takes a hard look at the “Pixel Perfect” legacy concept, explaining why it’s failing us and redefining what “perfection” actually looks like in a multi-device, fluid world.  ( 17 min )

I love me some good web research reports. I’m a sucker for them. HTTP Archive’s Web Almanac is one report I look forward to every year, and I know I’m not alone there. It’s one of those highly-anticipated publications on … HTTP Archive 2025 Web Almanac originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 5 min )