DenverScript October | 1000 Ways to Autocomplete | Testing Our Way to Better DX

This month we'll hear about the latest JS News and Releases. Also, CJ will be giving the talk "1000 Ways To Autocomplete - A JS Framework Comparison" and Will Klein will be giving the talk "Testing Our Way to a Better Developer Experience"

Snacks and drinks will be provided.

The meetup will NOT be recorded or live streamed.

Agenda
6:00 PM - Networking
6:15 PM - JavaScript News
6:30 PM - "Testing Our Way to a Better Developer Experience" by Will Klein
7:00 PM - "1000 Ways to Autocomplete" by CJ

Talk Descriptions

1000 Ways to Autocomplete
Implementing autocomplete in a web app is actually quite tricky if you want to do it right. A good implementation includes de-bouncing input, loading / error state, aborting requests in flight and more! Solving these problems across various front-end frameworks presents unique problems and interesting solutions. In this talk I will showcase the 1000 (that's 8 in binary 😉) ways I implemented this across React, Solid, Preact, Svelte, Vue, Angular, HTMX and Vanilla JS. I will compare and contrast these solutions, showcase some of the common patterns that emerged and also highlight frameworks that make this easier than others. Attendees of this talk will walk away with new tricks to try in their favorite framework as well as perspective on how things are done in the current front-end framework landscape.

Testing Our Way to a Better Developer Experience
Are our tests a chore, or do they help us move faster? Let’s examine what makes testing great and not so great. We’ll focus on test strategies that help us code with confidence and clarity, and where they can cost us time and energy. The secret to good testing lies in how it shapes our developer experience. Do our tests give us useful feedback in a timely manner? How quickly can we tell what is wrong when a test suite fails? Do they document our features and explain our past decisions? We’ll answer these questions with better tests that give us joy.

Speaker Bios

CJ is a Software Developer, Educator and Maker. He makes videos for Syntax.fm and streams himself teaching and coding on the Twitch and YouTube channel Coding Garden.

Will is a specialist in developer experience, building tools, and sharing how they work. He draws from 18 years of practice, working in design systems, full-stack development, and most importantly, making mistakes and learning from them. What started as a fear of public speaking turned into dozens of talks and organizing local events for over a decade. Will has built in-person and online communities around JavaScript, React, and design systems. Through his work, he strives to make the tech industry more equitable and supportive for all.