Newsletter - April 10, 2025

Hey everyone,

Welcome to this week's newsletter!

Some exciting news to start – one of my older blog posts, "What is Local-First Web Development?", got featured on Hacker News this week! It led to a really interesting discussion which you can check out here if you're curious.

Like many of you probably did, I also spent some time this week playing around with the latest image generation models. It's amazing what they can do! I found a particularly useful prompt, especially if you need diagrams for blog posts:

Give me a diagram in Excalidraw (black background with icons) that explains [your concept here].

Using this, you can quickly cycle through different ideas and see what a good diagram might look like. Give it a try!

On the coding side, I dug into TypeScript function overloads. It's a powerful technique you often see in libraries (like useQuery in Vue Apollo) that helps make functions more flexible depending on how you call them. Definitely something interesting to understand if you work with TypeScript libraries! I jotted down some quick thoughts on it in a TIL post here.

Now, let's dive into the rest of this week's finds...

📋 Summary

This edition explores how AI is changing frontend development and software creation, dives into practical coding techniques like structured data extraction and testing in Node.js/Nuxt, shares tips on writing for developers, and touches on thought-provoking discussions about politics and building a SaaS (with key lessons!).

📝 Interesting Blog Posts

How AI Agents Are Quietly Transforming Frontend Development

Alexander Williams looks at how AI agents are moving beyond simple code generation. They're becoming active helpers in frontend development, analysing UI, suggesting improvements, refactoring code, and even helping with UX strategy. The article covers the shift to goal-oriented AI, challenges, and how this changes the developer's job. A fascinating look at AI reshaping frontend work and developer-AI teamwork.

Structured data extraction from unstructured content using LLM schemas

Simon Willison explains a new feature in LLM 0.23 called schemas. This lets you pull structured data (like JSON) out of regular text using Large Language Models. He shows how it works with different AI providers, gives examples like getting info from news articles, and explains how to reuse these schemas in Python. A practical guide to using LLMs for pulling out organized data.

How to Write Blog Posts that Developers Read

Michael Lynch shares tips from 9 years of blogging for software developers. He gives practical advice on writing stuff developers actually want to read, like getting straight to the point, knowing your audience, planning how to share your post, and using good visuals. Great advice for any developer wanting to improve their technical writing.

Why I don't discuss politics with friends

Ashwin Mathews argues why talking politics with friends often causes more problems than it solves. He explains that people often argue from their "political tribe" instead of based on reasoned thinking, and why truly understanding politics is hard and often not what people want. An interesting read about psychology, group thinking, and the difficulty of honest conversation.

Testing a Simple Nuxt Feature

Jérôme Abel walks through building and testing a newsletter sign-up feature in Nuxt 4. This series shows how to organize code in layers to make it easy to test, covering component design, composables, mocking, and testing patterns. Check out related posts like 'The All-In-One Component', 'Extracting Logic into a Composable', 'Mocking the composable', and 'Avoid Mocks With the Component Wrapper Pattern'. A really helpful series for Nuxt developers wanting better testing and code structure.

Vibecoding A Production App

Tom Blomfield tells the story of building RecipeNinja.ai, a hands-free recipe app, in just 20 hours using AI coding tools like Windsurf. He explains how he built the app with features like recipe generation and voice control, but also talks about the limits and challenges of using AI coding assistants today. An eye-opening look at how AI is changing development, showing what works well and what still needs work. You can also check out the lively Hacker News discussion about it here.

Node.js Testing Best Practices

Yoni Goldberg put together a huge guide on the best ways to test Node.js applications. It covers everything from different testing strategies (unit, integration, component, production) and tools to common mistakes and performance tips. An essential resource for Node.js developers who want to write better tests and improve code quality.

🔍 Reddit Threads

r/SaaS - I built an app and had no clue what I was doing

This inspiring r/SaaS thread details how a founder went from feeling they 'had no clue' to building an app that now earns thousands. More than just a success story, it shares crucial lessons learned the hard way. Key takeaways include: the irreplaceable value gained from sheer hard work ('No hard work goes unpaid'), overcoming the fear of charging what your product is worth (even after offering it free initially!), and the critical importance of nailing the user onboarding flow. Perhaps the biggest lesson? Persistence and trusting the process (even hiring help when needed!) can bridge the gap from zero to success, often mattering more than initial skill level because, as the founder learned, sometimes it's just about refusing to quit. Packed with practical wisdom for anyone building a SaaS.

🔄 X Highlights

@karpathy

Andrej Karpathy notes that unlike past tech (electricity, internet) that spread from government/big companies down, LLMs are different. Regular people benefit immediately, while big organizations adopt slower. Why?

1) LLMs give broad knowledge, helping individuals more than orgs with specialists.

2) Orgs have complex needs that don't fit LLMs easily.

3) Big companies are slow to change.

Right now, powerful AI like GPT-4 is available to everyone, but that might change if money starts buying much better AI. A really interesting take on how AI adoption is different this time.

How to Contribute

Got an interesting link, blog post, video, or thought you'd like to share? Hit reply to this email and let me know! I love hearing from you and featuring community finds in future editions.