Finding high-quality, trustworthy web development news can be an issue for a lot of developers so to make the burden a bit easier, here is a collection of awesome sources, including everything from podcasts and developer newsletters to news aggregators. Regardless of how you like to consume your content, there should be something for you below.
Podcasts
In this section are three podcasts that are focused on web development as a whole, from explaining technologies and concepts to interviewing leading experts in the field. If you’re interested in web development then you’re bound to find something of note in these podcasts.
Syntax.fm
Syntax.fm is headed up by two titans of the JavaScript and web development industry: Scott Tolinski and Wes Bos. Collectively they have decades of experience, which shows in their podcasts. All the topics they discuss, from explanations to interviews, provide thoughtful insights and perspectives for the listener to enjoy. Whether it be covering new frameworks like Svelte or taking a more in-depth look at a part of TypeScript or React, Syntax.fm will have something for all your web development needs.
HTML All The Things
Despite its name, HTML All The Things covers more than just HTML. It covers all areas of web development, design, and running a small business. Matt Lawrence and Mike Karan do an amazing job at explaining some of the lesser asked web development questions, as well as sharing the latest JavaScript news. In their words “We’ll stay on top of the industry so you don’t have to.”
JavaScript Jabber
Primarily covering the web ecosystem, but also covering other areas of development like NodeJS and mobile, the JavaScript Jabber podcast contains discussions about all areas of web development with its in-depth explanation episodes, interviews with industry experts, and more. If JavaScript is your go-to language then this podcast should be right up your street.
Developer newsletters
If emails and newsletters are more your things, then in this section I have you covered. Here are three newsletters all focused on web development.
JavaScript Weekly
Want the latest JavasScript ecosystem news and articles dropped into your inbox each week? Then this newsletter is for you. If you’re interested in the latest news, articles, tutorials, code, tools, or even new jobs in the industry, this newsletter has it all. Let them bring the news and articles to you so you can spend more time honing your skills and not hunting out the latest news to consume.
JAMStacked
Is the Jamstack ecosystem more your speed? Not fussed with the rest of JavaScript news and just want the latest and greatest Jamstack news sent to your inbox? Then JAMStacked is for you. This fortnightly newsletter with its curator, Brian Rinaldi, hosts the most recent and relevant Jamstack news, so you can keep your finger on the pulse of this growing community.
The Optimized Dev
Instead of just sitting and reading about the world of Jamstack, why not get involved and learn by doing? That’s the goal of this new, exciting developer newsletter from the folks over at Prismic. It’s a well-known fact that information is retained better by getting hands-on and that’s the beauty of this newsletter. Each month readers will receive a 30-minute coding challenge filled with short, structured projects related to Jamstack.
Stay on Top of New Tools, Frameworks, and More
Research shows that we learn better by doing. Dive into a monthly tutorial with the Optimized Dev Newsletter that helps you decide which new web dev tools are worth adding to your stack.
Web development news aggregators
Sometimes you don’t want others to handpick 5 out of 10 articles for you to read or give you a summary of the latest news; sometimes you want to be in charge of your own destiny and pick the news you read and consume from a larger list of content. This is where these web development news aggregators come in handy, they collect the articles and links, and you choose what to read.
Daily.dev
Daily.dev puts a unique spin on being a news aggregator. Yes it collects all the latest news from its list of hand-picked sources tailored to your individual preferences, but instead of emailing it to you or making you go to it, it comes to you. Daily.dev replaces your web browser's home screen so as soon as you open your browser, the latest development news is sitting there ready for you to consume.
DevURLs
DevURLs is more of a traditional news aggregator; it collects articles and news from various sources around the web and presents the titles to you in a nice, compact list by source so you can easily check multiple sources for new information and news by just visiting the one website. You can also search headlines to find topics bespoke to your requirements.
Helpful Websites
Here are some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make it into other categories in this post. These all have their own unique perks and quirks that make them great locations for finding the latest news, topics, and discussions in the web development world.
CSS Tricks
Although CSS is in the name, CSS Tricks is far more than just CSS. They publish content all about web development and the JavaScript ecosystem. CSS Tricks covers the latest news, technologies and more by covering interesting use cases and solving real-world problems among other types of content, so you’re not left wondering how to implement the thing you just learned about.
Smashing Magazine
Similar to CSS Tricks, Smashing Magazine is another online publication that allows developers to submit their ideas and writings for publication. Smashing Magazine publishes detailed articles covering new ideas/concepts and news of the latest technologies with real-world examples to back them up.
Hashnode and Dev.to
Self-publication platforms like Hashnode and Dev.to are amazing websites for finding news and new ideas. We can visit one website and see all the latest articles on that platform published by developers around the world on the topics we are interested in. If there’s a new piece of information, it’s likely someone will have written a post on it on one of these platforms. They may not always be the most detailed source of news, but they can be a great way to pique curiosity and trigger further investigations on other sources.
Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for sharing the latest and greatest news regardless of the topic and web development is no exception with its vibrant and active community. The beautiful thing about social media is that the mere exposure to it is enough to consume news and content so in this section is a list of Twitter topics and subreddits you can follow to ensure you stay plugged into the chatter as things happen.
Twitter Topics
Twitter is an amazing place to be as someone invested in web development, the “tech Twitter” community, as it’s become known, is a great community of developers who are invested in helping others grow, succeed, and become better at their craft. To get yourself started here are some topics on Twitter to look through to find accounts/content you like and want to interact with.
On Twitter when it comes to tech, it’s hard to ignore the presence of web development; I would venture to say it’s the largest type of programming/tech community on Twitter. There’s always someone sharing something new and exciting whether that be a blog post, Twitter thread, video, or something else. The community on Twitter is so vibrant that it changes from one day to the next. And, the best part about it is new people are joining all the time so it doesn’t matter if you’re brand new or a seasoned pro; there will be people and content that speaks to you.
Due to the size of the web development community on Twitter compared to the other tech communities, even the more general “computer programming” topic is largely taken over by the topic. So, why include both? The Twitter algorithm — that’s why. Twitter shows different content in different topics so it’s worth keeping an eye on both, they both largely cover web development but show different tweets, content, and accounts.
From web development as a whole to more niched topics like Gatsby, GraphQL, and more, there’s bound to be a subreddit that meets your needs and desires. In this section, I’ve listed a couple of my favorites.
If you’re after the latest news, info, and posts about web development as a whole then r/webdev is the place to be. It doesn’t matter what level of a developer you are. If you’re interested in web development then this is one of the best subreddits to be involved in. There’s a range of topics from news articles people have shared, to resources others have created or even questions for people to share their opinions and answers to.
JavaScript is undeniably one of the powerhouses of web development so it’s only fitting that it has its own subreddit for people to share news, info, and topics around it. Want to hear the latest and greatest things about JavaScript and the vast ecosystem that has been built around it? This is a great source.
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Closing Out
Throughout this post, we have looked at several sources and mediums of consuming the latest and greatest web development news. I hope you found them helpful and may have learnt about a new one or two during this post.
As a closing note, it’s worth bearing in mind that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to consuming your news and information. Some people like newsletters, others podcasts and others something else entirely so play with the different mediums and see what works for you. Who knows you might even find something I didn’t mention in this post that works for you; if you do find something, I’d love to hear about it over on Twitter!
