Can AI Replace Programmers?Was it a mistake to encourage kids to learn to code? Should everyone who’s currently studying computer science or working as a programmer start learning to be an influencer, solar panel installer, or coal miner? Oct 29 25October 29, 2025Article at chrisminnick.substack.com
We Need More Globalism.For most of my adult life so far, the overarching trend of technology, politics, education, and just about everything has been that the world is becoming more interconnected, and that interconnectedness will create opportunities, understanding, and… Aug 30 25August 30, 2025Article at chrisminnick.substack.com
Can Chess Teach Us How to Cope with AI?Thoughts from my latest obsession, and a new book! Jul 08 25July 08, 2025Article at chrisminnick.substack.com
My AI Case for DEIDiversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) make AI and the world better. Feb 26 25February 26, 2025Article at chrisminnick.substack.com
An Interview with Peter T. Lundlehart IIIThe following interview was conducted with an AI version of Peter T. Lundlehart III, who appears in my latest novel, “Music For Losers.” If you’d like to chat with Mr. Lundlehart yourself, you can always find him here:… Nov 17 23November 17, 2023Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
Why I’m Live-streaming My Next Writing ProjectWhen my latest book, Mastodon For Dummies, was released, several people on social media commented that it was “probably written by AI.” These comments infuriated me much more than a bad review ever has. Bad reviews often contain information that can… Mar 01 23March 01, 2023Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
Mastodon For Dummies: the most important book I’ve written.From time to time, I get copied on mass emails from my agent looking for an author for a book on a specific topic. In early November 2022, I got such an email. Wiley was looking for someone to write Mastodon For Dummies. I wrote my proposal that… Feb 22 23February 22, 2023Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
It Doesn’t Matter What JavaScript Framework You UseKeeping up with JavaScript libraries is a full-time job. Even if you pick one to specialize in, the constant stream of changes made to it is going to make you feel like you’re always behind the times. On top of this, people who write about JavaScript… Feb 06 23February 06, 2023Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
Okay, I’ll give you my thoughts on ChatGPTIt’s the topic du jour, and since I was the person who predicted the path we’re now on, I’ve been getting some requests for my thoughts about OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is currently busy cranking out thousands of poorly-written articles about itself for… Jan 12 23January 12, 2023Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
React Router v6 Code PostedChapter 12 covers how to do Routing in React using React Router v5. In the time since the book came out, React Router v6 has been released, which includes some pretty big breaking changes. All the code in the book still works, as long as you use… Jan 04 23January 04, 2023Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
Unlearn something today!When learning new things, especially technical subjects, often the biggest hindrance to being able to understand and use new information is the knowledge that we already have. As students and teachers (and human beings), we naturally try to fit new… Nov 15 22November 15, 2022Article at WatzThis?
Can We Save the Web?Hossein Derakhshan, who is often called the “father of Persian blogging”, was sentenced in 2008 to 20 years in prison for the content of his blog. He was pardoned, and released, in November 2014. What he found when he got out was that the thing he… Nov 14 22November 14, 2022Article at WatzThis?
My Latest Book: Coding All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd EditionI’m excited to announce that the latest book I worked on, Coding All-in-One For Dummies (2nd edition), will be available in stores starting this week! When I was asked to be the lead author for the 2nd Edition of Coding All-in-One For Dummies, I… Jul 30 22July 30, 2022Article at Chris Minnick's Blog
Errata: Chapter 6The final code example in the Shallow Copies and the Spread Operator section on page 160 shows a rest parameter with only two periods. There should be three. The correct code is: function add(...numbers){ return numbers.reduce(sum,next) => sum +… May 14 22May 14, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
React 18 UpdateThe biggest change in React 18 is the addition of concurrent rendering. With concurrent rendering, you can mark state updates as non-urgent in order to improve the performance of your user interface. Concurrent rendering is opt-in. What this means is… Apr 09 22April 09, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
Errata: Listing 4-12In listings 4-12 and 4-13, the button’s onClick calls this.incrementCount and passed count+1 to it. There’s no need to pass a value here, since the incrementCount function increments the count variable. The corrected / improved code for listing 4-12… Apr 05 22April 05, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
React 18 is Here!The latest version of React has been a long time coming. This new version has some great behind-the-scenes updates to how React rendering works, makes changes to server-side rendering of React, and introduces the new Suspense feature, which lets you… Mar 30 22March 30, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
Writing an Error BoundaryErrors can happen in React components for many reasons. In development mode, errors will cause React to spit up a bunch of red text into the browser. This is sometimes helpful for debugging the problem. In production mode, React will display a white… Mar 26 22March 26, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
How To Create a Phishing Tabletop ExerciseAn essential element in being prepared to respond to cyber attacks, and ransomware attacks in particular, is to close the biggest and most easily breached hole in an any organization's firewall —well-intentioned internal users who fall victim to… Mar 15 22March 15, 2022Article at Ransomware.org
Prop DrillingProp drilling is a normal pattern and best practice in React. There are times, however, when ‘global’ data, such as user preferences or theming information must be passed to many different component and through multiple layers. Read More Mar 13 22March 13, 2022Article at ReactJSFoundations.com
