Remembering the time a CEO told me to fix login taking 20s on an app. He said it was a front end issue.
We isolated the problem to the backend, we fixed it and login now took 2s. We had the graphs, the PRs, the report, everything.
He insisted it was still a front end issue.
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Salma@whitep4nth3r
I write code for your entertainment
No one has hired me yet
Award-winning developer
Bio updated daily⚡Salma’s Tweets
Netlify announced a company-wide restructure last week and my role was impacted.
As a result, I’m excited to be looking for my next role as a Developer Experience Engineer.
Here are 5 reasons why you should hire me.
Please share with your networks!
Just setting up a fresh MacBook Pro.
Kinda feel like not replicating my old dev environment (of the last, like, 6 years) and branching out.
So far I have just installed Arc Browser and Raycast.
What tools do you recommend?
I’M OBVIOUSLY NOT SAYING BUILD EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE USING ONLY HTML FOREVER BUT IT IS ACTUALLY ALL YOU NEED TO GET A WEBSITE ONLINE AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU CAN’T HAVE EMPATHY FOR BEGINNERS AND THE HURDLES THAT JS AND CSS PUT IN PEOPLE’S WAY WHEN THEY ARE JUST STARTING OUT
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Asking “How do I get started with web dev?” is like asking “How do I get started with cooking?”
Decide what you want to make. And then reframe the question.
“How do I make lasagne?” or “How might I build a blog?” is more straightforward to answer — and you’ll get better help.
Still thinking of the moment someone came into my stream yesterday, saw me updating the DOM using plain JavaScript for a basic proof of concept, and asked me why I wasn't using a state management library.
There’s a difference between coding and building!
If you’re studying data structures & grinding leet code for hours a day, you might be coding, but you’re certainly not building.
Coding skills are over-indexed in interviews, but it’s the builders that make a successful product.
Yesterday, released Edge Functions in beta! 🥳
But what are Edge Functions, and how do you use them?
Literally didn't understand caching before this. Understand it more now. Great explanation as ever. Ben is cool.
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With serverless on the rise, cache is king 
To speed up responses and cut down on your server biil, let's walk through Cache-Control headers that'll fine-tune *how* and *where* cache is stored!
#WhiteboardTheWeb edition 59
To speed up responses and cut down on your server biil, let's walk through Cache-Control headers that'll fine-tune *how* and *where* cache is stored!
#WhiteboardTheWeb edition 59
0:59
Go on now, go, into the .gitignore
Just turn around now, 'cause you're not welcome, .DS_Store
I'm sorry but why would I subscribe to bin deliveries and why is it the default option?
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I finally made a thing that has been on my backlog for over a year! Blog post coming soon on how I did it.
Video alt: typing npx whitep4nth3r into a terminal which prints out a business card type thing with all my internet links.
Remember, kids. HTML is all you need to make a website.
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Today I shipped a website on stream that is a bit silly and pointless. But here's the thing — it helped people learn about:
• prefers-color-scheme
• prefers-reduced motion
• colour contrast for a11y
• building sites without frameworks
• how 100% FUN web dev is!
I am now in a long-term relationship with Incremental Static Regeneration from #Nextjs ❤️
Full video for your viewing pleasure (and mine) here 👉🏼
youtube.com/watch?v=-kdoN2
Adding the CSS blur filter on DOM elements you don't want to draw attention to in screenshots for blog posts is 🤌🏼
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I deleted Facebook in 2012. Never looked back. I deleted TikTok a couple weeks ago. Great decision. I think Twitter is next.
I should get a glass of water — I'll just write this one line of code.
Two hours later.
I should get a glass of water.
Advance reminder!
Tune in to my first Twitter space on 8th March where I launch the Women of Jamstack project with special guests!
✅ First day at Netlify
✅ Read lots of things
✅ Say hi to lots of people
✅ Sleep well tonight
Weeeellllllll I can finally proudly say that I am now a Twitch partner 🔥
Thank you everyone for your continued support and I'll see y'all back in September!
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This is a test post✨
I'm currently trying to implement webmentions on my website 👀
Like this tweet to be featured on my website!
If you're using nvm to switch between node versions, you might run into an issue where the "wrong" node version is loaded on launch of a new terminal window, and your usual package commands don't work.
Set the default node version via nvm with:
`nvm alias default {VERSION}`
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I'm honoured and overwhelmed to have been awarded Microsoft MVP for Developer Technologies! 🤩
A huge thanks to the ever-supporting tech community I have found and the wonderful people I get to work with every day.
Cheers! 🥂 #MVPBuzz
mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/PublicPr
A brand new feature you didn't know you needed 😍
Deploy logs are now divided into neat and tidy collapsible sections — so if something goes wrong, you can easily see where the failure occurred.
Head on over to your dashboards to check it out!
GIF
A TikTok embed on my blog was bothering me.
On page load, it downloaded over 3MB of JavaScript, despite the TikTok Embed being at the bottom of the page.
Lighthouse perf: 51 🚫
LCP: 2.17s 🚫
Total Blocking Time: 4.28s 🚫
How did I improve those scores? 👇
I’m honoured to receive this award! Thank you everyone! 🥳
Go forth and build stuff, learn things and LOVE WHAT YOU DO 🔥
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Wohoooooooo we just witnessed another Jammies Award winner at the #Jamstackconf event.
This time for the COMMUNITY CREATOR category.
And the winner is ...... @whitep4nth3r Congratulations 
Congratulations 
In less than 3 hours, we released the prototype of unbreak.tech — a platform for MEN to educate other MEN about the need for change and equality in tech 🔥
To everyone with whom I've been speaking to during the last 36 hours — I'm counting on you.
Let's do this.
Replying to
He wrote some of the original code and he knew best or something.
IT FINALLY HAPPENED 👀
Send more good vibes pls 😬
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Replying to
He insisted it was a “problem with the front end code”. “Fix the front end code.” “Don’t touch the back end code.”
Etc
Just saw a DevRel job posting requiring applications to have 5k+ social platform followers. 🫠
There are many, MANY ways to be effective in DevRel without that type of following. After all, this role is not centred on the individual, but around the community it serves.
DevRel roles are getting eliminated all over the place.
Makes me _really_ wonder whether I should side-step out of it for safety reasons on this new job hunt.
But I just love the variety of the role so much.
I’m torn, but uncertainty is my nemesis.
Just introduced the boy to HTML and CSS via .
Such a friction-free way to get kids interested in coding.
He said he loved it, and so did I! 🥲
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I am about to fulfil a lifelong dream.
I have just signed up for drum lessons starting in September. 🥁🥁
Me when a first time chatter in my stream asks why I’m not using Tailwind.
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What a stream, and what a day on Twitch!
✨ I hit over 3k followers!
✨ I qualified for Twitch partner!
Thank you, everyone, for your support. I couldn't have done this without you all. GO SCIENCE & TECH.
Big moves are coming!
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I just discovered that WebP preserves animated frames in GIF images!
This GIF converted to WebP reduces the file size by 87% from 1.2Mb to just 167kb. (Look at the file types in the network tab!)
Does this mean an end to hugely lossy GIF compression or am I missing something?
This one thing blew my mind when I started learning how to code.
I think it still blows my mind.
THE AIR FRYER IS HERE I REPEAT THE AIR FRYER IS HERE
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Got me a little job title update. Sleuth around the internet to find out.
📣 CALLING ALL MEN IN TECH WHO BELIEVE IN A BETTER FUTURE 📣
I need you for something extremely important.
Please respond to this tweet in a thread if you would like to know more and I will open a DM.
My daddy died 2 weeks ago and it feels simultaneously like an eternity ago and that it also didn’t happen.
Gonna make an app that SHOUTS encouraging phrases at you at random intervals throughout the day to keep you motivated and feeling GREAT.
THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT REGEX!
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY CONSOLE LOGS!
CSS IS MOST DEFINITELY A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE!!!!
I just released a new tutorial video!
Learn how to intercept and transform an HTTP request to inject geolocation data using Edge Functions — with no front end frameworks!
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You don’t need side projects. You don’t need to learn about and form opinions on every new blazing-fast piece of bleeding-edge hype-tech.
You can be a web dev and get paid and that’s it. No hustle.
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Quote tweet this with your most nuanced well-measured web dev take.
My posts are often shared on Reddit, Hacker News and other sites. Hooray for more post views!
But also NOT yay 💀
So I started an experiment. What if I could show people a friendly message on my site based on the site they came from? 🤔
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Using @Netlify Edge Functions to show banners based on the HTTP referer request header
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Next.js developers! 📣
Do you want to do more with middleware? How about instead of rewriting URLs based on headers/cookies/geo data — you could actually rewrite the HTML response? 👀
Now you can! With Next.js Advanced Middleware — ONLY ON 😎
This is a pure subtweet because I AM NOT quoting absolute garbage and helping it gain more traction.
DevRel is NOT a competition. There's no "championship", there are no "leagues". We're all just doing a job that has differing requirements for different products and companies.
Pro tip.
When someone asks for help on a code problem, how about you don’t just suggest a whole new tech stack?
Help debug or STFU.
Devastated there is absolutely NO MENTION or representation of how anyone who wears glasses would be able to use the Apple Vision Pro.
Outrageous.
Women of Jamstack is LIVE and OFFICIAL! 🎉
Thank you to all my special guests who helped me launch this project, and thanks to over 100 attendees of my first Twitter space!
It's time to open up those PRs!
A few months ago, I wrote about how you probably shouldn’t write a new JavaScript framework. But I’ve changed my mind. Maybe you should write a new JavaScript framework. And here’s why.
This week I finished my first ever cross stitch! It took just over 5 months and I am so proud.
I’ve got the next one lined up! (It’s 1m tall 🫠)
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I don’t know about you but I always take selfies whilst actually being streamed doing live conferences with 😎
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Making content?
Write/record the intro LAST.
At the end, your brain has been on the whole teaching and learning journey and can summarise and contextualise the content far better than going in cold at the start.
STOP IT.
YOU DO NOT NEED MAKE UP TO LOOK PROFESSIONAL.
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We’re collaborating with Maybelline to bring you the first-ever virtual makeup for Teams! You can choose from 12 filters that allow you to easily change your look throughout the day: msft.it/6017gfIBT
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oh no look how unprofessional I look without makeup and no filter oh no
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We’re collaborating with Maybelline to bring you the first-ever virtual makeup for Teams! You can choose from 12 filters that allow you to easily change your look throughout the day: msft.it/6017gfIBT
I was lucky enough to be sent a ScreenBar Halo! 🔥
Everyone knows I I have bad eyes, and I also love GADGETS. This monitor light claims to reduce strong contrast between a screen and its surroundings and reduce screen glare 👀
#benqlighting #DontSettlePhilosophy
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This weekend I learned that some devs are hesitant about having an online blog. They believe their content will hurt their job prospects.
Speaking as someone who has hired devs — whatever you blog about, the fact that you BUILT a blog to learn things is in your favour! Ship it!
I’m redesigning my website for the fourth time in just over a year 💀
Here’s a little insight into the process and why I’m doing it. (And hey, maybe it’ll inspire you to work on your own… 🔥)
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Now I gotta update my website the day after launch FML.
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I still have to look up this blog post sometimes to remind me what the difference is between : and :: in CSS 🫣
The first person you write blog posts for is yourself.
Who knew writing a random code generator would be this much fun? 😂
I knew that. I KNEW THAT! 😂
Is there anyone out there building new JavaScript or front end frameworks that isn't a white man?
I want to find you.
I flip between feeling entirely qualified and entirely incompetent on a minute-by-minute basis.