Techreport blog

Engineering Insights & Guides

The best problem-solving writing in software engineering — databases, performance, security, frontend and distributed systems, in one feed.

11,784 articles
Engineering — How we built Instant Logs

How we built Instant Logs

In this blog post, we’ll show you how we built a new system that can give you access to your Cloudflare logs in real time, with just a single click.

BYBen YuleBen Yule·September 14, 2021Engineering
Engineering — Jamstack Conf 2021

Jamstack Conf 2021

What? Jamstack Conf! It's the best! Learn what's happening and what's next for this hot ecosystem.

CCChris Coyier·September 14, 2021Engineering
Engineering — The Power Of Pen And Paper Sketching — Smashing Magazine

The Power Of Pen And Paper Sketching — Smashing Magazine

When designing for digital spaces, it’s natural to default to digital mockup tools, but doing so cuts out a world of possibilities. Analog drawing can unleash your imagination and allow you to focus on what’s most important at the start: the ideas.

TOTracy OsbornTracy Osborn·September 14, 2021Engineering
Engineering — Social Image Generator + Jetpack

Social Image Generator + Jetpack

I feel like my quest to make sure this site had pretty sweet (and automatically-generated) social media images (e.g. Open Graph) came to a close once I found

CCChris Coyier·September 13, 2021Engineering
Frontend — Superpack: Pushing the limits of compression in Facebook’s mobile apps

Superpack: Pushing the limits of compression in Facebook’s mobile apps

Managing app size at Facebook is a unique challenge: Every day, developers check in large volumes of code, and each line of code translates into additional bits in the apps that people ultimately download onto their phones. Left unchecked, this added code would make the app bigger and bigger until eventually the time it takes […]

MEMeta Engineering·September 13, 2021Frontend
Frontend — Orchestrating Complexity With Web Animations API — Smashing Magazine

Orchestrating Complexity With Web Animations API — Smashing Magazine

There are way too many options in Web Animations API to pick them up that easily. There’s no middle ground between simple transitions and complex animations. You’re either fine with what CSS Transitions and Animations provide or you suddenly need all the power you can get. Learning how timing works and how to control the playback of several animations at once makes for a solid foundation on which

KMKirill MyshkinKirill Myshkin·September 13, 2021Frontend
Frontend — "Just in Time" CSS

"Just in Time" CSS

I believe acss.io is the first usage of "Atomic CSS" where the point of it is to be a compiler. You write CSS like this:

CCChris Coyier·September 10, 2021Frontend
Engineering — Fun Times Styling Checkbox States

Fun Times Styling Checkbox States

We might leave a text input unstyled. We might leave a link unstyled. Even a button. But checkboxes… we don’t leave them alone. That’s why styling checkboxes

PPreethiPreethi·September 10, 2021Engineering
Engineering — EyeDropper API Dropped

EyeDropper API Dropped

I had no idea this was coming but it's pretty neat! Chrome has shipped the EyeDropper API in v95 (Canary, as I write).

CCChris Coyier·September 10, 2021Engineering
Security — How WhatsApp is enabling end-to-end encrypted backups

How WhatsApp is enabling end-to-end encrypted backups

For years, in order to safeguard the privacy of people’s messages, WhatsApp has provided end-to-end encryption by default ​​so messages can be seen only by the sender and recipient, and no one in between. Now, we’re planning to give people the option to protect their WhatsApp backups using end-to-end encryption as well. People can already […]

CWChris Wiltz·September 10, 2021Security
Languages — Web Design Done Well: Excellent Editorial — Smashing Magazine

Web Design Done Well: Excellent Editorial — Smashing Magazine

For better or worse, the web is absolutely awash with content. A lot of it is great, a lot of it is not. A lot of the talk around it has the cold, calculating cadence you’d sooner expect from industrialists talking about assembly lines. They say content is king, and they’re right. The web has unlocked untold possibilities for storytellers — provided the story is right, of course. Here are some of

FOFrederick O BrienFrederick O Brien·September 10, 2021Languages