Forem: Talia Hatfield

Webdev Quick Insights #2

Talia Hatfield — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:09:34 +0000

There are a million ways to make a website or app, but ultimately, what matters is how well the needs of clients and users are met.

If you're making a personal project, or want to focus on learning or experimenting, it makes sense to choose your technology stack based on personal preference or current interests. But when there's stakeholders other than yourself, their needs are paramount.

There's no shame in using well-established technologies that get the job done. And there should be no inherent pride in using something exciting or new.

For example, WordPress remains a great option for many websites, particularly customer-facing ones focused on marketing and conveying information. Its ease of use for non-coders is still a hugely valuable asset. Developers can set up the site with any custom code needed for design and functionality, and the site's owners can then update the content very easily. It's a winning combo.

Every technology has trade-offs. But just remember, "hipness" has nothing to do with how well the needs of clients and users are met. Do what's best for them, not what's fun for you - unless, of course, the two overlap, which certainly happens sometimes.

Webdev Quick Insights #1

Talia Hatfield — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:07:47 +0000

Often, a newer JavaScript feature is not simply a replacement for an old one that you should always use in its place. You have to understand exactly what's going on.

The most basic, obvious example: When I first learned JavaScript, I was taught about var. When I told the new way was with let and const, I thought "OK, I'll just use let instead of var." I didn't realize that you should actually "default" to using const; I valued let because it was felt equivalent - like a drop-in replacement. Of course, there technically isn't a modern direct equivalent to var, because it's the behavior of var that is problematic. Embracing let and const involves changing your thinking.

While there is almost no reason to use var in a modern app, and maturity is just about knowing which "replacement" to use (let or const), there are many cases where the "old way" isn't totally outdated. For example, || and ?? are both potentially useful operators. ?? is newer and so could be considered "more modern", but that doesn't mean you should use it in any instances where you would use ||. Doing so could easily cause errors.

We all love low-hanging fruit. It's fun to easily improve code by employing a newer language feature. But doing so can take more care than you realize.

I just typed "big" instead of "git" ????

Talia Hatfield — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 19:42:34 +0000

One of the most annoying little things that can happen in development...

Talia Hatfield — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:41:36 +0000

...is when you're stumped by an "error" and it turns out your editor just erroneously thought it was an error. I just tweaked the "erroneous" line then turned it back to force it to update, and it worked! Arrgh. I certainly should've thought to do that sooner 🤦

What's the practical benefit of using
?

Talia Hatfield — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:01:47 +0000

I'm honestly curious. I try to use semantic HTML when possible, so if I use <section> when it seems appropriate (when there's a semantic section of content containing a heading at the beginning). In general, semantic HTML helps with accessibility and SEO, but I'm unsure if <section> has much if any practical benefits, to be honest. I test with a screen reader and it doesn't acknowledge it at all, which makes sense I suppose, since it doesn't exactly have a meaning. So what is the point of it? I'll probably still keep using it even if no one can come up with anything since it just feels like a good policy to be semantic, but I'd love to know if there are some practical benefits.

Have you had moments like this?

Talia Hatfield — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 16:06:48 +0000

You realize you've gone down the completely wrong path in your code and basically have to scrap what you've been doing and start over...but you feel bad about all the work you've done and tell yourself there's a slim chance it could be used someday, and so you save your work in another file?

Widely disliked technologies you like (or don't mind)

Talia Hatfield — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:24:58 +0000

Are there any technologies (languages, frameworks, databases, tech stacks, etc.) which are criticized heavily by other developers, but which you either like or don't have a major problem with?

In my last job, I worked with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), a content management system. It's proprietary and expensive to use, so it doesn't have as much online info or commentary as many CMSes, but when I do see developers talking about it, it seems far from loved. Personally, while it was annoying looking up problems due to its lack of popularity online, I didn't really mind using it. Sure, it was frustrating at times, but I at least appreciated that it was easy for developers to make different components and define the interface that the content writers/assemblers would interact with. It seems like a rather robust system overall...probably a little over-complicated, ultimately. But all things considered, I enjoyed working with it well enough and wouldn't mind doing another job using it.

So, what hated technology do you think is fine (or better)?