egghead.io developer chats

In this episode of What's Good, Joel Hooks sits down with Dev Agrawal, a member of the SolidJS core team, to discuss the evolving landscape of web development, AI-assisted coding, and modern framework architecture.
Episode Highlights
SolidJS and Modern Framework Architecture
Detailed comparison between SolidJS and React, highlighting key advantages
Deep dive into Suspense implementation and reactive state management
Overview of Dev's work on cross-boundary reactivity in SolidJS
Discussion of his $7,000 Solid Hack competition winning project
Exploration of stateful server components with WebSocket updates
AI-Assisted Development
Discussion of AI agents managing tasks and grooming backlogs during meetings
Exploration of using AI tools like Cursor for development
Joel shares his experience building JoelFit, a full-stack application developed primarily through AI prompting
Analysis of AI's current limitations and the importance of human guidance in development
Emerging Technologies and Trends
Analysis of React Server Components and their impact on the ecosystem
Discussion of Cloudflare Durable Objects as individual compute units
Introduction to Zero Sync and its implications for local-first applications
Exploration of incremental view maintenance and its performance benefits
Overview of Vite 6's improvements for server components and meta frameworks
Featured Projects and Resources
JoelFit (code) - Joel's AI-assisted development project on github
Solid Suspense Demo v2 - Dev's demo showcasing Solid's advantages
Building Asynchronous UIs Without the Hassle - Dev's conference talk
Key Takeaways
SolidJS offers built-in support for async operations without React's bailout issues
The entire Solid ecosystem was built with suspense support from v1
Durable Objects are often misunderstood - they're individual compute units rather than just shared state
Zero Sync's incremental view maintenance pairs particularly well with Solid's architecture
React has moved away from traditional SPA towards full-stack architecture
Framework choices continue to evolve with different approaches to reactivity and state management
Connect with Dev
Watch Dev's talk on Building Asynchronous UIs Without the Hassle
Check out his Solid Suspense Demo
Note: This episode was recorded in January 2024 and discusses emerging technologies and trends in web development.

Dax Raad, known for his strong opinions on Twitter, sat down for a chat about web dev, career moves, and building cool stuff. He's not afraid to throw some heat at popular tools like Next.js, though he still helps people use it. Dax is particularly excited about local-first development, which he thinks isn't getting enough attention. He argues that sometimes the best web dev move is to step away from web dev entirely and explore other areas of programming.
When it comes to career growth, Dax encourages developers to think beyond the "web dev" label and see themselves as programmers capable of tackling any challenge. He advocates for trying out weird stuff and learning unusual languages, as these experiences can lead to unexpected opportunities. Taking smart risks in your career can open doors to awesome possibilities.
In the business world, Dax is a fan of making "asymmetric bets" - moves with low downside but huge potential upside. He applies this philosophy to his work on SST, reasoning that even if it fails, he'll walk away with valuable experience. He also emphasizes the importance of resisting quick payouts in favor of potentially bigger wins down the road.
Looking to the future of tech, Dax is betting on local-first development. He sees potential in getting in early on emerging technologies like Solid.js. Building in public and making connections in new tech communities can pay off in unexpected ways.
Dax also challenges the notion of constant hyper-productivity in tech. He suggests balancing focused work with time for exploration and learning. Sometimes, he points out, what seems like a "dumb" choice (like learning a niche language) can turn out to be a smart career move in the long run.
Good Stuff Mentioned
Next.js
Vercel
SST
Elixir
Solid.js
RepliCache
Linear
Remix
Shopify
React

Dev and Joel discuss React Miami conference, praising its fun atmosphere and location. They chat about React Server Components, with Dev sharing his experience building a mini framework. They talk about Vinxi, Nitro, and the unjs ecosystem as tools for creating custom frameworks. The conversation touches on Vue's popularity outside web dev circles and non-web dev conferences. They discuss the benefits of TypeScript and strongly-typed APIs. Dev mentions his upcoming talk on durable objects at a conference in Dallas. They end by discussing WebSockets, PartyKit, and platform-specific frameworks.
What's Good?
-React Miami Conference
Brenley Dueck's blog post on Simple RSC with Vinxi:
Vinxi
Nitro
unjs ecosystem
Solid Start
TanStack Router
PartyKit
Durable Objects (Cloudflare)
Flightcontrol
SST
OpenNext

Alex took spent the last year and a half creating his course, The Ultimate Guide to Understanding DOM Events, at egghead. Finding the time to work on a side-project like this isn't easy, and it requires one to examine their current priorities in life. Do they want to be a rockstar developer? Or do you want to have a lot of free time to spend with your family?
No matter what sacrifices have to be made. But the best way to handle it is to have candid discussions with the people around you who will be affected the most by these sacrifices. Alex worked it out so that he'd work on his course one day a week.
Despite the cost in time, side-projects are important to Alex. He says that he wouldn't be where he is now in his career without them. They enabled him to grow as a software engineer and to learn things that he wouldn't be able to during his day job. Because of this, he was able to get a more complete picture of how all the pieces fit together, which made him a better dev.
So remember, really be careful about what you are committing yourself to when you take on a large project.
Resources
Master DOM Events
Alex Reardon
Twitter
Website
Taylor Bell
Twitter
Website

Ryan’s background as a musician taught him many lessons that would eventually apply to his current career. As a musician, he learned about composition, sales, and even programming so he could build his band a website.
Ryan also had an actual sales job where he learned that you can do something so well that you’ll be unable to do it anymore. In sales that meant being good at generating leads which lead to a lot of clients which lead to ceasing to generate leads. But, that eventually lead to you have no clients because you let your stream of leads dry up.
It’s easy to become so narrowly focused on what’s in front of you that you get blindsided by what’s coming down the pipeline 6 months from now.
React changed the front-end landscape. We went from having a mutation-based approach to a functional approach. But, React has made it so easy to write code that we are forgetting our fundamentals. React websites are becoming bloated.
Remix’s goal is to bring back the Web 1.0 ways of doing things that lead to lean, performant websites. It’s Web 1.0 that is progressively enhanced with React and React Router.
“The technology that sticks, and wins, is the technology that can sneak its way into your existing stack because no one wants to rewrite!” Remix is built on this philosophy, allowing you to incrementally incorporate Remix into your existing application.
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Resources
Michael Jackson’s YouTube video on component composition
Remix
Ryan Florence
Twitter
Website
Joel Hooks
Twitter
Website