Hot New Web Dev – December 2023

Welcome to Hot Web Dev December 2023, featuring the latest technology and web development news. In this final edition of 2023 we will take a trip down memory lane and discuss some of the old-school technologies that helped shape the web we see today. Our tool of the month will excite markdown lovers who need a project management tool. Wishing you a Happy New Year and hope that 2024 brings us more learning resources and tools that you will love.

Old School Technologies

What is your stack? If you are currently learning web development you will find lots of resources on Node JS and frameworks such as React, Vue or Svelte. Little do you know that technologies such as Apache and programming languages such as PHP helped shape the web. Apache is a web server which was initially released in 1995 and still runs on nearly a third of web servers. It may be old technology but it has managed to keep updated with modern technologies such as IPv6 and HTTP2.

PHP is a server-side programming language which was also released in 1995 and despite being out of favour, in comparison to JavaScript, continues to power WordPress sites around the world. The latest version 8 has improved the speed of loading websites to regain some popularity in the stakes. Some of the popular frameworks powered by PHP include Laravel and Code Igniter.

1995 was a year to remember as it also brought us Java. I remember doing a web development course that featured Java web applets. We don’t see them anymore in the browser but Java remains one of the most popular languages if you work in the enterprise.

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How Old-School Technologies Still Shape Web Development

Learning Resources

If you are starting your learning adventure in Web Design featuring HTML, CSS and JavaScript you may have been recommended The Odin project. FreeCodeCamp now has an interactive version of the popular project on its website. It currently features HTML and CSS lessons, but more is due in 2024.

Staying on the front-end web development theme. The best way to add to your resume is to build actual projects, preferably something that isn’t already out in the web sphere. If you need to build up your skills beforehand you may be interested in free certifications to add to your resume.

Coding Resources

CanIPHP is a handy tool for finding deprecated and new features in PHP. Although at the current time of writing it isn’t complete although it can be handy if you have had experience with older versions and want to update your knowledge of the new features.

If you are familiar with vanilla JavaScript and want to move on to using a framework but don’t fully understand how it works. You may find that building a JavaScript framework will help fill in the missing gaps.

Web Tool Of The Month

MarkWhen is a project management tool to create project and visual timelines using Markdown. It is currently available as a web app with a downloadable version planned for the future. The offline version features a calendar, maps, Gantt views, a CLI and a VS Code extension. There is a paid version available to suit businesses which has real-time collaborative editing, custom links and a future upgrade which features email notifications.

The Best of the Rest in December 2023

• Web Design Accessibility Audit: What to Watch For
• HTMLCollection vs NodeList – What’s the Difference?
• 9 Useful Chrome DevTools Features for Developers
• Kumander Linux: This New Distro Puts You in Charge of Computing
• Clean Architecture: Theming with Tailwind and CSS Variables