I put the bacon on first, into a cold pan. Then, I start the burner, and – as a rising temperature begins to render the fat – I comsume the day’s first piece of media, Software Engineering Daily.

TanStack and the Future of Frontend

The episode will turn out to be a good one, and I’ll link it here for those who’ve got 50 minutes and a breakfast to cook. The host of the show rotates, and the guest is always different. Today’s host is introduced, though I can’t remember his name. He seems smart, but wimpy. The several show hosts break down along confidence lines, with some working on the mic, and others hanging on for dear life. Today’s host is in the latter category. The guest, however, is a practiced speaker. Guests on the show range from crypto-pushers to Nobel medalists, with most being highly knowledgeable, articulate technologists. It encourages me as a software engineer to know these folks are in the field, and many in San Francisco, herself.

The pair discuss JavaScript, with a focus on frameworks. Tanner (the guest) has built a framework for web development on JavaScript and React that promises to best the competition. Personally, the whole discussion feels moot; I’m working on small applications that have tens of routes, are too simple to require I learn of the performance benefits one framework may offer over another. Nevertheless, the genesis of Tanner’s project makes for compelling narrative, and to understand the technical qualities of his software could prove useful.

And bacon sizzling sounds the same as yesterday.

What do you mean, you’ve never head of Qwik?

One point in the discussion stood out. Of the many JavaScript frameworks developers use in production these days, I have stuck with NextJS, and Tanner threw shade on their nomenclature. “Client components”, he says, “are a misnomer, and actually render on the server.” Could this be true?

I was struck by how little I knew of the technical architecture behind NextJS. I had completed the Getting Started, and referenced their documentation to effectively build and deploy applications, such as a fitness tracker, and a blog. I’d placed the 'use client'; directive at the top of my components, and – presto! – React Hooks worked (again)! I’d sequesterd data fetching logic to the (default) server components, under the vague notion that it was a more secure “best practice”. This change to my understanding revealed knowledge gaps that I sought to fill. I wanted to interrupt the podcast, and ask for clarification.

A good host is responsible for focusing the discussion. I’ve shut down episodes when I realized the content was beyond comprehension. I wanted [the host] tp pipe up and ask Tanner to explain. But I could only listen.

Interactive Podcasts

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