The first episode of The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast is out. Expect similar episodes every other Wednesday. You can add the podcast in your favorite podcast player, and have future episodes downloaded automatically. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Brought to you by: • Codeium: ​​Join the 700K+ developers using the IT-approved AI-powered code assistant. • TLDR: Keep up with tech in 5 minutes — On the first episode of the Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, I am joined by Simon Willison. Simon is one of the best-known software engineers experimenting with LLMs to boost his own productivity: he’s been doing this for more than three years, blogging about it in the open. Simon is the creator of Datasette, an open-source tool for exploring and publishing data. He works full-time developing open-source tools for data journalism, centered on Datasette and SQLite. Previously, he was an engineering director at Eventbrite, joining through the acquisition of Lanyrd, a Y Combinator startup he co-founded in 2010. Simon is also a co-creator of the Django Web Framework. He has been blogging about web development since the early 2000s. In today’s conversation, we dive deep into the realm of Gen AI and talk about the following:  • Simon’s initial experiments with LLMs and coding tools • Why fine-tuning is generally a waste of time—and when it’s not • RAG: an overview • Interacting with GPTs voice mode • Simon’s day-to-day LLM stack • Common misconceptions about LLMs and ethical gray areas  • How Simon’s productivity has increased and his generally optimistic view on these tools • Tips, tricks, and hacks for interacting with GenAI tools • And more! I hope you enjoy this episode. — In this episode, we cover: (02:15) Welcome (05:28) Simon’s ‘scary’ experience with ChatGPT (10:58) Simon’s initial experiments with LLMs and coding tools (12:21) The languages that LLMs excel at (14:50) To start LLMs by understanding the theory, or by playing around? (16:35) Fine-tuning: what it is, and why it’s mostly a waste of time (18:03) Where fine-tuning works (18:31) RAG: an explanation (21:34) The expense of running testing on AI (23:15) Simon’s current AI stack  (29:55) Common misconceptions about using LLM tools (30:09) Simon’s stack – continued  (32:51) Learnings from running local models (33:56) The impact of Firebug and the introduction of open-source  (39:42) How Simon’s productivity has increased using LLM tools (41:55) Why most people should limit themselves to 3-4 programming languages (45:18) Addressing ethical issues and resistance to using generative AI (49:11) Are LLMs are plateauing? Is AGI overhyped? (55:45) Coding vs. professional coding, looking ahead (57:27) The importance of systems thinking for software engineers  (1:01:00) Simon’s advice for experienced engineers (1:06:29) Rapid-fire questions — Where to find Simon Willison: • X: https://x.com/simonw • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonwillison/ • Website: https://simonwillison.net/ • Mastodon: https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon — Referenced: • Simon’s LLM project: https://github.com/simonw/llm • Jeremy Howard’s Fast Ai: https://www.fast.ai/ • jq programming language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jq_(programming_language) • Datasette: https://datasette.io/ • GPT Code Interpreter: https://platform.openai.com/docs/assistants/tools/code-interpreter • Open Ai Playground: https://platform.openai.com/playground/chat • Advent of Code: https://adventofcode.com/ • Rust programming language: https://www.rust-lang.org/ • Applied AI Software Engineering: RAG: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/rag • Claude: https://claude.ai/ • Claude 3.5 sonnet: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-5-sonnet • ChatGPT can now see, hear, and speak: https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-can-now-see-hear-and-speak/ • GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot • What are Artifacts and how do I use them?: https://support.anthropic.com/en/articles/9487310-what-are-artifacts-and-how-do-i-use-them • Large Language Models on the command line: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Jun/17/cli-language-models/ • Llama: https://www.llama.com/ • MLC chat on the app store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937 • Firebug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebug_(software)# • NPM: https://www.npmjs.com/ • Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/ • Sourceforge: https://sourceforge.net/ • CPAN: https://www.cpan.org/ • OOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming • Prolog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolog • SML: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_ML • Stabile Diffusion: https://stability.ai/ • Chain of thought prompting: https://www.promptingguide.ai/techniques/cot • Cognition AI: https://www.cognition.ai/ • In the Race to Artificial General Intelligence, Where’s the Finish Line?: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-does-artificial-general-intelligence-actually-mean/ • Black swan theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory • Copilot workspace: https://githubnext.com/projects/copilot-workspace • Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321 • Bluesky Global: https://www.blueskyglobal.org/ • The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files #1): https://www.amazon.com/Atrocity-Archives-Laundry-Files/dp/0441013651 • Rivers of London: https://www.amazon.com/Rivers-London-Ben-Aaronovitch/dp/1625676158/ • Vanilla JavaScript: http://vanilla-js.com/ • jQuery: https://jquery.com/ • Fly.io: https://fly.io/ — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

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JupyterLite is a JupyterLab distribution that runs entirely in the web browser, backed by in-browser language kernels. With standard JupyterLab, where kernels run in separate processes and communicate with the client by message passing, JupyterLite uses kernels that run entirely in the browser, based on JavaScript and WebAssembly.

This means JupyterLite deployments can be scaled to millions of users without the need for individual containers for each user session, only static files need to be served, which can be done with a simple web server like GitHub pages.

This opens up new possibilities for large-scale deployments, eliminating the need for complex cloud computing infrastructure. JupyterLite is versatile and supports a wide range of languages, with the majority of its kernels implemented using Xeus, a C++ library for developing language-specific kernels.

In conjunction with JupyterLite, we present Emscripten-forge, a conda/mamba based distribution for WebAssembly packages. Conda-forge is a community effort and a GitHub organization which contains repositories of conda recipes and thus provides conda packages for a wide range of software and platforms. However, targeting WebAssembly is not supported by conda-forge. Emscripten-forge addresses this gap by providing conda packages for WebAssembly, making it possible to create custom JupyterLite deployments with tailored conda environments containing the required kernels and packages.

In this talk, we delve deep into the JupyterLite ecosystem, exploring its integration with Xeus Mamba and Emscripten-forge.

We will demonstrate how this can be used to create sophisticated JupyterLite deployments with custom conda environments and give an outlook for future developments like R packages and runtime package resolution.

Many Python frameworks are suitable for creating basic dashboards or prototypes but struggle with more complex ones. Taking lessons from the JavaScript community, the experts on building UI’s, we created a new framework called Solara. Solara scales to much more complex apps and compute-intensive dashboards. Built on the Jupyter stack, Solara apps and its reusable components run in the Jupyter notebook and on its own production quality server based on Starlette/FastAPI.

Solara has a declarative API that is designed for dynamic and complex UIs yet is easy to write. Reactive variables power our state management, which automatically triggers rerenders. Our component-centric architecture stimulates code reusability, and hot reloading promotes efficient workflows. With our rich set of UI and data-focused components, Solara spans the entire spectrum from rapid prototyping to robust, complex dashboards.

Are you looking for a high performance visualization component for the web? Need to filter, sort, pivot, and aggregate static/streaming data in realtime? Daunted by the massive JS ecosystem? In this talk, we’ll build a high performance web frontend using the open source library Perspective.

In a web app, the enemy of performance isn't bad algorithms — it's bloat. Enter Isograph, the framework for building data-driven React apps. It leverages a compiler to provide great DevEx and performance, right out of the box. In this talk, find out how Isograph lets you: load component JavaScript and data only when needed, for example when the user is about to scroll to them; load components (such as a VideoViewer) only if an item of that type (a Video) is returned from the server, and defer loading parts of your component tree, without server support. And the cherry on top? We're doing it all in userland. 😎

Full Stack FastAPI, React, and MongoDB guides you step-by-step through creating web applications using the FARM stack. This hands-on resource teaches you how to integrate FastAPI, a modern Python framework, React for front-end development, and MongoDB for data storage to build and deploy powerful, scalable web applications. What this Book will help me do Master the essentials of MongoDB, including creating and managing document-based databases. Gain proficiency in building APIs using FastAPI and Python for robust backend systems. Develop dynamic frontends using React, integrating seamlessly with a FastAPI backend. Securely authenticate and authorize users using JSON Web Tokens in your applications. Explore advanced features like integrating AI models and building with Next.js for production-ready development. Author(s) Marko Aleksendrić, Shrey Batra, Rachelle Palmer, and Shubham Ranjan combine their expertise in web development and software engineering in this book. Together, they bring years of professional experience and a passion for teaching developers to create modern web applications effectively using cutting-edge tools. Who is it for? Intermediate web developers who possess foundational JavaScript and Python skills are the ideal audience for this book. If you want to advance your skills by mastering modern web application development with the FARM stack, this book will guide you comprehensively. With practical, real-world examples, it is designed for developers aiming to build production-grade applications.

In today's fast-paced world, more and more organizations require rapid application development with reduced development costs and increased productivity. This practical guide shows application developers how to use PowerApps, Microsoft's no-code/low-code application framework that helps developers speed up development, modernize business processes, and solve tough challenges. Author Arpit Shrivastava provides a comprehensive overview of designing and building cost-effective applications with Microsoft Power Apps. You'll learn fundamental concepts behind low-code and no-code development, how to build applications using pre-built and blank templates, how to design an app using Copilot AI and drag and drop PowerPoint-like controls, use Excel-like expressions to write business logic for an app, and integrate apps with external data sources. With this book, you'll: Learn the importance of no-code/low-code application development Design mobile/tablet (canvas apps) applications using pre-built and blank templates Design web applications (model-driven apps) using low-code, no-code, and pro-code components Integrate PowerApps with external applications Learn basic coding concepts like JavaScript, Power Fx, and C# Apply best practices to customize Dynamics 365 CE applications Dive into Azure DevOps and ALM concepts to automate application deployment

We will learn to build a cross-platform mobile app writing in the JavaScript programming language, with the framework React Native.

We'll go over JavaScript, the programming language of the web that is used to manipulate documents and make websites dynamic and interactive.

Create stunning web-based data visualizations with D3.js. This totally-revised new edition of D3.js in Action guides you from simple charts to powerful interactive graphics. Chapter-by-chapter you’ll assemble an impressive portfolio of visualizations—including intricate networks, maps, and even a complete customized visualization layout. Plus, you'll learn best practices for building interactive graphics, animations, and integrating your work into frontend development frameworks like React and Svelte. In D3.js in Action, Third Edition you will learn how to: Set up a local development environment for D3 Include D3 in web development projects, including Node-based web apps Select and append DOM elements Size and position elements on screen Assemble components and layouts into creative data visualizations D3.js in Action, Third Edition has been extensively revised for D3.js version 7, and modern best practices for web visualizations. Its brand new chapters dive into interactive visualizations, cover responsiveness for dataviz, and show you how you can improve accessibility. About the Technology With D3.js, you can create sophisticated infographics, charts, and interactive data visualizations using standard frontend tools like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Granting D3 its VIS Test of Time award, the IEEE credited this powerful library for bringing data visualization to the mainstream. You’ll be blown away by how beautiful your results can be! About the Book D3.js in Action, Third Edition is a roadmap for creating brilliant and beautiful visualizations with D3.js. Like a gentle mentor, it guides you from basic charts all the way to advanced interactive visualizations like networks and maps. You’ll learn to build graphics, create animations, and set up mobile-friendly responsiveness. Each chapter contains a complete data visualization project to put your new skills into action. What's Inside Fully revised for D3.js v7 Includes 12 complete projects Create data visualizations with SVG and canvas Combine D3 with React, Svelte, and Angular About the Reader For web developers with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills. About the Authors Elijah Meeks was a data visualization pioneer at Stanford and the first Senior Data Visualization Engineer at Netflix. Anne-Marie Dufour is a Data Visualization Engineer. The technical editor on this book was Jon Borgman. Quotes Guides readers through the intricate world of D3 with clarity and practical insight. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or just starting, this book will be invaluable. - Connor Rothschild, Data Visualization Engineer, Moksha Data Studio Amazing job of explaining the core concepts of D3 while providing all you need to learn other fundamental concepts. - Lindsey Poulter, Visualization Engineer, New York Mets A navigation tool to explore all possible paths in the world of D3. Clear schematics and nicely selected examples guide the readers through D3’s possibilities. - Matthias Stahl, Head Data & Visualizations, Der SPIEGEL

Une solution qui permet à Javascript et donc aux navigateurs web d'exécuter directement du code R et qui change la façon de penser la construction et le déploiement de code R pour le web.

A talk about re-implementing the React useState hook using Vanilla JavaScript.

An introduction to writing an HTTP web server using JavaScript on the server side (Node.js). We will leverage the Express.js library to build a basic server.

One of the most influential data visualization books—updated with new techniques, technologies, and examples Visualize This demonstrates how to explain data visually, so that you can present and communicate information in a way that is appealing and easy to understand. Today, there is a continuous flow of data available to answer almost any question. Thoughtful charts, maps, and analysis can help us make sense of this data. But the data does not speak for itself. As leading data expert Nathan Yau explains in this book, graphics provide little value unless they are built upon a firm understanding of the data behind them. Visualize This teaches you a data-first approach from a practical point of view. You'll start by exploring what your data has to say, and then you'll design visualizations that are both remarkable and meaningful. With this book, you'll discover what tools are available to you without becoming overwhelmed with options. You'll be exposed to a variety of software and code and jump right into real-world datasets so that you can learn visualization by doing. You'll learn to ask and answer questions with data, so that you can make charts that are both beautiful and useful. Visualize This also provides you with opportunities to apply what you learn to your own data. This completely updated, full-color second edition: Presents a unique approach to visualizing and telling stories with data, from data visualization expert Nathan Yau Offers step-by-step tutorials and practical design tips for creating statistical graphics, geographical maps, and information design Details tools that can be used to visualize data graphics for reports, presentations, and stories, for the web or for print, with major updates for the latest R packages, Python libraries, JavaScript libraries, illustration software, and point-and-click applications Contains numerous examples and descriptions of patterns and outliers and explains how to show them Information designers, analysts, journalists, statisticians, data scientists—as well as anyone studying for careers in these fields—will gain a valuable background in the concepts and techniques of data visualization, thanks to this legendary book.

Deploying an application can be intimidating, so let's make it fun. The JavaScript ecosystem moves so quickly that it can leave you wondering: Can I deploy [JavaScript framework] to Google Cloud Run? Yes. Let's prove it by deploying as many JavaScript Frameworks as we can, as quickly as possible.

Click the blue “Learn more” button above to tap into special offers designed to help you implement what you are learning at Google Cloud Next 25.

Adequately testing systems that use Google Cloud services can be a serious challenge. In this session we’ll show you how to shift testing to an API-first approach using Testcontainers. This approach helps us improve the feedback cycle and reliability for both our inner-dev loop and our competitive intelligence cycle. We’ll go through an end-to-end example that uses BigQuery and PubSub, Cloud Build, and Cloud Run. Examples will use Kotlin but it could be accomplished with other languages including Rust, Go, JavaScript, Python, Java, and more.

Click the blue “Learn more” button above to tap into special offers designed to help you implement what you are learning at Google Cloud Next 25.

Learn to use ESLint to enforce a specific way of writing Node.js code. Modify the ESLint rules to your own liking. This session covers generating a Node.js project with npm init, installing ESLint, and creating a configuration file. Also applicable to JavaScript and TypeScript.

Whether you’ve been in the developer kitchen for decades or are just taking the plunge to do it yourself, The Complete Developer will show you how to build and implement every component of a modern stack—from scratch. You’ll go from a React-driven frontend to a fully fleshed-out backend with Mongoose, MongoDB, and a complete set of REST and GraphQL APIs, and back again through the whole Next.js stack. The book’s easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes will teach you how to build a web server with Express.js, create custom API routes, deploy applications via self-contained microservices, and add a reactive, component-based UI. You’ll leverage command line tools and full-stack frameworks to build an application whose no-effort user management rides on GitHub logins. You’ll also learn how to: Work with modern JavaScript syntax, TypeScript, and the Next.js framework Simplify UI development with the React library Extend your application with REST and GraphQL APIs Manage your data with the MongoDB NoSQL database Use OAuth to simplify user management, authentication, and authorization Automate testing with Jest, test-driven development, stubs, mocks, and fakes Whether you’re an experienced software engineer or new to DIY web development, The Complete Developer will teach you to succeed with the modern full stack. After all, control matters. Covers: Docker, Express.js, JavaScript, Jest, MongoDB, Mongoose, Next.js, Node.js, OAuth, React, REST and GraphQL APIs, and TypeScript

An introduction to writing an HTTP web server using the JavaScript language on the serverside. This is also known as Node.js. We will leverage the library Express.js to build a basic server.