Welcome to my PinkLetter. A short, weekly, technology-agnostic, and pink newsletter where we cultivate timeless skills about web development.
My Ramblings This Week
This last year, I had the privilege to work with an exceptional designer and human being.
She taught me the basics of design, invited me to be a designer and asked to critique her work.
She reminded me that generativity eats productivity for breakfast: she enabled me, made the team more productive, and got feedback to improve her work as a result.
She crushed the developer rockstar cult with her kindness and inclusivity.
Among other things, she taught me how to use Figma, what a mood board is, and how to use white space and colors. Most importantly, she showed me the true power of design thinking by pair-designing with me.
Hell, I got so excited I even read The Design of Everyday Things and loved it!
Gosia inspired me to be more generative, and I hope she can inspire you too.
Elsewhere on the Web
Forget SQL vs NoSQL - Get the Best of Both Worlds with JSON in PostgreSQL by Derek Xiao
Have you ever started a project and asked - "should I use a SQL or NoSQL database?"
It’s a big decision. There are multiple horror stories of developers choosing a NoSQL database and later regretting it.
But now you can get the best of both worlds with JSON in PostgreSQL.
In this article I cover the benefits of using JSON, anti-patterns to avoid, and an example of how to use JSON in Postgres.
(Riccardo: I still think JSON columns are risky business. Make sure you have a solid reason if you decide to proceed.)
Anamorphisms aka Unfolds Explained by Marty Stumpf
Unfolds can be thought of as the dual of folds. As Conal Elliott puts it: while folds contract a structure down to a value, unfolds expand a structure up from a value!
(Riccardo: Quick read so you can start bragging about knowing anamorphisms.)
Pick your serving size of web accessibility information.
(Riccardo: Accessibility without having to digest dry specifications. Yay!)