Archive (Page 4) • Layman's Guide to Computing • Buttondown

May 4, 2019

So far I have been describing things as though only one developer was working on a project. What happens when two developers are involved? Any kind of...

[LMG S2] Issue 20: Testing

April 27, 2019

Last issue, I introduced version control, the idea that you can set things up in a way that lets you see the change history of a document. This lets you undo...

[LMG S2] Issue 19: Version control and git

April 20, 2019

Have you ever worked on a large document with a team of people before? If you have, did it go well? Did people get along and not get into conflict with each...

[LMG S2] Issue 18: Frameworks

April 13, 2019

Last issue, I introduced libraries, which are basically magic spells. You call them, they do advanced magic in the background, and return magical results to...

[LMG S2] Issue 17: Libraries

April 6, 2019

Welcome back! Last issue must have been exhausting to read, and I want this issue to be more readily digestible. So there’re only going to be two examples....

[LMG S2] Issue 16: Shell scripts and automation

March 30, 2019

So you just got back from a trip with lots of photos in your camera. You take the SD card out from the camera, put it in your laptop, open up the photos …...

[LMG S2] Issue 15: Sysadmins and the command line

March 23, 2019

If something’s not working correctly in your operating system, someone has to dig into the settings and configuration, figure out what’s wrong, and resolve...

[LMG S2] Issue 14: What do developers do?

March 16, 2019

Last season, I used an app I was making to get into the differences between HTTP and HTTPS. It wrapped things up at a point I’m pretty happy with, left some...

[LMG] Issue 13: How do I use HTTPS?

March 9, 2019

Last issue I compared HTTPS and HTTP, and explained why you should use HTTPS as far as possible to keep your data secure. How would I know if I’m using HTTP...

[LMG] Issue 12: What is HTTPS? How is it different from HTTP?

March 1, 2019

Was the last issue too scary? I hope you haven’t completely lost faith in protecting your privacy on the internet! If you’re close to it, let this issue...

[LMG] Issue 11: How does wifi work?

February 23, 2019

In the last issue, I showed you how I create HTTP requests with custom headers. I put my developer API key in the request header and Hypothes.is gave me a...

[LMG] Issue 10: How do websites actually know if you are really you?

February 16, 2019

Short answer: They actually don’t. This is not a snarky answer; it is true! Think about it. When the server receives a request, it has no idea if it’s coming...

[LMG] Issue 9: How do I make an HTTP request?

February 9, 2019

Last issue, I talked about HTTP response headers, and how they inform the client about the request status using a status code. Let’s talk about the HTTP...

[LMG] Issue 8: HTTP error codes—How does a server let the client know if there’s something wrong with their HTTP request?

February 2, 2019

Last issue, I said that HTTP is a set of rules for sending and receiving documents that link to other documents. According to those rules, if you want a...

[LMG] Issue 7: What is HTTP?

January 26, 2019

Before I jump into talking about requests, maybe we should start with a more fundamental question: what is HTTP? HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol Let’s...

[LMG] Issue 6: How do you use an API?

January 19, 2019

You ask it nicely, of course. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be snarky. But that really is what you do. The question is, “what is a nice request?” These days, the...

[LMG] Issue 5: What is JSON?

January 12, 2019

Say you want to send some data to another app. Let’s say it’s an annotation from Hypothes.is: A highlight in Hypothes.is, to illustrate the various bits of...

[LMG] Issue 4: What is an API?

January 5, 2019

Short version: An Application Programming Interface (API) is a data browser for apps, a way for apps to talk to each other. Long version: Imagine you're an...

[LMG] Issue 3: What is all this clutter?

December 29, 2018

You would think that the first challenge in writing an app is learning the programming language. In my case, there was an even more fundamental challenge to...

[LMG] Issue 2: Don’t reinvent the wheel

December 22, 2018

Just thinking about recreating the Readmill reading experience in an app was mind-boggling, especially for someone like me with minimal programming...

[LMG] Issue 1: Why make an app?

December 15, 2018

These holidays, I started making an app. It wasn’t a spontaneous decision. I had been thinking about it for years. It started when I started saving articles...

[LMG] Issue 0: Why write a newsletter?

December 8, 2018

Where do I start? Someone I know just took up a (sponsored) course to learn HTML, CSS, and eventually maybe Javascript and maybe even Python! What does it...