In the past decade, the landscape of app development has significantly evolved. Initially, web pages were the primary means of accessing content on mobile devices, but the introduction of the app store changed everything. This shift brought about the need to develop apps for both iOS and Android, leading to the rise of hybrid apps using frameworks like PhoneGap (now Cordova). However, these early hybrid apps often felt unnatural and lacked the performance and feel of native apps.

Today, technologies like React Native have bridged the gap, allowing developers to create apps that feel native while using a unified language. The future seems to be leaning towards Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which offer the benefits of apps without the need to be on the App Store. PWAs provide offline access and a unified look and feel, making them a strong contender for rapid development and release. As a developer, I see PWAs as the next big stage, offering flexibility and performance for most applications, while native development remains crucial for those needing to maximize device capabilities.

I recently made the switch from JavaScript to TypeScript, and I must say, I'm impressed. Microsoft has done an excellent job supporting developers with this language. TypeScript offers type safety, which is a significant advantage if you've worked with languages like Java or C++. It helps catch mistakes before compilation, making your development process smoother.

Setting up TypeScript is straightforward. You need Node.js and NPM installed, and then you can add the TypeScript compiler to your project. Generating a tsconfig.json file is the next step, which allows you to customize your compilation settings. This file is crucial for configuring how your TypeScript code will be compiled into JavaScript.

I've noticed a significant shift in my coding habits recently. I haven't written a traditional for loop in months, opting instead for more modern, functional programming approaches. This isn't to say that for loops are obsolete, but their necessity has certainly diminished.

Functional programming concepts, like first-class functions, have become integral to my daily coding. For instance, in React, I often use methods like map to iterate over lists, making my code more concise and expressive.

I've been inspired by Ben Eater's 8-bit CPU built on a breadboard, and I've decided to recreate it in software using Flutter. This project is a work in progress, but I've already developed a basic simulator that allows you to step through the clock cycles of a simple increment-by-3 counter. The current program is hardcoded, but I plan to add an assembler and the ability to upload custom programs soon.

My ultimate goal is to create a detailed simulation where you can zoom in on each module and observe the gate-level operations. I want to make the interconnects visible, showing how each bit of the databus functions. You can check out the current progress at my simulator website.

I recently tackled an issue with Single Page Applications (SPAs) and linking to specific pages. By default, web servers don't handle this well, leading to 404 errors. For instance, trying to access https://example.com/users/ would fail because the server looks for a users directory.

To resolve this, I configured NGINX to redirect all requests to index.html, allowing the SPA to handle the routing. This setup ensures that links like https://example.com/users/ work seamlessly, providing a better user experience and maintaining clean URLs.