Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

994: AI Sucks At CSS

In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about AI struggles with CSS and design workflows, learning vs relying on AI, debugging web performance, beginner soldering setups, navigating AI-era job interviews, Figma dev mode, modern API choices, and more. SHOW NOTES * 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! * 00:55 Why AI struggles with CSS and design workflows * 10:50 How much AI should you use when learning to code? * 18:41 Debugging performance: tools and team workflows * Ep 585: Fundamentals × What Makes a Website Slow? [https://syntax.fm/show/585/fundamentals-what-makes-a-website-slow] * Ep 874: Fast Apps - Easy Perf Wins [https://syntax.fm/show/874/fast-apps-easy-perf-wins] * Ep 897: Making Your App Feel Faster Than It Really Is [https://syntax.fm/show/897/making-your-app-feel-faster-than-it-really-is] * Ep 972: These Things Make Your App Feel Like Crap on Mobile [https://syntax.fm/show/972/these-things-make-your-app-feel-like-crap-on-mobile] * 23:52 Brought to you by Sentry.io [https://sentry.io/syntax/] * 26:26 Beginner soldering setup and essential tools * 29:54 Preparing for interviews without AI (while jobs require it) * Brendan Falk on AI-native coding interviews [https://x.com/BrendanFalk/status/2033977481724891247] * 35:16 Thoughts on Figma dev mode and design workflows * 39:20 Ice [https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice] vs Thaw [https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw] menu bar apps * 40:27 Why AI isn’t pushing us toward better APIs * 44:54 Vibe rules, skills, and shipping docs for agents * vibe-rules [https://npmx.dev/package/vibe-rules] * Optimizing Content for Agents [https://cra.mr/optimizing-content-for-agents] * 54:44 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs SICK PICKS * Scott: Jury Duty [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22074164/] * Wes: USB Cable Tester [https://amzn.to/40SknUH] SHAMELESS PLUGS * Syntax YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/@syntaxfm] HIT US UP ON SOCIALS! Syntax: X [https://twitter.com/syntaxfm] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/syntax_fm/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@syntaxfm] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/96077407/admin/feed/posts/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@syntax_fm] Wes: X [https://twitter.com/wesbos] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wesbos/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wesbos] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbos/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@wesbos] Scott: X [https://twitter.com/stolinski] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/stolinski/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stolinski] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@stolinski] Randy: X [https://twitter.com/randyrektor] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/randyrektor/] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@randyrektor] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@randyrektor]

993: It’s Been A Hell Of Week

Scott and Wes break down a chaotic week in dev news — the Claude Code source leak, a nasty Axios npm supply chain hack, and Railway’s private cache exposure — plus how to keep these nightmare scenarios from hitting your own projects. SHOW NOTES * 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! * 00:55 Claude Code Leaked! * Wes’ X Post [https://x.com/wesbos/status/2038958747200962952?s=20] * Apple Source Code Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1RVFlCWPL4&t=351s] * 05:42 Burning through Claude Code token limits. * Reddit Thread [https://old.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1s7mkn3/psa_claude_code_has_two_cache_bugs_that_can/] * 08:57 Axios hacked! * Step Security [https://www.stepsecurity.io/blog/axios-compromised-on-npm-malicious-versions-drop-remote-access-trojan] * pnpm Supply Chain Security [https://pnpm.io/supply-chain-security] * pnpm minimumReleaseAge [https://pnpm.io/settings#minimumreleaseage] * 16:13 Pretext blew up! * Pretext.js Demos [https://pretextjs.dev/pretext-demo] * Wes’ Demo [https://pretextjs.dev/pretext-demo/showcase-face-text] * 27:24 Railway shared private cache. * Railway Incident Report [https://blog.railway.com/p/incident-report-march-30-2026-authenticated-user-data-cached] * 31:54 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs. SICK PICKS * Scott: Kindle Colorsoft Kids [https://amzn.to/4lYUEnc] * Wes: UGREEN 200W 8-Port GaN USB C Charger Block [https://amzn.to/4dP3jGQ], Wyze Headphones [https://www.wyze.com/products/wyze-headphones] SHAMELESS PLUGS * Scott: Syntax on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@syntaxfm] HIT US UP ON SOCIALS! Syntax: X [https://twitter.com/syntaxfm] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/syntax_fm/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@syntaxfm] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/96077407/admin/feed/posts/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@syntax_fm] Wes: X [https://twitter.com/wesbos] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wesbos/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wesbos] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbos/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@wesbos] Scott: X [https://twitter.com/stolinski] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/stolinski/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stolinski] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@stolinski] Randy: X [https://twitter.com/randyrektor] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/randyrektor/] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@randyrektor] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@randyrektor]

992: Migrating Legacy Code Just Got Easier

Wes and Scott talk about migrating large codebases with AI — how to plan framework and language moves, establish patterns, handle templating changes, test thoroughly, safely deploy, and more. SHOW NOTES * 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! * 01:46 Why migrate to a new language or framework? * 05:09 How to approach a large code migration * 08:47 Establishing patterns before using AI * 10:35 Moving from pug to JSX * 12:06 Building a detailed migration plan * 15:18 Testing every part of the application * 15:51 Brought to you by Sentry.io [https://sentry.io/syntax/] * 16:58 Deploying and catching issues with Sentry * 19:12 Converting express requests to web standard requests * 19:34 Other codebases that could benefit from AI migrations * 21:36 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs SICK PICKS * Scott: WisprFlow [https://wisprflow.ai/r?SCOTT2931] * Wes: displayplacer [https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer] SHAMELESS PLUGS * Phases Podcast [https://phases.fm/] HIT US UP ON SOCIALS! Syntax: X [https://twitter.com/syntaxfm] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/syntax_fm/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@syntaxfm] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/96077407/admin/feed/posts/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@syntax_fm] Wes: X [https://twitter.com/wesbos] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wesbos/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wesbos] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbos/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@wesbos] Scott: X [https://twitter.com/stolinski] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/stolinski/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stolinski] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@stolinski] Randy: X [https://twitter.com/randyrektor] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/randyrektor/] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@randyrektor] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@randyrektor]

991: Vite’s bet on Cloudflare (VOID Framework)

Vite just launched Void, a fullstack JavaScript framework and cloud platform that bundles together routing, SSR, auth, an ORM, and nearly everything you’d expect from a modern meta-framework — all built on top of Cloudflare’s infrastructure. Scott, Wes, and CJ dig into whether Void is the Rails moment JavaScript has been waiting for, or just shiny Cloudflare lock-in with a bow on it. SHOW NOTES * 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! * The Announcement [https://void.cloud/] * 00:27 Laravel or Rails for JavaScript? * 01:38 What is this big announcement? * 04:36 It’s just Vercel for Cloudflare? * 07:09 Database options. * 09:37 Brought to you by Sentry.io [https://sentry.io/syntax]. * 10:01 Type safety. * 12:09 What about RPC? * 15:41 Component Loaders over Page Loaders. * 18:23 Baked in authentication via Better Auth. * 22:57 Lock-in. Unapologetically Cloudflare * Evan’s X Post [https://x.com/youyuxi/status/2032501581644497139]. * 24:55 Is it lock-in? * 32:40 Self-Cloudflare your own Void apps? HIT US UP ON SOCIALS! Syntax: X [https://twitter.com/syntaxfm] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/syntax_fm/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@syntaxfm] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/96077407/admin/feed/posts/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@syntax_fm] Wes: X [https://twitter.com/wesbos] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wesbos/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wesbos] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbos/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@wesbos] Scott: X [https://twitter.com/stolinski] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/stolinski/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stolinski] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@stolinski] Randy: X [https://twitter.com/randyrektor] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/randyrektor/] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@randyrektor] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@randyrektor]

990: Vite Is Taking Over (Vite+)

Wes, Scott, and CJ talk about Vite+, a unified JavaScript toolchain that combines linting, formatting, task running, monorepos, and more. They break down its evolution, open-source shift, performance gains, Node version management, and whether it can realistically replace today’s fragmented dev tooling. SHOW NOTES * 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! * 00:54 What Vite+ [https://viteplus.dev/] is and what’s changed since launch * 03:43 Why the ecosystem needs Vite+ * 06:41 What Vite+ actually does for your workflow * 10:18 Built-in Node version management * 12:32 Type-aware linting with tsgolint [https://github.com/oxc-project/tsgolint] and oxc [https://github.com/oxc-project] * 15:27 Brought to you by Sentry.io [https://sentry.io/syntax/] * 16:28 Should config live inside vite.config? * 22:56 Monorepos and task running in Vite+ * 26:28 Task caching and faster builds * 29:01 Final thoughts and current limitations HIT US UP ON SOCIALS! Syntax: X [https://twitter.com/syntaxfm] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/syntax_fm/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@syntaxfm] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/96077407/admin/feed/posts/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@syntax_fm] Wes: X [https://twitter.com/wesbos] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wesbos/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wesbos] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbos/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@wesbos] Scott: X [https://twitter.com/stolinski] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/stolinski/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stolinski] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@stolinski] Randy: X [https://twitter.com/randyrektor] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/randyrektor/] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@randyrektor] Threads [https://www.threads.net/@randyrektor]