Chris Coyier, CEO CodePen: How We're Building CodePen 2.0, CSS-Tricks

Links- Codecrafters (Sponsor): https://tej.as/codecrafters- Codepen: https://codepen.io- TailwindCSS Play CDN: https://tailwindcss.com/docs/installation/play-cdn- Chris on X: https://x.com/chriscoyier- Tejas on X: https://x.com/tejaskumar_SummaryIn this episode, Chris Coyier (CEO of CodePen) discusses his background and the projects he is involved in, including CSS-Tricks and CodePen. He talks about the workload and challenges of running these projects, particularly the complexities of managing advertising and the business models. Chris also shares insights into the tech stack used at CodePen, including Next.js and GraphQL. He highlights the benefits of GraphQL and the code generation tool, which helps ensure data consistency and type safety. Finally, he discusses the future plans for CodePen, including the adoption of server components. In this part of the conversation, Chris Coyier and Tejas Kumar discuss the Apollo code gen and type checking, the features of CodePen 2.0, the balance between simplicity and complexity, NPM install in CodePen, NPM support in CodePen 2.0, and the differences between ESM and CommonJS. In this conversation, Chris Coyier, the co-founder of CodePen, discusses various topics related to CodePen's architecture, development stack, and future plans. He talks about the use of CommonJS and GraphQL, the transpilation process in CodePen, the serverless architecture and Lambda functions, onboarding and familiarity with CodePen's codebase, staying up-to-date with industry trends, CodePen's design system, using Tailwind CSS in CodePen, the data layer in CodePen, and the potential acquisition of CodePen.Takeaways1. Running projects like CodePen/CSS-Tricks involves a significant workload, including managing advertising and the business models.2. The tech stack at CodePen includes Next.js and GraphQL, which provide powerful tools for building and managing web applications.3. Code generation with tools like Apollo helps ensure data consistency and type safety in GraphQL queries.4. Onboarding and becoming familiar with CodePen's codebase is relatively straightforward.5. Tailwind CSS can be used in CodePen by linking to a CDN-hosted URL.Chapters00:00:00 Chris Coyier00:03:27 Introduction and Background00:06:49 Running CSS-Tricks and CodePen00:12:45 Workload and Challenges00:25:37 Moving to Next.js00:29:49 Server Components and Future Plans00:32:27 Code Generation with Apollo00:34:10 Apollo Code Gen and Type Checking00:38:45 CodePen 2.0 Features00:46:43 Simplicity vs Complexity00:48:08 NPM Install and CodePen00:54:50 NPM Support in CodePen 2.000:59:12 ESM vs CommonJS01:01:54 Common JS and GraphQL01:02:31 CodePen's Architecture and Transpilation01:04:58 Serverless Architecture and Lambda Functions01:08:14 Onboarding and Familiarity with CodePen's Codebase01:08:42 Staying Up-to-Date with Industry Trends01:12:46 CodePen's Design System01:20:48 Using Tailwind CSS in CodePen01:25:01 CodePen's Data Layer01:29:03 AI Features and CodePen 2.001:31:26 Potential Acquisition of CodePen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.