Remix: Learning Enhanced

I have been wrestling a lot lately with a dilemma that I think most all web developers find themselves in at some point or another. Here it is:

I work on legacy code at work 👉 I want to use updated code and frameworks 👉 To do so I have to do this outside of work 👉 Doing so outside of work takes away from family time 👉 and on, and on, and on…

Now, admittedly, none of this solves the problem of working on legacy code at work and not being able to use updated frameworks and so on. But I have been agonizing to find a way to do something at work that I can get good at and this just so happens to be Javascript.

So where does Remix come in? One problem I face with other frameworks I have used is having to learn some different syntax or that frameworks way of ‘doing things’. Remix does sit on top of React but, as I have said before, the amount of React that you have to know to use Remix is very minimal.

A Remix Secret

If you have watched Remix demo’s from the Remix team, you will get to a point in the demoes about half way to three quarters through where they drop the secret:

Your app can run with no Javascript in the browser.

So what does this mean for you. Honestly, you could research this question for a while because there are many benefits to no Javascript in the browser. But oddly enough, here is one benefit that I have recently discovered that ties into the whole work problem I mentioned above.

Having apps that can run without Javascript actually gives you time to learn and write better javascript.

Fuuuu-siioooon Ha!

Ok, I just came up with a goofy subheading. If you are a Dragon Ball Z fan, you know the reference.

The goal, and why I said fusion, was that I find something that I can get good on at work but also implement in project outside of work. So the learning I am doing on the job for the job, also carries over to off the job. Remix makes it incredibly easy and speedy to build applications. I want to get better at Javascript.

One of the nice things is that even if I take time away from actually building apps with Remix, it is built off of the Web Fundamentals. So, I get to spend time learning Javascript with the knowledge that whenever I build an app with Remix, I am using web fundamentals.

In this sense I believe I am getting to contribute actively and significantly at work because we have incredibly large Javascript files. I also know that when I build stuff outside of work with Remix, or other Javascript frameworks, I will be better.

Remix’s opinions about building and using Web Fundamentals allows me to spend more time learning things important to me.