Hot Web Design and Development – October 2020

Welcome to the October 2020 roundup of Web Design and Development news. This month we have seen the release of Ubuntu 20.10 which now has support to work with Raspberry Pi. Microsoft released the latest Windows 10, October update.

Table of contents

October OS Releases
Electron Alternative
Overcoming Coding Fear
Coding Resources
The Best of the Rest in October 2020

October OS Releases

Ubuntu has released its latest 20.10 version to the world entitled “Groovy Gorilla”. The latest version includes support for the Linux 5.8 Kernel and better scrolling in Firefox. One of the most welcoming tweaks is that you can rearrange the app grid. No doubt this will increase productivity being able to organise them to suit your own taste.

This is also the 1st version of Ubuntu to support installation on the Raspberry Pi 4.

Microsoft released their latest release this October. 20H2 rolls out subtle UI theme changes in the start menu which corresponds with your choice of theme. The taskbar is becoming more personalised, but, this is for new accounts only. You can rename virtual desktops and dismiss notifications once received. The control panel is being phased out in future releases so they will be in the settings app.

On a more serious note! The Windows Zerologon vulnerability has affected cisco routers and NAS devices.

I recommend that you check to see if any of your devices are vulnerable and update them as soon as possible.

Electron Alternative

Electron is a cross-platform library for creating desktop applications using JavaScript. Although very popular it is quite heavyweight as it runs and ships on a version of the Chromium browser. The downside to that is that it’s not native, like other software that’s built for your OS.

If you are a Vue JS developer then you may be glad to hear that there is an alternative called vue-nodegui. Built on top of NodeGUI, the vue renderer has a lower CPU and memory footprint in comparison to Electron. It supports CSS and has full support for the Flexbox layout.

It runs on Node v12 and has full Nodejs API support including node npm modules. There is also a version for React Developers.

Overcoming Coding Fear

Taking on a new challenge can always result in fear and anxiety flare-ups. Learning to code can also reproduce these effects. My journey into coding was no different. I’ve stumbled across several roadblocks on my travels. In the late ’90s, when I was 19 I wanted to do a programming course at a local college. I attended thinking that I was about to start learning Cobol.

Sadly, I was put on a course to learn office work instead! I felt discriminated against but didn’t feel confident enough to say something at the time. I completed the 6-month course in 6 weeks and left soon after.

Other than building an MSN and Geocities community, my journey into coding began in 2003. I completed a private Java course that was already out of date! I did learn the basics of coding.

I didn’t get the best start on my adventure. The downside is that I always think that there is someone better than me. Also known as Imposter Syndrome, which is common in all walks of life. It’s linked to the experiences I had when I was younger.

Credit goes to Ema Katiraee

I’m mainly self-taught and to challenge myself I opted to go back to education. I’m currently 1 year into a university degree as a mature student. I must admit I feel more confident since starting my course. It tackles personal development skills which is something I have I’ve never analysed before. If you have similar fear here is a 7 step guide to overcome your fear of coding. Also, take a look at finding your career path in tech.

Coding Resources

If you are new to programming let’s kick off with resources for new programmers. If you want to learn about servers and backend web development. Learning regular expressions in programming is highly recommended. Although difficult, If you are a visual person here is an alternative way to learn them.

Whilst learning its important to write clean code. Here are some better practices and the best web design courses for beginners.