1
Using AI to write better code more slowly
A lot of people seem convinced that the point of AI coding is to write low-quality code as fast as possible. Spew out barely-passable slop, open massive PRs,…
Nolan Lawson
Software and other dark arts, by Nolan Lawson
- Popular posts
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- #129 personal
Visit nolanlawson.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Apr 2014 – Nov 2026
Web & Frontend 11Software Engineering 10Tools & Productivity 2Society, Policy & Culture 2Life, Learning & Writing 2Design & UX 2
2
We mourn our craft
I didn’t ask for this and neither did you. I didn’t ask for a robot to consume every blog post and piece of code I ever wrote and parrot it back so that some…
3
Safari is the new IE
Update: This post represents my views before I joined the Microsoft Edge team, and before I got involved with browsers or web standards in general. I leave it…
4
Learn how modern JavaScript frameworks work by building one
In my day job, I work on a JavaScript framework (LWC). And although I’ve been working on it for almost three years, I still feel like a dilettante. When I read…
5
The balance has shifted away from SPAs
There’s a feeling in the air. A zeitgeist. SPAs are no longer the cool kids they once were 10 years ago. Hip new frameworks like Astro, Qwik, and Elder.js are…
6
The collapse of complex software
In 1988, the anthropologist Joseph Tainter published a book called The Collapse of Complex Societies. In it, he described the rise and fall of great…
7
Why don't more developers “use the platform”?
For years, advocates for web standards, performance, and accessibility have implored web developers to “use the platform”. I’ve often been one of those…
8
Web components are okay
Every so often, the web development community gets into a tizzy about something, usually web components. I find these fights tiresome, but I also see them as a…
9
The asteroid currently hitting front end web development
A lot of the educators I admire in the frontend web space seem to be either bowing out or dialing back their efforts: Axel Rauschmayer, Salma Alam-Naylor, Josh…
10
Skeptical of rewriting JavaScript tools in "faster" languages
I’ve written a lot of JavaScript. I like JavaScript. And more importantly, I’ve built up a set of skills in understanding, optimizing, and debugging JavaScript…