Installing dotenv and trying to use it in a React app that was generated with Webpack 5 can be a frustrating process, but it is very doable. Finding information on this exact scenario was difficult, so I decided to make a quick guide after getting it up and running. After…

*note, the following article may contain affiliate links Over the last year or so, I have been getting contacted by dozens of aspiring developers and recent coding bootcamp graduates, so I thought I would write an article that covers some of the most common questions I get. I’m interested in…

A guide on how to keep track of counts in React by using the ‘useRef’ hook. — If you’ve ever tried updating a counter in React with the useState hook, you have probably run into some issues. Maybe an infinite loop, or maybe you just can’t seem to access the right value. Fortunately, there is a better way! The useRef hook can be used to store a…

I have a long complicated history with music and education. I have a couple of Master’s degrees and I taught myself music for a few years. I mostly taught piano, although my goal and my wish were to become a music theory/ear training teacher. As a software developer today, I…

Go is an interesting language to try out. It’s strongly typed and compiled. In spite of this, I feel like there is some nice flexibility with how we can declare variables. Here are three different ways to declare a string variable. The first way uses both the var keyword along…

I typically write tech articles but I occasionally talk about music as well. Considering that I am a musician, maybe I should do that more often! …

Sometimes we wish a JavaScript object was an array. Maybe we need to loop over it or map it, or even just see if there is anything in there. Fortunately, there is an easy way to do this with Object.keys(). Consider the following object which contains three color keys with…

A Bootcamp is invaluable for a developer but they don’t teach you everything. — Are you thinking about going to coding bootcamp? Interested in being a web developer? It is an excellent career path and I can highly recommend the bootcamp route, which I did. …

When making a site compatible for mobile devices, various things come to mind (hamburger menus, CSS magic, toggling device toolbar in Chrome). Using CSS media queries is probably your fastest step toward making your site display differently on different devices with only CSS. I’ll spare you the details on what…