Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

Wes and Scott answer your questions about AI agents, learning to code with AI, pagination patterns, skilling up from outdated tech stacks, balancing side projects with family life, real-world hacking attempts, and more!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:39 Are devs really running multiple AI agents at once?

Scott’s Tweet

09:41 Brought to you by Sentry.io

12:45 What is pagination and why do websites use it?

18:17 Should beginners use AI while learning to code?

30:24 The real-world skills CS degrees don’t teach you

35:59 Someone tried to hack Syntax

38:12 How Wes and Scott became co-hosts

42:00 Moving from junior to mid-level when your skills are outdated

45:42 How do you balance time for side projects, life, and family

52:45 Building a ChatGPT-style RAG search for your resume

56:15 Why Chad Whitacre videos were on the Syntax YouTube channel

Chad’s YouTube Channel

58:44 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: Trmnl

Wes: RYOBI Soldering Iron

Shameless Plugs

Syntax YouTube Channel

Hit us up on Socials!

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Scott and Wes break down how they built SynHax, the real-time CSS Battle app powering the upcoming Mad CSS tournament. From SvelteKit and Zero to diffing algorithms, sync conflicts, and a last-minute hackweek glow-up, this one’s a deep dive into shipping ambitious web apps fast.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

00:50 March Mad CSS Tournament.

03:19 Brought to you by Sentry.io.

03:59 What the heck is a CSS Battle?

05:34 The tech stack.

06:30 Svelte Kit.

06:44 Zero Sync.

Zero Docs

Zero Svelte.

07:32 Drizzle.

07:58 Supabase.

08:23 Graffiti.

10:45 Sync Server.

12:10 Cloudflare Workers.

12:23 Local File System.

13:26 How Zero Works.

13:48 Zero Sync Client.

15:39 API server.

19:34 Dealing with states and conflicts.

24:25 The Hackweek Project.

25:29 The Diffing Algorithm.

35:22 The bugs.

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Wes and Scott talk with Armin Ronacher and Mario Zechner about PI, a minimalist agent harness powering tools like OpenClaw. They unpack why Bash is “all you need,” the risks of agents, workflow adaptability, and where AI coding agents are actually headed.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

03:28 What is Pi, and why does it matter?

OpenClaw

05:54 What do we actually mean by “agents”?

11:04 Prompt injection: how LLMs get tricked

14:19 Is Claude Cowork actually secure?

22:01 How Armin and Mario use agents day to day

26:37 Brought to you by Sentry.io

27:25 Memory and search: teaching agents to remember

33:04 Do coding agents even need memory?

34:36 “Bash is all you need”

37:21 Adding power: how agents learn new tricks

47:02 Tools and models Armin and Mario are using right now

54:15 Sick picks + shameless plugs

Sick Picks

Mario: Cards for Ukraine

Armin: Pro-Ject Audio Turntable

Shameless Plugs

Armin:

Thorsten Ball Newsletter

Simon Willison

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Scott and Wes run through their wishlist for the web platform, digging into the UI primitives, DOM APIs, and browser features they wish existed (or didn’t suck). From better form controls and drag-and-drop to native reactivity, CSS ideas, and future-facing APIs, it’s a big-picture chat on what the web could be.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

Wes Tweet

00:39 Exploring What’s Missing from the Web Platform

02:26 Enhancing DOM Primitives for Better User Experience

03:59 Multi-select + Combobox.

Open-UI

04:49 Date Picker.

Thibault Denis Tweet

07:18 Tabs.

08:01 Image + File Upload.

09:08 Toggles.

10:23 Native Drag and Drop that doesn’t suck.

12:03 Syntax wishlist.

12:06 Type Annotations.

15:07 Pipe Operator.

16:33 APIs We Wish to See on the Web

18:31 Brought to you by Sentry.io

19:51 Identity.

21:33 getElementByText()

24:09 Native Reactive DOM. Templating in JavaScript.

24:48 Sync Protocol.

25:52 Virtualization that doesn’t suck.

27:40 Put, Patch, and Delete on forms.

Ollie Williams Tweet

SnorklTV Tweet

28:55 Text metrics: get bounding box of individual characters.

29:42 Lower Level Connections.

29:50 Bluetooth API.

30:47 Sockets.

31:29 NFC + RFID.

34:34 Things we want in CSS.

34:40 Specify transition speed.

35:24 CSS Strict Mode.

36:25 Safari moving to Chromium.

36:37 The Need for Diverse Browser Engines

37:48 AI Access.

44:49 Other APIs

46:59 Qwen TTS

48:07 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: Monarch

Wes: Slonik Headlamp

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Syntax on YouTube

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Wes and Scott talk about building hyper-specific personal software with AI. They explore personal agents, home automation, JSON-as-a-database, and how LLMs unlock fast, custom apps that reduce friction and replace bloated SaaS.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:53 What is personal software (and why it matters)

04:49 Using AI agents to build hyper-specific apps for yourself

Clawdbot

ClawdHub

13:43 Supercharging your dev workflow with Tailscale

19:06 Privacy when working with LLMs

MLX-Audio

21:39 Brought to you by Sentry.io

22:21 Real-world personal app ideas

39:14 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: FTPManager

Wes: Roku Streaming Stick

Shameless Plugs

Syntax YouTube Channel

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