NeuralSVG is an AI-powered tool that generates scalable, editable vector graphics, revolutionizing workflows for web designers and creatives. By combining deep learning with vector-based design, it enables precision, creativity, and seamless integration into popular design tools.
I wrote a post for Smashing Magazine that was published today about this thing that Chrome and Safari have called “Tight Mode” and how it impacts page performance. I’d never heard the term until DebugBear’s Matt Zeunert mentioned it in a passing conversation, but it’s a not-so-new deal and yet there’s precious little documentation about it anywhere.
So, Matt shared a couple of resources with me and I used those to put some notes together that wound up becoming the article that was published. In short:
Tight Mode discriminates resources, taking anything and everything marked as High and Medium priority. Everything else is constrained and left on the outside, looking in until the body is firmly attached to the document, signaling that blocking scripts have been executed. It’s at that point that resources marked with Low priority are allowed in the door during the second phase of loading.
The implications are huge, as it means resources are not treated equally at face value. And yet the way Chrome and Safari approach it is wildly different, meaning the implications are wildly different depending on which browser is being evaluated. Firefox doesn’t enforce it, so we’re effectively looking at three distinct flavors of how resources are fetched and rendered on the page.
It’s no wonder web performance is a hard discipline when we have these moving targets. Sure, it’s great that we now have a consistent set of metrics for evaluating, diagnosing, and discussing performance in the form of Core Web Vitals — but those metrics will never be consistent from browser to browser when the way resources are accessed and prioritized varies.
Tight Mode: Why Browsers Produce Different Performance Results originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
Mark Zuckerberg’s pattern of shifting Meta’s policies to appease changing U.S. administrations and his decision to abandon biased fact-checking partnerships reveal a leader driven by corporate survival rather than public accountability. These actions highlight the urgent need for more transparent and impartial oversight of online discourse.
Spotify’s hidden Star Wars Easter egg turns the playbar into a glowing lightsaber when playing certain official Star Wars playlists. This playful feature delights fans by adding a touch of the Force to their listening experience.
Getty Images and Shutterstock are merging in a $3.7 billion deal, creating a powerhouse for visual content with expanded libraries, cutting-edge AI tools, and integrated solutions for creatives. This merger promises to streamline access to assets and innovate resources for designers.
The FTC has ordered accessiBe to pay $1 million for falsely claiming its AI-powered tool could make websites fully compliant with accessibility standards. This action is part of the FTC’s crackdown on deceptive AI marketing practices.
I’ll set out my stall and let you know I am still an AI skeptic. Heck, I still wrap “AI” in quotes a lot of the time I talk about it. I am, however, skeptical of the present, rather than the future. I wouldn’t say I’m positive or even excited about where AI is going, but there’s an inevitability that in development circles, it will be further engrained in our work.
We joke in the industry that the suggestions that AI gives us are more often than not, terrible, but that will only improve in time. A good basis for that theory is how fast generative AI has improved with image and video generation. Sure, generated images still have that “shrink-wrapped” look about them, and generated images of people have extra… um… limbs, but consider how much generated AI images have improved, even in the last 12 months.
There’s also the case that VC money is seemingly exclusively being invested in AI, industry-wide. Pair that with a continuously turbulent tech recruitment situation, with endless major layoffs and even a skeptic like myself can see the writing on the wall with how our jobs as developers are going to be affected.
The biggest risk factor I can foresee is that if your sole responsibility is to write code, your job is almost certainly at risk. I don’t think this is an imminent risk in a lot of cases, but as generative AI improves its code output — just like it has for images and video — it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a redundancy risk for actual human developers.
Do I think this is right? Absolutely not. Do I think it’s time to panic? Not yet, but I do see a lot of value in evolving your skillset beyond writing code. I especially see the value in improving your soft skills.
A good way to think of soft skills is that they are life skills. Soft skills include:
I believe so much in soft skills that I call them core skills and for the rest of this article, I’ll refer to them as core skills, to underline their importance.
The path to becoming a truly great developer is down to more than just coding. It comes down to how you approach everything else, like communication, giving and receiving feedback, finding a pragmatic solution, planning — and even thinking like a web developer.
I’ve been working with CSS for over 15 years at this point and a lot has changed in its capabilities. What hasn’t changed though, is the core skills — often called “soft skills” — that are required to push you to the next level. I’ve spent a large chunk of those 15 years as a consultant, helping organizations — both global corporations and small startups — write better CSS. In almost every single case, an improvement of the organization’s core skills was the overarching difference.
The main reason for this is a lot of the time, the organizations I worked with coded themselves into a corner. They’d done that because they just plowed through — Jira ticket after Jira ticket — rather than step back and question, “is our approach actually working?” By focusing on their team’s core skills, we were often — and very quickly — able to identify problem areas and come up with pragmatic solutions that were almost never development solutions. These solutions were instead:
One thing AI cannot do — and (hopefully) never will be able to do — is be human. Core skills — especially communication skills — are very difficult for AI to recreate well because the way we communicate is uniquely human.
I’ve been doing this job a long time and something that’s certainly propelled my career is the fact I’ve always been versatile. Having a multifaceted skillset — like in my case, learning CSS and HTML to improve my design work — will only benefit you. It opens up other opportunities for you too, which is especially important with the way the tech industry currently is.
If you’re wondering how to get started on improving your core skills, I’ve got you. I produced a course called Complete CSS this year but it’s a slight rug-pull because it’s actually a core skills course that uses CSS as a context. You get to learn some iron-clad CSS skills alongside those core skills too, as a bonus. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are interested in developing your core skills, especially so if you receive a training budget from your employer.
The main message I want to get across is developing your core skills is as important — if not more important — than keeping up to date with the latest CSS or JavaScript thing. It might be uncomfortable for you to do that, but trust me, being able to stand yourself out over AI is only going to be a good thing, and improving your core skills is a sure-fire way to do exactly that.
The Importance of Investing in Soft Skills in the Age of AI originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
Advanced UX goes beyond Nielsen’s principles, focusing on cognitive load, workflow continuity, and customization to empower expert users. These pro-level heuristics enhance efficiency and resilience in high-performance environments.
Product Hunt, once a hub for diverse and innovative products, has become oversaturated with repetitive AI tools, crowding out other types of creativity and frustrating users. To regain its appeal, the platform needs to balance its focus on AI with better curation and support for a wider range of product categories.
Web designer salaries vary globally, depending on experience and location. Beginners typically earn modest wages while building foundational skills, while advanced designers command higher salaries by specializing in UX/UI or leading projects. This article explores salary ranges across countries, providing insights for designers planning their careers.
