iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Corbin Crutchley @crutchcorn.dev · 24/08/2026

Reposted by Playful Programming

Incredible cool things are shipping very soon.

The Playful Programming site with a theme picker including colors of the site, OpenDyslexic font, light/dark theme, and more

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 17/08/2026

For example, this is far from finished, but this is the very start of our high-contrast mode. Powered by the same changes to our color system as the tweaks you saw above. More flexibility means more opportunities for others. More fun. More you. We're eager to keep building! 🚀

A very early screenshot of high-contrast mode in Playful Programming; showcasing more stark colors and more.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 17/08/2026

Who says you can't have fun and improve A11Y at the same time? We're working on themes! This isn't the final theme selection UI by any means, but shows how flexible our design system (ran by @pratti.bsky.social) is Been a lot of fun just testing out! It's enabling a ton of added A11Y work too...

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 25/03/2026

🎉 Giveaway time 🎉 We’ve got copies of Modern Web Development with Angular up for grabs!! Join our Discord, follow the instructions, and you’re in! Don’t miss it 👀 discord.com/invite/FMcvc6T

discord.com

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 24/03/2026

This article breaks down practical ways engineers can improve how they communicate with teammates. playfulprogramming.com/posts/how-to...

Communication is one of the most critical skills for engineers to master, yet it's often overlooked.

How to Communicate

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 24/03/2026

Good engineers don’t just write good code — they communicate clearly. Poor communication slows teams down, creates confusion, and turns small problems into big ones. Strong communication does the opposite: it makes teams faster, calmer, and more effective.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 18/03/2026

If expectations, incentives, and support don’t change with it, careers stall. @crutchcorn.dev wrote about how a promotion can unintentionally derail growth: playfulprogramming.com/posts/how-a-...

How a Promotion Can Kill a Career

Why you should be cautious of moving too quickly with your titles.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 18/03/2026

Promotions don’t always accelerate careers. Sometimes they quietly end them. The shift from individual contributor to leadership changes the skills that matter — and not everyone is prepared for that shift. A promotion isn’t just recognition. It’s a different job.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 17/03/2026

You get ~1.5 weeks to ship a real MVP. Scope it down. Build it well. Finish it. If you’ve been following along and want to put everything into practice, join the Playful Programming Discord at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 17/03/2026

Final weeks of the Web Fundamentals Bootcamp. No more isolated exercises. We’re introducing routing (CSR vs MPA, dynamic paths with TanStack Router) — then you design your own project.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 12/03/2026

You’ll work with shared user data, run JavaScript with Node locally, and explore Redux from first principles. If you want to connect React patterns to real tooling, join the Playful Programming Discord at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 12/03/2026

Week 10 of the Web Fundamentals Bootcamp continues: We’re applying Context in a small app — then zooming out to understand how state management fits into the broader ecosystem.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 10/03/2026

We’ll work directly with createContext, Context.Provider, and useContext to understand how data flows through a subtree — and why scope matters. Join us in the Playful Programming Discord at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 10/03/2026

Week 10 of the Web Fundamentals Bootcamp: We’re stepping into dependency injection with React Context. How do you share data intentionally across part of your tree — without prop drilling or losing consistency?

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 09/03/2026

AI rewards engineers who can define constraints, evaluate tradeoffs, and recognize when something is subtly wrong. It doesn’t remove taste or judgment. It makes them more visible. How AI is changing workflows — and why we should be excited about it: playfulprogramming.com/posts/How-AI...

How AI is changing my development workflow and I am excited about it

If you are here, I am sure either you are excited about AI or you are scared about it. I am in the first category and super excited about AI and how it's changing my development workflow

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 09/03/2026

AI has changed how @santoshyadav.dev builds software — not through replacement, but by shifting roles. Devs can iterate faster, explore more options, and validate ideas sooner. The bottleneck is no longer typing. It’s thinking clearly.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 05/03/2026

We’ll look at persistence, derived values, and avoiding unnecessary recomputation — without overusing effects. If you want to build it with us, join the Playful Programming Discord at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 05/03/2026

In the Web Fundamentals Bootcamp today: We’re moving from theory to practice — fetching real data and handling it correctly in React. Because “it works” isn’t the same as “it’s modeled well.”

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 04/03/2026

If React still feels unpredictable to you, this is usually the layer that’s missing. Join us in the Playful Programming Discord and work through it live at 6pm PST/9pm EST👉️ discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2752 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 04/03/2026

In the Web Fundamentals Bootcamp this week: We’re tackling the part of React that causes the most confusion — effects. Why they re-run. Why cleanups matter. Why StrictMode exposes mistakes.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 02/03/2026

Remote teams don’t lose culture, they require designed culture. If alignment only works in a room, it doesn’t scale. If it works in writing, it does. Full breakdown by @crutchcorn.dev: playfulprogramming.com/posts/in_per...

In-Person vs Remote Engineering Teams

An exploration of the pros and cons of in-person and remote engineering teams, drawing from personal experience.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 02/03/2026

In-person vs remote teams isn’t a preference debate. It’s a systems design decision. In-person teams run on proximity and implicit context. Remote teams run on documentation and async clarity. Different constraints. Different strengths.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 26/02/2026

Week 8, Day 2: Refactoring static UI into dynamic systems. We’re taking a hardcoded card layout and: – Replacing hidden elements with true conditional rendering – Converting repeated markup into .map() – Extending it to support user-created content

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 24/02/2026

Understanding rendering changes how you write frontend code. Frameworks don’t “just update the DOM.” They reconcile change. 👉 Join us to learn more at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2743 members

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 24/02/2026

Week 8 of Web Fundamentals Bootcamp: We’re making HTML dynamic. No more static markup. We’re rendering based on state. – Conditional logic – Rendering lists – Keys (and why they matter) If this part has ever felt confusing — this week is for you.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 23/02/2026

Prompting AI with better questions isn’t the real problem. The harder part is making context repeatable, reviewable, and shareable across teams and tools. @ladybluenotes.dev wrote about treating AI context as configuration — versioned, structured, and intentional.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 19/02/2026

Today in Playful's bootcamp: we’re working on a simple flashcard app with React. We’ll start with a card component, add interaction to reveal answers on click, and practice with setInterval and useEffect. For hands-on time with React join us at 6pm PST/9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2738 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 19/02/2026

This post is about why @ladybluenotes.dev is choosing to write, learn, and build in public, mistakes included, and how that’s shaped her growth over time. If you’ve ever felt that same pressure, you may relate: playfulprogramming.com/posts/making...

Making Mistakes in Public Isn’t a Failure

Working in public means being visible while learning. That isn’t a weakness—it’s how real software gets built.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 19/02/2026

Making mistakes in public is uncomfortable, especially in technical spaces where confidence is often performative. But avoiding mistakes doesn’t actually make you better. It just makes learning quieter and slower.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 17/02/2026

Week 7 of the Web Fundamentals bootcamp is here and we’re starting React! This week introduce its core ideas: components, JSX, props, state, effects at a high level, and event handling. It’s all about understanding how React thinks and how pieces fit together as you build UI.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 13/02/2026

This post is about why she's building a home server — not to self-host everything, but to have more control over her media, data, and network. If you’re thinking about data ownership, control, or long-term sustainability of your setup, this may resonate: playfulprogramming.com/posts/why-a-...

Why I’m Building My Own Home Server

Exploring the motivation behind why I'm building a home server.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 13/02/2026

More services are adding ads, integrating AI by default, and making decisions about how your data is used, often without much say from you. That shift is what pushed @ladybluenotes.dev to rethink where her data lives.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 12/02/2026

Async JavaScript Office Hours — Thursday. Practice fetching data, updating the DOM, handling failures, and managing loading/error states live. If async JS breaks when things go wrong, this is for you. Join today's class at 6pm PST/ 9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2738 members

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 11/02/2026

Onboarding is changing — and AI is accelerating the shift. New hires now arrive with AI tools, different expectations, and less patience for outdated onboarding flows. This creates real pressure on documentation, team practices, and how knowledge is actually transferred.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 10/02/2026

Today we’re covering how async JavaScript works in the browser — from Promises and fetch to error handling, status codes, and loading states. If you want a stronger mental model for real-world frontend behavior, this is a great time to join the today's class at 6pm PST/ 9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2738 members

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 09/02/2026

Excited to have @fly.io as a sponsor of Playful Programming. We recently migrated to a more robust deployment infrastructure with our containers powered by Fly; couldn't be happier with our decision. Thank you for supporting educational programming content!

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 09/02/2026

With new content from "This is Learning", we now have 820 articles live on our site today! We just checked — that's 1,400,000+ words 😱 That's a lot of posts to learn programming from!

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 09/02/2026

It's official, "This is Learning" and @playfulprogramming.com are combining forces! We're elated to have them joining our ranks as we continue to grow. Our joint goal remains the same as it always was: Foster an open community aimed squarely at teaching software engineering.

Two unicorn hooves high-fiving with "Playful Programming hearts This is Learning" text above it

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 06/02/2026

Web Fundamentals Bootcamp — Office Hours Today at 6pm PST/9pm EST This is where the DOM concepts click. We’re practicing real browser interactions, from simple click handlers to scoped DOM queries.

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 05/02/2026

We're excited to announce that @coderabbitai.bsky.social is a new sponsor of Playful Programming. We're looking forward to leveraging it to accelerate our development — Not joking here: We enabled it on our repo and it immediately caught a mistake in a PR. Thank you once again to their team!

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 03/02/2026

Before frameworks, there’s the browser. In today’s Web Fundamentals Bootcamp, we’re building interactivity from first principles: DOM APIs, attributes, element creation, and event listeners. Join us for today's class at 6pm PST/ 9pm EST: discord.gg/FMcvc6T

The perfect place to learn all kinds of programming, from introductory ideas to advanced abstractions. | 2728 members

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 03/02/2026

We’re working directly in the browser in today’s Web Fundamentals Bootcamp. Scripts, selectors, DOM updates, and events—no frameworks, just how JavaScript actually talks to the page. If you want JS to feel predictable instead of magical, join us.

Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 30/01/2026

If you’ve ever felt guilty for not “finishing” a technical book—this is your permission slip. Read with intent. Skip aggressively. Revisit when needed. playfulprogramming.com/posts/how-i-...

How I read technical books and documentation

Don't skip out on a book just because it's long!

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Playful Programming @playfulprogramming.com · 30/01/2026

Reading technical books cover-to-cover is overrated. What matters is extracting the content without burning time. In this post, hear about how to break down a pragmatic way to read technical books & docs like a working developer—not a student.