Vitaly Friedman - New Front-End Adventures, 2021 Edition

With HTTP/3, Service Workers, Micro Front-Ends, JAM Stack, PWA, TypeScript, Web Assembly, AVIF, Variable Fonts, CSS Custom Properties and clamp(), Client Hints and Resource Hints, CSS Subgrid, and SVG2, we all are still trying to figure out just the right strategy for building websites and apps efficiently.

We want to use all of these technologies and smart processes, but how can we use them efficiently, and how do we achieve it within a reasonable amount of time?

What’s the most optimized way to compress text, optimize images, deliver and contain third-party scripts, conduct A/B testing, manage web fonts, build layouts, streamline delivery of CSS/JS, serve static assets and architect a flexible and maintainable design system? Oh my, in the workshop, we’ll cover it all.

In this workshop, Vitaly Friedman, co-founder of Smashing Magazine and front-end/UX consultant, will be looking into the state of front-end in 2021, with new challenges and new opportunities, and how we can utilize all of those wonderful shiny web technologies we have available today.

We’ll also talk about dealing with legacy browsers and will cover a few dirty little techniques that might ensure that your websites and apps will stay relevant, flexible, and accessible in the years to come. Beware: you won’t be able to unlearn the things that you’ll learn in the workshop!

This workshop will explore:

- Component-based workflow and tooling,

- Techniques for localization and internationalization,

- Image and video optimization techniques, tooling and formats (AVIF),

- Bulletproof Web font loading strategies and techniques,

- Variable Fonts, and how to use them,

- How to organize CSS and critical CSS to optimize delivery to minimize reflows,

- How to use and build with CSS Custom Properties cascade,

- Advanced CSS layout techniques (CSS Grid + Custom Properties + Subgrid),

- CSS Houdini and Shadow DOM, what it means and techniques for front-end designers and developers,

- State of JavaScript 2021, ES modules, progressive hydration with React, bundlers, tooling, and how to manage performance bottlenecks for single-page-applications,

- Deferring and lazy-loading JavaScript to make the best use of the browser's rendering routine,

- How to use predictive prefetching to improve perceived performance,

- Refactoring and debugging strategies,

- How to deal with 3rd-party scripts using IntersectionObserver,

- How and when to use WebAssembly for runtime performance optimization,

- State of static site generators, where and how they fit and the JAM Stack landscape,

- How to use Network Information API and Memory Device API to improve performance,

- State of HTML email, with new strategies for building cross-email client emails, 

- Authentication patterns, permissions UX, GDPR/CCPA, CAPTCHA, and 2-factor-auth,

- Utilizing Service Workers for caching and better performance,

- Performance optimization strategy (best practices + HTTP/2 + HTTP/3), including transition from HTTP to HTTPS in legacy projects,

- The implication of GDPR and privacy legislation for web developers,

- Maintenance issues and dealing with legacy browsers,

- Common front-end challenges and solutions and important new challenges and opportunities to keep in mind.