Google I/O 2022 is now over and we get a round-up of all topics related to the web industry, including a report on the State of CSS in 2022. The Software House published a comprehensive study on the State of Frontend in 2022. Microsoft is adding a free built-in VPN to the Edge browser. Polypane 9 has been released. And the software updates section features Hexo 6.2, pnpm v7.1, Solid v1.4, and more.
Google I/O 2022 Roundup
Every year Google runs its I/O developer event and the 2022 edition just ended. The Google ecosystem is vast, and it covers many areas. Fortunately, the web.dev team provided us with some dedicated articles just on the web-related topics, announcements, and keynotes, and here are the highlights:
- web performance remains a key interest
- the Core Web Vitals receive a new metric named Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
- work will continue on new and existing Web APIs to expand the way websites and web apps can integrate with the operating system and the hardware
- there will be more focus on the Privacy Sandbox, which is "a series of proposals to satisfy cross-site use cases without third-party cookies or other tracking mechanisms."
- there have been large improvements in CSS support over the last year across all browsers
- there is even a dedicated "State of CSS 2022" article that explores the new and upcoming styling APIs
- The Chrome team works with other browser vendors to make it easier to develop for the web
There is a lot of information to go through and, in most cases, we only got the video recordings of the presentations made at the event. I've linked below as many resources as I could find. I am expecting more to come soon.
- Google I/O 2022 portal
- Web at Google I/O 2022
- Google I/O 2022: That's a wrap!
- The Privacy Sandbox
- State of CSS 2022
State of frontend 2022
The Software House published a comprehensive study on the State of Frontend in 2022. The report collected data from over 3700 people in 125 countries, and it has been analyzed and commented on by some big names in the industry. You might recognize people like Chris Coyier, Sébastien Chopin (author of Nuxt), or Olivier Tassinari (co-creator of Material-UI). Their insight alone makes this report worth reading.
Browser news
Edge
The Verge is reporting that Microsoft is adding a free built-in VPN to the Edge browser. The feature is called Edge Secure Network, it is powered by Cloudflare, and it includes 1GB of data traffic each month. The functionality is still under development, and it requires the use of a Microsoft Account.
- Microsoft is adding a free built-in VPN to its Edge browser
- Use the Microsoft Edge Secure Network to protect your browsing
Polypane
Polypane, the "browser for ambitious developers", has just received the update to version 9. Here are a few highlights of the new features available:
- screenshots are generated faster, and you can edit them in the new screenshot editor
- the mobile-friendly tester helps you find issues such as buttons being too small or too close one to another
- get better and more useful warnings in the outline panel
- support for the
color-schememeta attribute
You can find more details on these features and everything else included in the update in the blog post linked below.
Software updates and releases
- crypto-random-string v5.0.0 - generate a cryptographically strong random string
- fuzzysort v1.9.0 - fuzzy search for JavaScript
- GraphQL Yoga 2.0 - complete GraphQL server functionality
- graphql-schema-linter v3.0.0 - validate GraphQL schema definitions
- Hexo 6.2.0 - a fast, simple & powerful blog framework, powered by Node.js.
- pnpm v7.1.0 - fast, disk space efficient package manager
- Solid v1.4.0 - a declarative JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
- Wild Wild Path 3.0 - object property paths with wildcards and regexps
Wrapping things up
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That's about all I have for this issue. Have a great and productive week, keep yourselves safe, spend as much time as possible with your loved ones, and I will see you again next time!