Post pobrano z: Dock Life: Using Docker for All The Things!

I think if you’re a DevOps person in any capacity, the utility of Docker is very clear. Your things run in containers that are identical everywhere. Assuming Docker is working/running, the code will execute in a reliably consistent way whether that is Docker running on some developer’s computer, or a sky computer. The (massive) appeal there is that bugs will happen consistently. “Production-only” bugs become a thing of the past. There are other benefits, too, like shipping a dev environment to a team of developers that is entirely consistent, even across platforms, rather than battling with individual developers computers.

So… great? Use it all the time for everything? The stopper there is that it’s complicated, and web dev is already friggin complicated and it often just feels like too much. Andrew Welch, however, makes the case that you don’t have to learn Docker super deeply in order to use it:

Dock­er is a devops tool that some peo­ple find intim­i­dat­ing because there is much to learn in order to build things with it. And while that’s true, it’s actu­al­ly quite sim­ple to start using Dock­er for some very prac­ti­cal and use­ful things, by lever­ag­ing what oth­er peo­ple have created.

Fair point. I don’t deeply understand most of the technology I use, but I can still use it.

While I run Docker all day for CodePen’s fancy dev environment, that’s what my use is limited to. I don’t reach for it like Andrew does for everything. But I can see how it might feel liberating having all that isolation between projects. One of my favorite of points that Andrew makes is:

Switch­ing to a new com­put­er is easy. You don’t have to spend hours metic­u­lous­ly recon­fig­ur­ing your shiny new Mac­Book Pro with all the inter­con­nect­ed tools & pack­ages you need.

I find myself bopping around between computers fairly often for various odd reasons, and being able to make the switch with minimal fussing around is appealing.

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Post pobrano z: Embrace the Unpredictable

In nature, no two things are ever the same. Life is imperfect, unpredictable, and beautiful. We can walk through the same forest every day and see differently colored leaves. We can look up at the clouds every minute and watch a whole new formation. The physical world is transient and ever-changing. What if our designs were a little more like this?

Often, we spend hours, weeks, even months carefully crafting our websites/applications, sculpting every last pixel until they are just right. Then, we set them free into the world — a perfectly formed, yet static snapshot of something that once was a living, evolving thing.

There is (of course!) nothing wrong with this way of working. But what if we let go of the idea that there can be only one final version of a design? What if our interfaces were free to take more than one form?

I could write forever about this stuff, but I think it’s best to show you what I mean. Naturally, here’s a Pen:

Try clicking the “Regenerate” button above. Notice how the interface changes just a little every time? By parameterizing aspects of a design, then randomizing those parameters, we can create near-infinite variations of a single idea. For those familiar with generative art — art made using a system that includes an element of autonomy — this is likely a familiar concept.

For makers (particularly perfectionists like me!), this approach to design can be incredibly liberating.

For the folk who use the things we make, it creates an experience that is truly individual. In randomizing carefully chosen aspects of our interfaces, they become ephemeral, and to me, this is kind of magical. No two people will ever see the same version of our work.

The web can be a cold, sterile place. By embracing the unpredictable, we can add a joyful, organic touch to our creations — to me, this is the essence of generative UI design, and I would love if you gave it a try! SVG, Canvas, and CSS/Paint API are all excellent mediums for generative work, so pick the one that is most familiar and experiment.

Just remember: apply carefully, and always be mindful of accessibility/UX. Magically evolving designs are great, but only if they are great for everyone.

Post pobrano z: Exactly What You Want

What is one thing people can do to make their website better?

Exactly what you want to build!

Ask yourself:

• What drew you to development in the beginning?
• Is there an experimental API that you’ve been wanting to try out?
• What could you spend all night hacking away at, just for the fun of it?

Your personal site is a statement of who you are and what you want to do. If you showcase your favorite type of work, you’ll get more requests for similar projects or jobs — feeding back into a virtuous cycle of doing more of what you love.

So, go forth, and create a trailing mouse cursor. Or a confetti component! A real-time drawing pad, or some hardware to show the current state of your coffee machine. Really, anything that gets you excited to build!