Hey there,

Mads here with another issue of the Top 3 in Tech newsletter - the most valuable dev newsletter on the web*

*if you ask me.

Let's dive right into it:

​

1. Keeping up with the Codeashians

Development is one of the fastest moving industries in the world.

This is mostly a good thing. It means that the industry as a whole is constantly learning, evolving and improving. New tools, libraries, frameworks and programming languages are constantly popping up to help us better solve modern problems.

There's just one minor issue: It puts a lot of stress on developers to constantly learn new tech.

Example: I've been using VueJS for about 5 years at this point, and have just started looking into the newest version, Vue 3. And while I'm excited to learn it and make use of the cool new features, a part of me still feels like "ugh, do I really have to relearn a tool that's been working for me for 5 years?"

Code is already difficult in and of itself. And it doesn't get easier when you have to pick up new knowledge and tools all the time. This is where lots of developers get burned out - because they feel obligated to keep up with the fast-moving ecosystem

So, what can you do about it? How do you keep your skills sharp while avoiding burnout? I've got a few ideas:

1. Realize that you can never know everything. And that's okay. There's nothing wrong with sticking to the tools you already know and love if they get the job done.
2. Wait before jumping on the hottest new thing. When a big update or new tool comes out, give it some time to mature before you dive in. That will already filter out the tools that don't make it, and you'll avoid the headaches of being a first-mover.
3. Stay focused on the fundamentals. For front-end developers, having a solid understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript means we can easily adjust to any new front-end tech that comes along. Since it's all, at the end of the day, built on these technologies anyway.

Keeping up with the industry is a tricky balance to be sure. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with playing around with new tools if you enjoy it.

Just stay mindful of when you're learning something for fun and to test it out - or when you have to learn something new. You probably don't need to do the latter as often as you'd think.

PS: I absolutely stole the "Keeping up with the Codeashians" phrase from one of my favourite web development podcasts, syntax.fm. They did an episode on this exact topic some time ago; check that out here if you're interested.

​

2. State of CSS 2022

​You might remember last time, where I shared the "State of Frontend 2022" survey results. Well, today we're going one step further: with the State of CSS 2022 by Google!

The report looks into all the amazing new CSS features in 2022, how to use them, and their browser support. It covers cool stuff like subgrid, container queries, CSS layering etc.

You can either check out a video breakdown of the new features here (18:53):

Or, if you prefer written content, there's an accompanying article here:

​The State of CSS 2022​

​

3. Terminal for front-end devs

The final pick for now is another great article by Josh W Comeau - one of the best teachers on the web.

The article is called "The Front-End Developer's Guide to the Terminal". It breaks down why, and how, you should get started with the terminal as a front-end developer. It's a very overlooked topic, and most tutorials always just expect familiarity with the terminal when they tell you to run commands like "npm install".

The article gives you a much better introduction to the terminal. And even if you're pretty comfortable with it already, you'll likely pick up some nice tips and tricks:

​Read The Front-End Developer's Guide to the Terminal here​

​

Did you enjoy today's newsletter?

​👍 Yes, it was amazing!​

​😐 Eh, I guess it was ok​

​👎 Not really at all​

​

​

That's it for now! I would really appreciate if you would share the newsletter with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email or copy/paste the link mads.fyi/top3 on other platforms. It really helps to keep me motivated and let the newsletter grow. See you in 2 weeks ✌

— Mads Brodt