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Hi ,
This week’s lineup brings practical upgrades across the board. GSAP is now free for commercial use, PostgreSQL 18 Beta 1 introduces performance boosts and JSON improvements, and Node.js 24 drops MSVC support in favor of LLVM. Figma launches new tools that blur the line between design and deployment, and OpenSearch 3.0 enhances vector performance for modern search workloads.
Here’s what’s catching our attention:
We’ve also dropped a new workstation gear spotlight, rounded up expert insights on TypeScript, Rails, and microservices, and slipped in a dev tip to keep you from waging war with your browser cache.
Let’s dig in!
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From licensing changes to backend shifts, this week’s news covers updates that can reshape your workflow, whether you're building interfaces, managing data, or optimizing performance.
The dev community is digging into real-world patterns and pain points, smart migration paths, overengineered microservices, and better AI agent design. We’ve rounded up the sharpest takes, just for you.
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In this new section, we’re spotlighting the tech, tools, and accessories that turn a decent dev setup into a dialed-in command center. Whether you’re remote full-time or just upgrading your side-project space, these picks bring serious signal.
As AI tools take over boilerplate generation, developers are being called to do more than just ship syntax. They’re being asked to understand architecture, supervise AI output, and design systems that scale.
In this issue, Shalini Goyal shares why foundational system thinking is now a must-have, especially in AI-assisted workflows. It’s no longer just about how fast you can write code, but how well you can guide it, fit it into the bigger picture, and spot where things could go wrong.
To dive deeper into that mindset, we’re also featuring Spring System Design in Practice, your playbook for designing robust, secure, high-performance web apps with Spring. Whether you're working with microservices or building from scratch, this book lays down the architectural thinking you need to stay relevant.
🎬 Bonus:We’ve dropped an extra clip from the conversation on X. Check it out and follow WebDevPro for more expert takes.
Packt:You also mentioned something interesting, about how important it is becoming now to have system design imbibed right from the beginning. And it's not something anymore, you know, for someone at a higher position only to inculcate. Do you also see this change happening more rapidly now with the growth of AI and how AI is being used in development workflows, whereby you know you can probably get AI to write your own code, but what does that make you then? You need to start leveling up and starting to think about design a bit more rather than just writing code.
Shalini Goyal: So with the greater involvement of AI and be it any company, any project, I think we are not looking for people who know the syntax really well because AI can help you with that.
So the demand is not for the people who can write the code very quickly. The demand is actually for the people who have a strong foundation with any kind of programming language, with any kind of technical skill we are talking about here, and can actually give a supervision to the AI.
Rather than, you know, just writing the boilerplate code or starting from scratch, they can use the AI to build something. And they know when the AI is going wrong, so they can provide supervision on top of it. And to add to it, definitely it's required that our engineers or the developers community the web developers or you know anybody in on that side they are, you know, able to look at a high level picture, can look at the complete architecture, relate to it, and ensure that their piece of code or their piece of work actually fits in well. It's adding value rather than saying just, you know, my piece of work works, is standalone or, you know, this is fine.
They need to know the bigger picture. They need to know the whole architecture and how it's actually getting aligned. So the responsibility in that way is increasing on everyone's shoulders. And, you know, previously we used to look at, many companies used to look at the candidates from, “Can you write the syntax?”, “Do you know the syntax?”, “How fast can you write code?”, and all that. I think we're going away from that gradually and slowly, or maybe, um you know, very fast, you can say.
AI and Social Are Killing the Click
A new Enders Analysis report confirms what many devs suspected: the open web is losing visibility fast. As AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude serve up full answers in search results, users are skipping websites altogether. Publishers are feeling the pain—nearly 50% have seen a drop in traffic—and TikTok is now a go-to for news and how-tos.
👀 SEO? It’s no longer enough.
🔍 The new game: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
📱 And platform-native content is winning the attention war.
For devs, this isn’t just a traffic dip—it’s a signal to rethink how we design for discovery in an AI-first world.
Avoid Hard Refresh Dependency in Dev Mode
If you find yourself constantly hitting Cmd+Shift+R (or Ctrl+F5) during development, there’s likely a caching misstep in your setup. Instead:
✅ Use cache-busting headers (Cache-Control: no-store) for dev servers
✅ Add hashed filenames for static assets in production
✅ Automate reloads with tools like Vite, Parcel, or Webpack HMR
This simple shift saves time, reduces bugs, and keeps you from chasing phantom layout glitches caused by stale assets.
That’s it for this issue!
Have something to share: a tool, setup, or community insight? Hit reply or send it our way. We love featuring what real devs are building, breaking, and learning.
Until next week!
Cheers!
Kinnari Chohan,
Editor-in-chief