Open Source & Free Tools for Web Workers

Sendy is a self-hosted email newsletter application that sends bulk emails 100x cheaper via Amazon SES.

Here are its main features:

Core Value Proposition:

• One-time payment of $69 (no monthly fees)

• $1 per 10,000 emails via Amazon SES (compared to expensive monthly subscriptions)

• No subscriber limits

• Pay only when you send

Campaign Management:

• Beautiful reports with visualizations of opens, clicks, bounces, complaints, and geographic data

• Export subscriber segments from reports for re-targeting

• Send to lists or segments

• High deliverability rates through Amazon SES

Automation:

• Autoresponders - Setup drip campaigns with automated follow-up emails at custom intervals

• Annual or one-off emails at specific dates

• Rules & Webhooks - Trigger actions based on events (e.g., get notified when campaigns start, trigger webhooks, auto-unsubscribe based on conditions)

List Management:

• Mass import/delete subscribers

• Custom fields for storing additional subscriber information

• Single/double opt-in options

• List segmentation - Create targeted segments based on any conditions

• Subscribe forms and API integration

• Custom subscribe/unsubscribe confirmation pages

Client Management:

• White-labeled client accounts - Create multiple "brands" for different products/services

• Give clients access to their own brand portal

• Set custom pricing and monthly sending limits

• Adjust client privileges

Technical Features:

• Custom domains - Use your own domain for unsubscribe, web version, and trackable links

• Automatic bounce & complaint handling - Real-time automated cleanup

• Housekeeping - Remove unconfirmed or unengaged subscribers with one click

• Works with SendGrid, Mailjet, and Elastic Email (in addition to Amazon SES)

Integrations:

• Third-party plugins for WordPress, Magento, Joomla

• Zapier integration for thousands of apps

• Full API access

Hosting:

• Self-hosted on your own Apache/Linux server with PHP & MySQL

• Optional installation service available (+$79)

• Can be installed on Amazon EC2 for optimal performance

Sendy is particularly popular among users with large subscriber bases who want to escape escalating monthly fees from services like Mailchimp.

HashiCorp Vault is a secrets management platform that securely stores and controls access to sensitive data.

Here are its main features:

Core Purpose:

• Securely store and tightly control access to tokens, passwords, certificates, encryption keys, and other sensitive data

• Accessible via UI, CLI, or HTTP API

Key Use Cases:

• Secrets Management - Store, access, and deploy secrets for applications, systems, and infrastructure

• Database Credential Management - Secure database access and manage credential lifecycle with dynamic credential generation

• Data Encryption - Encryption as a Service (EaaS) to protect data in transit and at rest, even if intrusions occur

Popular Features:

1. Key/Value Secrets Engine - Persist arbitrary secrets within configured physical storage

2. Database Secrets Engine - Dynamically generates database credentials based on pre-configured roles

3. Transit Secrets Engine - Encrypt data in-transit, providing encryption as a service

4. Transform Secrets Engine (Enterprise) - Generates cryptographically secure tokens mapped to highly sensitive data

Deployment Options:

• Self-hosted (Vault)

• Cloud-managed (HCP Vault Dedicated) - available with a free trial

Security Approach:

• Zero-trust architecture support

• Identity and access management

• Strong data and secrets protection practices

• Encryption ensures data remains protected even during security breaches

Vault is part of HashiCorp's Security Lifecycle Management suite and integrates with their broader infrastructure tools ecosystem.

Dokku is an open-source PAAS (Platform as a Service) alternative to Heroku. It is characterized as "The smallest PaaS implementation you've ever seen".

Here are its primary features and functionalities:

1. Architecture and Core Functionality

• PAAS Implementation: Dokku helps users build and manage the lifecycle of applications from the initial building phase through scaling.

• Powered by Docker: The platform is built and powered by Docker. This allows users to install it on any hardware and utilize it on inexpensive cloud providers.

• Single-Host Heroku: The end result is the user's own, single-host version of Heroku.

• Isolated Containers: Deployed applications run in isolated containers.

• No Vendor Lock-in: By owning their PaaS, users leverage tools they already know and avoid vendor lock-in.

2. Deployment Workflow

• Heroku Compatibility: Once Dokku is set up on a host, users can push Heroku-compatible applications to it via Git.

• Buildpacks: Applications automatically build using Heroku buildpacks.

• Quick App Creation: Users can quickly create a new app using the command dokku apps:create test-app.

3. Extensibility and Customization

• Plugins: Dokku is designed to be extensible and customizable through a robust plugin system.

• Plugin Development: Users can write Dokku plugins in any language, share them, and extend existing ones.

• Core Structure: Dokku itself is built out of plugins. Plugins are essential for adding additional features beyond the default installation.

4. Setup and Support

• Installation: Installation is simple using a bootstrap.sh script that can be downloaded and run. Setup requires configuring the server domain and adding an SSH key to the dokku user.

• Support: The community offers support via Discord, Slack, IRC, and GitHub Discussions.

• Pro Version: A Pro version is available for users needing features not covered in the open-source release.

1. Invoice-Generator.com (Online Tool & API)

This tool functions as a simple, free online invoice maker that allows users to quickly generate professional-looking invoices, primarily aimed at freelancers and small business owners.

• Ease of Use: It is highly praised for its user-friendliness, speed, and straightforward interface, allowing for quick creation and download.

• Output Formats: Generates invoices as PDFs.

• E-Invoicing Support (API): Offers an API (Invoice Generator API) that can generate e-invoices in UBL (Universal Business Language), a format necessary for digital compliance, with the PDF embedded.

• Customization: Supports adding logos, specifying VAT/Tax details, using custom fields (e.g., purchase order or account number), and adjusting localization (e.g., French, German, Spanish).

• Data Privacy: The service explicitly states that it does not store user invoice data. However, the web tool can remember the user's last invoice details without requiring a login.

• API Usage: The API provides endpoints for both PDF and UBL e-invoice creation, accepting inputs via cURL or JSON. The free API plan has a limit of 100 invoices per month.

2. Comparison of Invoicing Tools (Generator vs. Software)

The sources distinguish between simple generators and full invoicing software:

Tool CategoryKey Functionalities (Pros)Key Limitations (Cons)Invoice GeneratorTypically free. Easy to use; what you see is what you get. Offers short-term speed.Does not save invoices, requiring users to manually store them. No automatic tracking of due dates or overdue payments. No easy way to accept payments (requires third-party gateways). Cannot automatically generate credit notes.Invoice SoftwareCreates professional invoices. Saves client, product, and company details for quick reuse. Safely stores all invoices for auditing and bookkeeping. Automatically tracks and flags overdue invoices. Can automatically generate credit notes.Can be a costly investment, though many free options (like Conta) exist.

3. French E-Invoicing (Facturation Électronique) Framework

This mandatory governmental system is being introduced in France to replace traditional paper and standard PDF B2B invoices, aiming to simplify tax obligations and reduce fraud.

• Mandatory Compliance: Applies to all VAT-registered businesses in France.

• Deadlines: All businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices by September 1, 2026. Emission deadlines vary by company size: large/medium enterprises must issue by September 1, 2026, while small/micro-enterprises must issue by September 1, 2027.

• Required Formats: Invoices must use specific structured digital formats like Factur-X (XML/PDF hybrid), UBL (Universal Business Language), or CII (Cross Industry Invoice).

• Transmission Channel: Mandatory exchange must occur via certified Partner Dematerialization Platforms (PDPs). The Public Invoicing Portal (PPF) serves as a central directory and data hub, not a primary exchange platform.

• E-Reporting: Requires electronic transmission of key transaction data (not the full invoice) to tax authorities for non-B2B transactions, such as B2C sales and cross-border/international transactions (exports/imports).

• Invoice Lifecycle Management: The system requires real-time, mandatory tracking of the invoice lifecycle, including automated status updates (e.g., Submitted, Rejected, Paid).

• Sanctions: Failure to issue or transmit e-invoices or e-reporting data can result in significant penalties (e.g., €15 per non-compliant invoice, up to €15,000 annually per business).

4. Other Software Mentions

• Momenteo: A free online invoicing and quoting software tailored for freelancers (travailleurs autonomes). Its features include creating and personalizing quotes/invoices, tracking their status, managing clients and expenses, and using an intuitive calendar to track work, mileage, and expenses for simplified bookkeeping.

• Wave, Zoho Invoice, Square, Bookipi, Paymo: These are full-featured free invoicing software solutions recommended for various business needs, offering features like recurring billing, detailed reporting, client management (mini-CRM in Zoho), time-tracking integration (Paymo), and seamless connection to payment processors.

This source describe three distinct methodologies and software tools for setting up and managing local web development environments using virtual hosts: a Docker-based setup, the MAMP suite, and the dedicated macOS application VirtualHostX Pro.

1. Local Docker Development with Virtual Hosts (dnsmasq & nginx-proxy)

This methodology focuses on simplifying local development when using Docker containers.

• Problem Resolution: Eliminates the need for developers to manage or worry about port collision.

• Named Access: Allows developers to use named URLs (e.g., myapp.dev) instead of standard localhost:port notations (e.g., localhost:4000).

• Key Components: Implemented using a combination of dnsmasq (configured as a local DNS resolver to route *.dev requests to the local Docker instance) and an automated nginx reverse proxy (jwilder/nginx-proxy).

• Automated Configuration: The nginx reverse proxy automatically updates its configuration by detecting the VIRTUAL_HOST environment variable set on Docker containers.

2. MAMP and MAMP PRO

MAMP is a comprehensive local server environment for Mac and Windows, with the PRO version offering extended features.

• Server Stack: Supports multiple web servers including Apache and Nginx.

• Database Support: Includes MySQL (versions 5.7 and 8.0).

• Programming Languages: Supports PHP, Python, and depending on the version/OS, Perl and Ruby.

• Host Management (PRO): MAMP PRO supports an unlimited number of hosts, compared to the single host limit of the standard MAMP version.

• PHP Control (PRO): Offers support for an unlimited number of PHP versions and includes features like PHP Cache and various extensions (e.g., Xdebug, Imagick/ImageMagick, Oauth).

• Developer Utilities (PRO): Features include one-click installation for popular CMSs like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, extended web server configuration, SSL support, integrated text editor, dynamic DNS, MySQL database tools (Verify, Repair, Upgrade, Dump), Snapshots, and Backup functionality.

3. VirtualHostX Pro

This was a dedicated macOS application designed for local web development, though it is no longer actively developed.

• Platform Focus: Designed to help web developers and designers build and test websites locally on macOS.

• Ease of Use: Provides a point-and-click method for setting up new websites and allows users to create as many websites as they want.

• Integrated Stack: Automatically includes the latest versions of PHP and MySQL.

• Quick Setup: Allows for WordPress installation in less than 30 seconds.

• Isolation and Stability: To ensure stability against macOS software updates, the application uses a real Ubuntu Linux virtual machine running under the hood to keep settings self-contained.

• Current Status: The product has been sunset as of late 2021 due to incompatibility with Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2). New sales have ended, but existing copies continue to work on Intel-based Macs, and existing license activation limits have been removed.

Kemal is a lightweight web framework written in Crystal programming language.

Here are its main features:

Core Characteristics:

• Extremely fast performance

• Minimalist and easy to use

• Simple routing syntax

Key Features:

• Support for all REST verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.)

• Built-in WebSocket support for real-time communication

• Request/Response context with easy parameter handling

• Middleware system that's both built-in and easily extensible

• Native JSON support

• Automatic static file serving

• View templating through ECR (Embedded Crystal)

Developer Experience: The framework emphasizes simplicity with a very straightforward syntax - you can create routes and WebSocket handlers with just a few lines of code. It's designed for developers who want to build web applications quickly without unnecessary complexity while still maintaining high performance.

Kemal is used by several companies including Nikola Motor, Bright Security, Pingly, and Licor Bioscience.

UpUp is a tiny, free, open-source Python library designed to easily create websites that function reliably Offline First. It is built to ensure that visitors are not greeted with an error screen when connectivity is lost, allowing developers to control the content and experience they receive.

Here is a summary of UpUp's principal functionalities:

1. Core Purpose and Mechanism

• Offline Functionality: UpUp enables developers to add offline functionality to a site quickly, often in under 10 minutes.

• Service Worker Foundation: The library operates by using service workers, a modern web technology that runs scripts in the browser background and provides control over network requests.

• Network Failure Detection: When a user first visits a site, UpUp registers a service worker with the browser. This service worker listens for network errors, and if a network request fails, it serves the required file from a cache instead of letting the request fail completely.

2. Simplified Implementation (The UpUp.start() Command)

UpUp simplifies the complex Service Worker API into a single command, making it easy to implement the Offline First design paradigm:

• Quick Setup: Implementation involves just two steps: including the upup.min.js script and calling the UpUp.start() function.

• Inline Offline Content: Developers can define simple HTML content to be displayed during offline mode directly within the script using the 'content' setting.

• External Offline Content: For creating a "rich offline experience" that includes design elements, developers can point to a separate, simple HTML file (e.g., offline.html) using the 'content-url' setting.

• Asset Caching: Users can specify additional necessary resources—such as CSS files (bootstrap.min.css, offline.css), images (img/logo.png), JavaScript libraries (angular.min.js), videos (mov/intro.mp4), dynamic data (schedule.json?user=joe), and PDFs—using the 'assets' setting. This allows for the offline caching of robust applications, including full Single Page Applications (SPAs).

3. Requirements and Scope

• Security Requirement (HTTPS): To maintain user security and privacy, service workers (and thus UpUp) can only detect requests over a secure connection. While localhost is fine for development, HTTPS is required for production deployment.

• Browser Compatibility: UpUp uses progressive enhancement, meaning it functions normally in browsers that do not support service workers. It officially supports modern browsers, including Chrome 40+, Opera 27+, and Firefox 41+.

• File Placement: For the service worker to manage requests across the entire site, the upup.min.js and upup.sw.min.js files must be placed in the root directory of the site (e.g., https://yoursite.com/upup.min.js).

Contextual Information (Related Tools)

While UpUp provides an easy implementation layer, other tools exist in the same ecosystem:

• Workbox: This is a comprehensive set of open-source libraries that provides developer-friendly interfaces to manage Service Worker and Cache Storage APIs for scaling PWAs. It offers advanced features like routing, specific caching strategies (e.g., cache first), and background synchronization fallbacks.

• Progressive Web Applications (PWAs): UpUp supports the implementation of PWAs, which are web applications designed to be installable and work offline, often using service workers and a web app manifest.

Pixelfed is an Instagram-like platform run by communities instead of a big company, with no ads, no tracking, and enhanced privacy focus. It's a free and open-source photo sharing platform built on the decentralized Fediverse network.

Key Features

• Photo & Video Sharing: Upload and share images and videos with support for high-quality formats without compression

• Stories: Temporary content sharing similar to Instagram stories

• Collections & Albums: Organize posts into themed collections and group multiple photos into single posts

• Portfolio Feature: Create curated portfolios of your work with RSS feed support

• Social Interactions: Standard features like likes, comments, reposts, direct messaging, and user tagging

• Content Discovery: Browse through local feeds (your server), global feeds, trending posts, and hashtag-based searches

• Privacy Controls: Set accounts as public or private, create unlisted posts, and use two-factor authentication

• Moderation Tools: Built-in tools for content moderation

Fediverse Integration Pixelfed uses the ActivityPub protocol, enabling cross-platform interaction with other Fediverse platforms like Mastodon and Akkoma. You can follow users and interact with content across different platforms seamlessly.

No Algorithm, No Ads The platform never pushes content to users, helping limit endless doomscrolling while putting you in charge of what you view. There's no data selling to third parties.

Accessibility Official mobile apps for both Android and iOS are available, along with a polished web interface.

Langis, is an unofficial, modified version of the Signal application designed specifically to address limitations and privacy concerns related to Google services.

Here are the primary features and functionalities of Langis:

Core Functionality: Google Play Services Removal

• Opting Out of Google Services: Langis is a patched version of Signal that removes support for Google Play Services (specifically used by vanilla Signal to notify devices when new messages arrive).

• Enabling Use on Restricted Devices: The removal of Google Play Services allows Signal to function on any Android device that lacks or has disabled these services. This resolves "corner cases" where the regular version of Signal is unusable, such as on devices running LineageOS with MicroG.

• Privacy Focus: The project aims to give users the choice to opt out of Google Play Services, addressing potential privacy threats associated with their use.

Technical Features and Software Integrity

• Source Code Transparency: Langis is Free Software. The developers follow specific, documented steps to build the application, including providing the source code and build instructions.

• Patching Process: The process involves downloading the source code of the official Signal-Android app, applying a patch to remove Google Play services, and then building the patched version using Signal-Android's reproducible-builds stack.

• Signed APKs: The resulting APKs are signed, which allows users to upgrade their modified Signal application without needing to uninstall the previous version.

• Artifact Archive: All necessary elements for building, including the patch, build steps, and resulting signed APKs for the latest successful build, are available in a published artifacts archive.

Distribution and Installation

• Fdroid Repository: Langis is available through Fdroid via a custom repository called "patched-apps".

• Direct Download: The latest APK is also available via a direct download link.

Known Development Constraint

• Building Difficulty: The developers currently face difficulties building new versions because the Signal (on which Langis is based) now requires more than 16GB of RAM.

Really Good Emails is a reference tool to**inspire, learn, and improve email marketing design** by analyzing real, functional examples.

Library of inspiring email designs

Platform featuring**over 12,000 manually curated emails** from brands and companies across various industries (retail, tech, etc.). Ideal for marketers, designers, and email creators.

Categorization and filtering**

Emails are organized by themes (e.g., Promotion, Newsletter, Confirmation, Birthday, etc.) and can be filtered by popularity, recency, or user ratings.

Access to HTML/CSS code**

For each displayed email, the source code is available, allowing users to study technical implementation, draw inspiration, or reuse it.

Desktop and mobile preview modes

Shows how the email renders on different devices, helping ensure responsive design.

Save and personal collections

Feature under development: save emails directly into personalized collections.

Weekly newsletter

Delivers email design tips and inspiration twice a week.

Marketing campaign inspiration

Offers concrete examples for specific goals: acquisition, retention, promotions, cart abandonment recovery, etc.

Community and submissions

Users can submit their own campaigns for potential inclusion in the collection.

Chartify is a Python library specifically designed to make it easy for data scientists to create charts.

Here is a summary of its main features and functionalities:

Core Library Functionalities (Chartify)

• Chart Creation for Data Scientists: Chartify is a Python library that makes it easy for data scientists to create charts.

• Simple and Intuitive API: The project prioritizes ease of use, having a simple API that is intuitive and easy to learn.

• Consistent Data Input: All plotting functions utilize a consistent tidy input data format, which reduces the time spent transforming data.

• Smart Default Styles: Users can create pretty charts with very little customization required due to the built-in smart default styles.

• Underlying Technology and Flexibility: Chartify is built on top of Bokeh. This provides flexibility, allowing users to fall back on Bokeh's API if they need more control.

• Installation: It can be installed via pip (pip3 install chartify).

• PNG Output Requirement (Optional): For users who require PNG output, an additional dependency, chromedriver, must be installed and configured in their system PATH.

• Support and Licensing: The project adheres to the Apache-2.0 license and offers support via the chartify tag on StackOverflow.

GitHub Platform Features (Context)

As Chartify is hosted on GitHub, it utilizes the platform's developer environment features:

• AI and Code Tools: Features like GitHub Copilot (to write better code with AI), GitHub Spark (to build and deploy intelligent apps), and GitHub Models (to manage and compare prompts) are available.

• Development Workflow: Developers can use Actions (to automate workflows), Codespaces (for instant dev environments), Issues (to plan and track work), and Code Review (to manage code changes).

• Security: GitHub Advanced Security helps users find and fix vulnerabilities.

• Search and Exploration: Users can search code, repositories, users, issues, and pull requests, and utilize saved searches to filter results more quickly.

Project Jupyter is an open-source community initiative focused on developing free software, open formats, and services for interactive computing,.

Here are the primary features and functionalities of the Jupyter ecosystem:

Core Functionality and Architecture

• Interactive Computing Environment: Jupyter provides a web-based interactive programming environment for creating documents known as "notebooks" or "calepins",,.

• Language Support (Kernels): Jupyter is designed to support interactive data science and scientific computing across a multitude of programming languages. While its name references Julia, Python, and R, the project supports more than 40 programming languages, and now works with about 100 languages. The system utilizes separate processes called kernels to execute user code in a given language.

• Open Source and Licensing: The entire project is 100% open-source, free for everyone to use, and released under the terms of the modified BSD license.

Key Software Components

• Jupyter Notebook: This is the classic web-based interface for interactive computing. It is used for tasks like data analysis, data visualization, exploratory analysis, and creating machine learning models,,.

  • Notebook Document: The resulting document is a JSON file (typically .ipynb) that contains an ordered list of cells. These cells can hold code, execution results, rich text (using Markdown), mathematical formulas, graphs, and interactive media,.

  • Reproducibility: This format allows users to document their work step-by-step, making it easier to understand, share, and verify results, supporting transparency and reproducibility in data work.

• JupyterLab: The newer interface intended to replace the classic Jupyter Notebook,. It functions as a versatile and feature-rich Interactive Development Environment (IDE),.

  • Interface Flexibility: JupyterLab offers a multi-document, multi-tasking interface,. Users can work with multiple notebooks, text files, terminals, file explorers, and custom components in a flexible, integrated, and extensible manner.

  • Collaboration: It supports real-time collaboration, making it a powerful tool for team projects,,.

  • Integrated Tools: It includes built-in tools like a terminal, code consoles, and a file browser, allowing users to execute shell commands directly,.

• JupyterHub: A multi-user server designed to support many users by managing numerous Jupyter Notebook servers.

• Jupyter Book: An open-source project for building books and documents from computational material.

Execution and Management Features

• Headless Execution: Users can execute long-running notebooks, especially those dealing with large datasets, in headless mode (independently of a local or remote terminal session) using the jupyter nbconvert --execute command,.

  • This headless mode can be run within a utility like screen to ensure the notebook execution continues even if the terminal session closes.

  • The --ExecutePreprocessor.timeout=-1 option can be used to prevent the execution from timing out.

• Conversion: Notebooks can be converted into various formats (HTML, PDF, LaTeX, Markdown, Python) using the nbconvert module or CLI.

• Viewing: The NBviewer service converts publicly available notebook URLs into static HTML for simplified viewing on the web,.

• Sharing Executables: The Binder subproject offers a free service that allows sharing executable notebooks on an online platform, generating a JupyterLab instance for users to run the code, and is especially advantageous for notebooks with interactive plots or widgets.

Version Control Tools and Solutions

Due to the notebook's underlying JSON format, using standard Git tools can be difficult, prompting specialized solutions,:

• Handling Diffs: The dedicated nbdime library or the JupyterLab Git extension (which uses nbdime) can be used to review local changes in a rich rendered diff format. The ReviewNB app is used for pull request reviews and collaboration, providing rich diffs and inline commenting on notebook cells, and is trusted by many organizations.

• Conflict Resolution: Small Git merge conflicts can be resolved manually in a text editor, but larger conflicts are best handled by tools like nbdime, nbdev, or the JupyterLab Git extension, which help ensure the final state is valid notebook JSON,,.

• Large Notebook Rendering: While GitHub often fails to render large notebooks natively, services like ReviewNB, NBviewer, and Binder can render them successfully,.

Time to Hack - Frontend Programming in JavaScript, HTML & CSS ⚡️ is a learning resource and guide offering programming tricks and insightful articles for FrontEnd, BackEnd or FullStack Developer / Hacker.

Its main functionalities revolve around providing technical guides and best practices across major web development domains:

1. ReactJS Best Practices

The resource offers specific guidance on improving React workflows:

• Code Streamlining: Details how to stop using the standard React.Fragment component in favor of a simple tweak for cleaner code and easier debugging.

• State Management: Explains when to use the useReducer hook to declutter applications and improve understanding, especially when a component is "cluttered with too many useState".

• Hooks Architecture: Clarifies when NOT to create a hook, addressing common misunderstandings associated with React hooks.

• Redux Structure: Argues why it is Better to spread the Reducer in Files rather than using a Single File Reducer among multiple ways to arrange redux elements.

2. TypeScript and Code Organization

It provides methods for managing scalability and design systems:

• Type Management: Demonstrates how to organize TypeScript types with Namespaces to boost productivity when a project starts to scale.

• Design Systems: Highlights the Benefits of using TS Generics in Design Systems to achieve a better developer experience.

3. Infrastructure, Docker, and DevOps

The resource covers containerization and deployment strategies:

• Docker Fundamentals: Explains Containerization & Docker Fundamentals, describing how they solve the "works on my computer" problem.

• Docker Volumes: Provides a deep dive into Understanding Docker Volumes and their configuration options for higher productivity.

• Secure Dockerization: Offers instructions on how to Dockerize a PHP app with Apache on HTTPS, including enabling HTTPS on localhost.

• CI/CD: Details how to achieve Continuous Deployment on DigitalOcean Droplets with Gitlab CI Pipelines.

• Dynamic Builds: Shows how to dynamically configure Docker Image builds by passing values, since Docker builds cannot receive environment variables the same way container execution can.

4. General Frontend/Web Development

Guidance is provided across HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and related frameworks:

• JavaScript Type Conversion: Explores different Ways to convert String to Number in JS.

• HTML Forms: Covers the process of Submitting Single Form to different Actions in HTML5.

• CSS/UX Hacks: Provides a CSS & JS Hack regarding touch devices, specifically addressing the question "Can I use hover on Touch Devices?" and recommending pointer media queries for better UX.

• Webpack Fixes: Offers a guide on Fixing WebpackChunkName for Dynamic Imports when they are not working with Babel. It also covers customizing Webpack's style-loader to preserve styles on page reload for 3rd-party app integration.

5. JAMStack, Tools, and Productivity

The publication includes advice on related technologies and professional practices:

• JAMStack Strategy: Discusses use cases and When NOT to choose Next.js.

• API Integration: Provides a tutorial on Showing Top GitHub Repos with Netlify Functions and integrating the resulting API into a React+Tailwind UI.

• Analytics Alternatives: Explains Why I chose Splitbee as replacement of Google Analytics (noting that Splitbee also replaces Google Optimize).

• Learning & Practice: Lists Practice Project Ideas for Frontend Developers for skill enhancement, such as building a CRUD app, social dashboard, or component library.

• Code Review: Provides 3 Basic Tips for faster Code Reviews.

• Alternative Browsers: Suggests Chrome Alternative Browsers to checkout in 2024.

• Linux Tooling: Explains how to use the Linux command tree to determine directory size on systems without a GUI.

Muuri is an open source, MIT-licensed JavaScript library designed to create flexible and high-performance layouts.

Muuri is primarily a layout engine that handles complexity related to interactivity and performance. It is described as a combination of popular layout libraries like Packery, Masonry, Isotope, and Sortable.

Here are the main features and functionalities of Muuri:

Core Layout and Design

• Infinite Layouts: Muuri provides a system that allows positioning grid items in "pretty much any way imaginable". A layout is essentially a function that takes dimensions and returns positions. Users can provide their own layout function to build any kind of layout they want.

• Responsive Designs: The layouts created by Muuri are inherently responsive.

• Flexibility: It can handle complex features like filtering, sorting, and drag & drop built right into its core, eliminating the need to search for additional libraries.

Interactivity and Data Manipulation

• Drag & Drop: It features built-in support for sorting grid items by dragging and dropping.

  • Dragging works well on touch devices.

  • It supports dragging items between different grids.

  • It offers automatic scrolling during drag operations.

• Filtering: Provides simple utility methods for performantly controlling the visibility of items. This is critical for avoiding performance issues (layout thrashing) when showing or hiding hundreds of DOM elements simultaneously.

• Sorting: Items can be sorted directly via the API. Methods are available to sort all grid items, move an item within a grid, and send an item to another grid.

Performance and Technical Specifications

• Speedy Performance: Muuri is designed to be fast in every aspect.

  • DOM operations are batched and queued to minimize layout thrashing.

  • All animations utilize the Web Animations API and run outside the main thread.

  • Web workers are utilized where needed.

• API and Control: It features an extensive and straightforward API with enough options, methods, events, and "escape hatches" to gain full control over the library's behavior. Key design goals include providing smart defaults that are easily overridden.

• Browser Support: Works in all modern browsers and IE9+. All necessary utilized Web APIs and language features (except Web Animations API) are automatically "ponyfilled" down to IE9.

• Licensing: Muuri is free and open source under the MIT license, making it available for use in commercial projects.