NOTE: This is issue #108 of my newsletter, which went live on Wednesday, April 17. You might find this information valuable and exciting and want to receive future issues as they are published ahead of everyone else. In that case, I invite you to join the subscriber list at frontendnexus.com.
We mark a significant milestone in this issue – 35 years of the World Wide Web. Speedometer 3.0 sets a new standard for browser performance. Browser News brings you the latest updates for Chrome (123-124), Firefox (124-125), and Vivaldi mobile (6.6), ensuring you stay ahead in the digital landscape. The Release Radar has new releases and updates, including Angular 17.3, Bun 1.1, Deno 1.42, ESLint v9, Gulp v5, WordPress 6.5, and more. We wrap things up with tools, utilities, images, and fonts, equipping you with everything you need for your web design and development needs.
The Web’s 35th Birthday
March 12 marks 35 years since the birth of the Web. This year, we received an open letter from its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, and an article from the CEO of the W3C.
What are the key points we should remember? Big corporations still influence the Web, and the fast rise of AI only exacerbates the situation. We must address power concentration and the personal data market that enables targeted advertising.
Marking the Web’s 35th Birthday: An Open Letter
From a humble beginning 35 years ago, the Web is now central to the daily lives of billions
Speedometer 3.0
Speedometer is a browser benchmark that has just reached the third major iteration.
Announcing Speedometer 3.0: A Shared Browser Benchmark for Web Application Responsiveness
WebKit: Speedometer 3.0: The Best Way Yet to Measure Browser Performance
Firefox: Improving Performance in Firefox and Across the Web with Speedometer 3
💻 Browser News
Rachel Andrew provides the March synopsis of what new things launched on the web platform.
New to the web platform in March
Chrome
Chrome 123 supports the new light-dark() function, allows you to diagnose responsiveness on your site with the Long Animation Frames API, and more. The DevTools have been updated extensively, including the Elements and Network panels and upgrading Lighthouse to version 11.5.
New in Chrome 123
What’s new in DevTools (Chrome 123)
Chrome 124 has just been released. It brings two new APIs for using declarative shadow DOM in JavaScript, a new API for WebSocket Stream, better view transitions, and more. DevTools include a new AutoFill panel, better CSS nesting, Lighthouse 11.6, and so on.
New in Chrome 124
What’s new in DevTools, Chrome 124
Firefox
Firefox 124 brings a suite of quality-of-life improvements and security fixes.
Firefox 124 Release Notes
Firefox 124 for developers
Firefox 125 supports the AV1 codec and the popover global attribute, providing numerous security fixes and minor web platform additions.
Firefox 125 Release Notes
Firefox 125 for developers
Vivaldi
Vivaldi mobile users get their upgrade to version 6.6, both on Android and iOS.
Vivaldi on Android gets Custom Wallpapers
Vivaldi on iOS goes colorful
📡 The Release Radar
Angular v17.3.0 – The modern web developer’s platform
Babylon.js 7.0.0 – A game and rendering engine packed into a friendly JavaScript framework
Bun 1.1 – An all-in-one toolkit for JavaScript and TypeScript apps
Cypress 13.7.0 – Fast, easy, and reliable testing for anything that runs in a browser
D3 v7.9.0 – A free, open-source JavaScript library for visualizing data
Deno 1.42 – A modern runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript
Docusaurus 3.2 – Easy to maintain open source documentation websites
ESLint v9.0.0 – Find and fix problems in your JavaScript code
Express 4.19.0 – Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node
Gulp v5 – A toolkit to automate & enhance your workflow
Neutralinojs v5.1.0 – Portable and lightweight cross-platform desktop application development framework
Next.js 14.2 – The React Framework for the Web
Node: Security Releases April 3, April 10 | Current: v21.7.0, v21.7.1, v21.7.2, v21.7.3 | LTS: v20.12.0, v20.12.1, v20.12.2, v18.20.0, v18.20.1, v18.20.2 – An asynchronous event-driven JavaScript runtime
Nuxt 3.11 – The Intuitive Vue Framework
Preact 10.20.0 – Fast 3kB alternative to React with the same modern API
Storybook 8 – A frontend workshop for building UI components and pages in isolation
VitePress 1.0 and 1.1 – Vite & Vue powered static site generator
WordPress 6.5 “Regina” – The most popular website platform in the world
zx 8.0.0 – A tool for writing better scripts
🛠️ Front End Resources
AI Color Combination Generator – Generate color combinations for any project using AI
CSSmatic – The ultimate CSS tools for web designers
Figma Checklists – A set of benchmarks to elevate the design and quality of your Figma components
Gradientor – A minimalist, beautiful Radial Background Generator
Hex Colors – Free color tools, palettes, and color schemes
Lumni – free AI-generated stock photos and royalty-free images
The Inter typeface family – A free and open source font family
Variable Fonts – A simple resource for finding and trying variable fonts
There’s more where that came from. Explore the rest of the Front End Resource collection.
Wrapping things up
Ukraine is still suffering from the Russian invasion. If you want to find ways to help, please read Smashing Magazine’s article We All Are Ukraine 🇺🇦 or contact your trusted charity.
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That’s all I have for this issue. Have a great and productive week, keep yourselves safe, and spend as much time as possible with your loved ones. I will see you again next time!
