So you graduated from your coding bootcamp: congrats! Now that you're searching for a job, how can you keep your skillset sharp? Keeping up with the web ecosystem is like trying to chase a plane down the runway on foot. No matter how fast you run, eventually it will take off and leave you grounded. My doppelgänger has a few solid suggestions, and I will add my own: subscribe to a few solid newsletters! Newsletters are a great way to get a seat on the plane — many of them are curated by super smart people who are great at sifting through thousands of sources to distill the highlights from the web community. These newsletters make for a nice morning read, and are fairly representative of the happenings. Oh, and many of these newsletters include a list of job openings!
You have a lot of newsletters to choose from, but here are my 5 favorite JavaScript newsletters.
1. JavaScript Weekly
JavaScript Weekly is the de facto newsletter for web developers: it has a smidgen of everything happening in the web, but primarily focuses on developments to the JavaScript language and standard APIs. Don’t expect a lot of noise about every new framework or library, though you may see the occasional React tutorial.
JavaScript Weekly is a great place to learn about new language features that are in the works, walk through exceptional tutorials on how to use existing features, and get a feel for the insane things you can do with the JavaScript language!
Did I mention they have a jobs section?
2. React Newsletter
The appropriately-titled React Newsletter is a marvelously curated assortment of mind-bending awesomeness happening in the React community. I’m really impressed with Tyler’s lineups and always walk away from my inbox with something new. Ecosystem fatigue is real, but the React Newsletter sorts news into a few categories — “core React” articles, tutorials and projects — so your inbox isn’t flooded with a list of 86 cutely-named React libraries.
3. Frontend Focus
If you want to keep up with the latest CSS features and browser Web APIs, Frontend Focus is for you. This newsletter is curated by the same folks who do the JavaScript Weekly newsletter, and is meant to complement the JavaScript-focused newsletter with a healthy dose of frontend-specific goodness.
Like the other fantastic newsletters in this lineup, I appreciate the emphasis on pure frontend content over “new and shiny” frontend libraries, which tend to have a limited shelf life. And like its counterpart, Frontend Focus has a jobs section.
4. React Status
React Status is yet another newsletter curated by the JavaScript Weekly team. I find they do a good job complementing the React Newsletter, so I’ve subscribed to both. But unlike the React Newsletter, React Status includes a jobs section — a plus for developers looking for remote positions!
5. Node Weekly
Frontend is boring you say? Node Weekly is the newsletter you seek: all the groundbreaking work that happens weekly in Node — you knew native async functions and ES2015 module support landed ages ago, right? — delivered to your inbox. And yes, there’s a jobs section!
Backend JavaScript often gets less attention than it’s browser counterpart, but the breakneck pace makes Node one of the most exciting platforms to be part of; Node Weekly does an admirable job summarizing the best developments!
Whoa! Am I an impostor if I don’t keep up?
If your reaction to newsletters is “Oh man, more stuff for me to keep up with, I’m already swamped,” you’re not alone, and you’re not an impostor if you didn’t know that React Native 0.xx landed or ES201X was just finalized. The best developers store very little trivia in their brain, but they strive to know where to find it if they need it.
That said, a small helping of web news is a healthy way to stay curious and discover new things that you find interesting. It’s impossible to keep up with everything happening in the web — it’s the largest and fastest moving development platform out there, so don’t try. Just subscribe to the bits that interest you, and live your life.
Embrace not knowing, embrace being a perpetual learner. And check your email.
