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My problem is I don’t know a way. So I go searching for resources to learn from. Except there are dozens of ways to do a given thing. And all are really just pa

My problem is I don’t know a way. So I go searching for resources to learn from. Except there are dozens of ways to do a given thing. And all are really just partial, incomplete solutions, in different ways. Some are outdated, but how can I tell when I’m not a domain expert. And I don’t want to be an expert on every single domain I have to touch to build whatever thing I am working on. It’s a frustrating world.

sjy 7y ago
That’s a really interesting point. I learned CSS back in the early 2000s and it was easy. Not only was there less to learn, the resources out there were high quality. It was clear that CSS was the new “best practice” and the alternatives (tables-based layout and font tags) were legacy. Whenever I try to brush up on newer CSS features, the signal-to-noise ratio seems much lower than it used to be. Part of that is probably that I’m experienced enough to recognise bad advice now, but part of it is also the industrialisation of the web industry and huge influx of new developers.
juliend2 7y ago
How about just using bootstrap? Or is there some inherently difficult UI component that you need to get just right (without a UI toolkit) for the MVP to be _good enough_ for proving the market?
cloverich 7y ago
You just need to learn the fundamentals of a few CSS techniques, like flexbox [1], [2]. Flexbox is honestly the last new CSS thing I really remember learning that was core to what I did, and I learned it before my last job (~4 years of React full time). New stuff comes out but the core stuff last long and serves you well, esp. now that the old old browsers have died. [1]: https://philipwalton.github.io/solved-by-flexbox/ https://philipwalton.github.io/solved-by-flexbox/ [2]: https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/ https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/
- mygo 7y ago
  Not to add the the CSS confusion, but I guess this means flexbox is finally caniuseable. 98% coverage ain’t bad.

sjy 7y ago

That’s a really interesting point. I learned CSS back in the early 2000s and it was easy. Not only was there less to learn, the resources out there were high quality. It was clear that CSS was the new “best practice” and the alternatives (tables-based layout and font tags) were legacy. Whenever I try to brush up on newer CSS features, the signal-to-noise ratio seems much lower than it used to be. Part of that is probably that I’m experienced enough to recognise bad advice now, but part of it is also the industrialisation of the web industry and huge influx of new developers.

juliend2 7y ago

How about just using bootstrap? Or is there some inherently difficult UI component that you need to get just right (without a UI toolkit) for the MVP to be _good enough_ for proving the market?

cloverich 7y ago

You just need to learn the fundamentals of a few CSS techniques, like flexbox [1], [2]. Flexbox is honestly the last new CSS thing I really remember learning that was core to what I did, and I learned it before my last job (~4 years of React full time). New stuff comes out but the core stuff last long and serves you well, esp. now that the old old browsers have died. [1]: https://philipwalton.github.io/solved-by-flexbox/ https://philipwalton.github.io/solved-by-flexbox/ [2]: https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/ https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/

mygo 7y ago
Not to add the the CSS confusion, but I guess this means flexbox is finally caniuseable. 98% coverage ain’t bad.