Node is back in the news with some noteworthy updates as v24 drops. It gets an upgrade to 13.6 for its V8 JavaScript engine, runs with npm version 11, and has more efficient implementation of the local storage API and test runner updates.Google has released its newest version of its Gemini AI model: Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O Edition), which claims to be the best model for front-end and UI development. To prove it, Google links to a site called the WebDev Arena (where Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview ranks #1), that lets users put in a prompt and then pits different AI models head to head to build a site based on the prompt. Figma just had their 2025 Config conference and unveiled a host of new offerings, including Figma Sites that lets folks design, prototype and publish with Figma, and Figma Make the AI prompting tool that can add functionality to a Figma mockup via natural language directions.News:Paige - Node 24 updatesJack - Figma Make and Figma Sites and conference demo videoTJ - Gemini 2.5 updates and WebDev ArenaBonus News:Take the first annual State of Devs surveyOpenAI agrees to buy Windsurf for $3BFire Starters:CSS reading-flow and reading-orderWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Old Town Trolley ToursJack - The Residence TV showTJ - ChatGPT helping with camera & video setupThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast
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49:25
React Activity, Storybook 9 Beta, and AI as a Collaborator, Not a Crutch
The React team’s been on a roll lately with new experimental updates. Last episode we covered View Transitions, and today we discuss Activity. Activity is a component to hide and show parts of the UI while maintaining the component’s state and continuing to render at a lower priority when it’s not visible on screen.Storybook 9 beta is out now, and it seems to be transitioning from a frontend workshop for building UI components in isolation to a one-stop shop for all your frontend testing needs.And Microsoft recently released a paper from researchers at Cambridge and Carnegie Mellon studying how AI coding assistants have allowed developers to engage in less critical thinking and independent problem-solving, and how the skills to do both could deteriorate if this over-reliance on AI continues unchecked.News:Paige - Storybook 9 betaJack - React <Activity>TJ - The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking and Avoiding Skill Atrophy in the Age of AIBonus News:Ladybird new independent web browserMTMC-16Apple changes App Store rules to allow external purchasesWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - The Night Manager seriesJack - RaycastTJ - Linkin Park World TourThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast
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55:50
Alien Signals, React Compiler Hits RC, and RedwoodSDK Plans Revealed
Signals has been gaining in popularity the past few years for its fine-grained approach to reactivity in the browser, and a new high performance implementation called Alien Signals has landed in Vue.js. It offers significant performance improvements to complex applications with lots of data changes, and has been extended so it can be used in other JS-based libraries besides Vue. The React team announces that React Compiler has reached release candidate (RC) stage and is nearing stable release territory. React Compiler is a build-time tool that optimizes React apps through automatic memoization so devs don’t have to worry about including useMemo() and useCallback() hooks in their code.RedwoodSDK, which had some cryptic messaging about its future last month, has unveiled more of the story on its new website this month. It’s aiming to be part of the “personal software revolution” by providing a React framework for Cloudflare, offering built in access to Cloudflare Workers, databases and storage, queues, AI, and more.News:Paige - RedwoodSDK details revealedJack - Alien SignalsTJ - React Compiler RCBonus News:Everybody wants to buy ChromeWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Severance TV series season 2Jack - Grilling seasonTJ - Detroit grows in population for the first time in decadesThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast
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37:14
All AI All the Time: OpenAI’s Codex, the Web Dev AI Survey, and More
The AI hype train keeps chugging along with new updates from OpenAI. ChatGPT now offers GPT-4.1 - a new dev-first model trained for use cases related to coding, instruction following, and function calling with a context window of up to 1 million tokens. It also announces Codex CLI, a terminal version of ChatGPT that devs can use to run code, manipulate files, and iterate without ever leaving their preferred terminal.Next.js 15.3 drops with new features like using its Turbopack buildpack for production builds (still in alpha stage so use with caution), community support for Rspack as a drop in replacement for the Webpack bundler, and new navigation hooks for enhanced client-side routing capabilities.There’s also a new survey out this week: the first annual State of Web Dev AI, which answers questions like which AI tools devs find most useful, how much devs are spending on AI, and what pain points are devs most likely to encounter when leveraging AI to develop their own web apps.News:Paige - OpenAI Codex CLI and GPT-4.1 modelsJack - State of AI Web Dev 2025TJ - Next.js 15.3Bonus News:OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf for $3B“Slopsquatting”AI agents for everyone (Firebase Studio), (Arduino AI Assistant)Fire Starter:Declarative Web PushWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Solo Leveling anime seriesJack - Knuckles TV mini series TJ - NY Times FlashbackThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast
Google announces a new Agent2Agent protocol meant to support AI agents communicating with each other. A2A aims to complement MCP and address the challenges of deploying large-scale, multi-agent systems from various providers across different platforms and cloud environments.GitHub Copilot’s new code review feature is now generally available. Just like you’d assign a coworker to review a PR, users can now assign a Copilot agent to review that same PR and spot bugs, identify potential performance problems, and suggest fixes.RedwoodJS has rebranded itself RedwoodSDK, and is focusing on a new framework that will become the foundation of a personal software revolution. RedwoodSDK promises modern serverless infrastructure, AI-driven dev tools, and open ecosystems, with more details coming soon.News:Paige - RedwoodJS becomes RedwoodSDKJack - Google’s A2ATJ - Copilot code reviews & premium requestsBonus News:StackBlitz is hosting the world’s largest hackathonDevin 2.0Wordpress.com launches free AI-powered website builderFire Starter:text-wrap: prettyWhat Makes Us Happy this Week:Paige - Claude AIJack - The Accountant 2 movieTJ - Apple SportsThanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.Front-end Fire websiteBlue Collar Coder on YouTubeBlue Collar Coder on DiscordReach out via emailTweet at us on X @front_end_fireFollow us on Bluesky @front-end-fire.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @Front-EndFirePodcast
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