[LMG] Issue 11: How does wifi work?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue010/issue010_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 10: How do websites actually know if you are really you?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue009/issue009_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 9: How do I make an HTTP request?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue008/issue008_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 8: HTTP error codes—How does a server let the client know if there’s something wrong with their HTTP request?
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?
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?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue005/issue005_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 5: What is JSON?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue004/issue004_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 4: What is an API?
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue003/issue003_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 3: What is all this clutter?
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](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue002/issue002_01.png)
[LMG] Issue 2: Don’t reinvent the wheel
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?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season1/issue001/issue001_01.jpg)
[LMG] Issue 1: Why make an app?
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?
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...