Issue #3: Fire??Resources for Chill Days

Hello again! We hope you had a chill weekend (as in relaxing, although with the current weather, it was no doubt also extremely chill ??. Keep safe & warm out there, folks! ) and a great start to your week!

So what's new in the TechRel Hub? What were the hard hitters for this week?

Let's dig in and as always if you found gold nuggets of wisdom, inspiration, and knowledge in this newsletter, Subscribe to stay tuned and not miss an issue!

.NET in VR

Coding in Mixed Reality? ??

Ed Charbeneau took a plunge into the world of mixed reality elements to see if there's a seamless integration with programming tools on Windows using the Meta Quest 3. And guess what he found?

Well, it's not really a guessing game, but you can catch up with the video in which he gave a quick overview of the headset itself, switching between mixed and virtual reality, coding inside the Quest 3, addressing potential challenges and setbacks, and what even is possible with .NET and this tech.

Take a look!

Want to Up Your Financial Charts Game? ??

Visually appealing financial charts, interactive financial charts...have to have them in your Blazor apps.

Okay, this might be another shameless plug, but we're super proud of the work our engineering team put into the Telerik Charts. Crazy amount of work. And all so you can have a whole lotta chart types to choose from, many interactive features and customization options.

It's all neatly written up by Svetoslav Dimitrov, plus there are enough code snippets to get you started, right here .

Create Great Pull Requests ??

Creating good pull requests is nice, but creating great ones is even better!

Because effective pull requests play a vital role in ensuring code quality, facilitating collaboration, and maintaining a structured workflow.

Adopting good pull request principles early on in the process builds the foundation for efficient teamwork and code management especially as projects evolve and your team's size grows.

So, Hassan Djirdeh has laid down some simple steps you can take to write well-done pull requests in his blog .

Where the JavaScript Trends at?

Say Hello to Panda CSS ??

Gather around, folks, for there is a new contender that just superhero landed in the world of CSS-in-JS - Panda CSS!

But what is it, what does it do? Thomas Findlay explains it in his blog: "It’s a type-safe solution with no runtime overhead that offers multi-variant support and compatibility with React Server Components."

That's great and....Wait, did we say CSS-in-JS? What is that?

Read Thomas' blog for a look into what CSS-in-JS is, why Panda CSS is exciting and how it can be used to style applications.

The New Angular Hydration ??

Once upon a time, there was a dreaded flicker in Angular Universal. It lasted for many generations until a fabulous new opportunity came along with Angular 16 - non-destructive hydration for SSR! And lo and behold, the flickering was no more.

Take a closer look at the new hydration in Angular in Jonathan Gamble's blog and banish that flicker if it's still there.

The React Server Components Paradigm ??

In another opinion piece, Jonathan Gamble shared a history lesson on server HTML and Server-Side Rendering, and did an extensive React Server Components breakdown - what are the benefits vs the negatives, what other frameworks like Vue are doing, is RSC just PHP, and more.

There are also a handful of interesting referenced videos from Svelte's creator Rich Harris, Jack ?? Herrington , and Cory House sharing their own thoughts on React Server Components.

So where does the scale tip for you - in favor or not? What do you think of React and Server Components? Do they match with what Jonathan or any of the other engineering masterminds shared? Find out here .

Productivity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility walk into a bar...

You have 1 new email in your inbox ??

Have you entertained the idea of templatizing your common comms with prospects and clients? You've surely experienced some deja vu in your daily email exchange and even hurried over to your Sent box to grab the reply to a painfully similar email and just reuse that!

In fact, it's so close to heart that we wrote a little haiku about it:

Copy-paste ballet,

Repetitive words at play,

Templates find their place.

It feels much better now! But it can be even better because as it turns out someone wrote a whole bunch of tips on getting the most out of email templates and also broke down template ideas.

Browse through Suzanne Scacca 's Communicate More Quickly and Effectively with Email Templates article and maybe test out the Prospecting Letter Template, the Inquiry Response Templates, the New Client Welcome Template, and more!

Embracing Inclusivity in Digital Design ??

Our own Sara Faatz ?had a 6 am radio interview because topics like inclusivity in digital design are not bound by time zones or seasons or anything really. They are something to be embraced.

Human-centered design in tech is an approach focused on inclusivity and accessibility, and today it's reshaping the way digital apps are developed.

?? Listen to the full BFM 89.9 - The Business Station podcast and hear more about the global need for inclusive digital solutions, the business implications of neglecting this aspect, and the strategies to implement effective human-centric design.

Cool Things We Found Along the Way

From VB6 to Victory: A .NET 8 Transformation Tale ???

In "Retro Code Quest: .NET 8's Chrono-Coding Challenge ," Michael Jolley went on a quest to upgrade a VB6 application to the .NET 8 framework, complete with an Angular twist.

It's a nostalgia trip, so hop over to experience it firsthand!

.NET 8 Beginner Series ????

If you happen to be new to .NET and for whatever reason you've found yourself reading this newsletter, the team over at Microsoft have released a brand new .NET 8 Beginner Series covering C#, .NET, generative AI, NuGet, Visual Studio, VS Code and the C# Dev Kit, Blazor Hybrid, .NET IoT, and upgrading .NET applications.

Give it a look and you might find useful bits even if you are a seasoned dev. We will cover what .NET is, what you can build with it, how to get started with professional tooling, and tips to enhance your projects.

What if CSS Could Do That? ??

Indeed - what if the scrollbar went around the corner? Wouldn't that be neat?!

Very neat.

?? Jhey Tompkins did the cool thing and even shared the Codepen with the world so everyone can have round corner scrollbars if they feel like it. ?

Give Jhey some love!

How Should Designers Code? ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ

Dylan Smith posed a great question - How should designers code?

There is actually no "should" in his article just a lot of "hows" - How?should designers code? How can you actually get involved in the development process at work?

Check out his piece breaking down the potential entrypoints and see which fits you.

A Question ?

Walk down memory lane with us for a second here - Where were you when you wrote your first line of code? Tell us in the comments!

Thank you for reading this issue of the TechRel Hub newsletter! Stay tuned for a special edition coming your way very soon! Until then - happy coding and deploying (even on a Friday)!

- The TechRel Team ??