--- title: Best developer posts — September 2026 | daily.dev description: The most upvoted daily.dev posts from September 2026, curated by the daily.dev community. canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/best-of/2026/09 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/best-of/2026/09 og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Best developer posts — September 2026 | daily.dev og:description: The most upvoted daily.dev posts from September 2026, curated by the daily.dev community. og:image: https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--VAY5ToZt--/f_auto/v1724209435/public/daily.dev%20-%20open%20graph --- # Best of daily.dev — September 2026 1. 1 [](/posts/you-don-t-need-profile-pictures-anymore--4pnmhjgpi "You don't need profile pictures anymore!") Article Samad Saiyed · 3w You don't need profile pictures anymore! Blobatar is a lightweight, dependency-free library (about 4.4 KB) that generates deterministic geometric avatars from any string, such as a username. It ships a React component with an optional hover animation, an online editor to tune trait generation, and a community wall where visitors can claim a cell with their own name-derived blobatar. 491 39 2. 2 [](/posts/51nuht5vd "StickMan — Funny Animated UI Interactions") Article Ahmed shamim · 4w StickMan — Funny Animated UI Interactions StickMan is a playful showcase site offering six animated UI interactions built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and sound effects, each presented as a whimsical 'mission' for a stick-figure character. Developers can copy the code, download assets, or use an included agent prompt to adapt the interactions for their own interfaces. 414 35 3. 3 [](/posts/jvdikdjg0 "tinyjs — desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux in ~6 MB") Article Alexey Zerkalenkov · 3w tinyjs — desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux in \~6 MB tinyjs is a new framework for building cross-platform desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) in JavaScript, shipping at roughly 6 MB. It runs a JavaScript backend on txiki.js (QuickJS + libuv) with full system access — files, sockets, processes, FFI, sqlite — communicating with a native webview frontend over a Unix socket instead of a localhost port. No Electron, no bundled Chromium, no Node.js required at runtime. It's compared against Electron (150+ MB, bundled Chromium/Node), Tauri (Rust backend, \~10 MB, more mature ecosystem and mobile support), and Neutralino (no backend runtime, uses a localhost websocket with a token). macOS is the stable primary platform; Windows and Linux are in beta with a short list of unported macOS-only calls. The site includes an extensive FAQ covering builds, code signing, capability gating for loaded URLs, and updater mechanics. 388 35 4. 4 [](/posts/meet-the-developers-rejecting-ai-mgfmaufls "Meet the developers rejecting AI") Article LeadDev · 3w Meet the developers rejecting AI A growing number of developers are publicly rejecting AI coding tools, even at the cost of jobs, clients, and career stability. Developer Brett Chalupa's viral YouTube video announcing he's quitting AI coding drew over 900,000 views and struck a nerve, prompting others like Anthony Manning-Franklin, Pieter Groenendijk, and Jared White to share similar decisions. Cited reasons include eroded craft and skills, ethical concerns about environmental impact and scraped training data, and real mental health costs like depression and existential dread. Some have already lost clients, missed job offers, or left the industry entirely, while a referenced arXiv study on psychological costs of AI adoption found widespread craft identity disruption and meaning erosion among developers a year after their company mandated AI use. 277 77 5. 5 [](/posts/zhanyozdu "Illusions of AI Coding") Article Lonely Programmer · 5w Illusions of AI Coding A developer recounts using AI coding assistants to rapidly build a EuroJackpot prediction app in Laravel and modify an existing React project, finishing work in minutes that would normally take hours. Despite the speed, the experience left a strong sense of illusion: the author felt productive without engaging creativity, memory, or effort, and now cannot recall or fully understand the AI-generated changes to their own year-and-a-half-old React project, increasing complexity and future maintenance burden. The piece reflects on the risks of vendor lock-in to AI token providers, loss of deep code knowledge, and the concern that professional AI coding still depends on experienced engineers who learned by struggling through manual coding. 243 48 6. 6 [](/posts/every-database-has-these-seven-tables-tjxzjxa4q "Every Database Has These Seven Tables") Article SQL Authority · 5w Every Database Has These Seven Tables A humorous, narrative essay argues that nearly every production database converges on the same seven archetypal messy tables: a duplicated 'Customers\_new', an accidental spreadsheet import ('Sheet1'), an ancient 'temp' fix nobody dares remove, a bloated 'Settings' table with mystery flags, a never-read 'AuditLog', a feared 'Backup\_DoNotDelete', and a forgotten personal scratch table like 'AKTest'. The piece frames these not as carelessness but as artifacts of people solving urgent problems quickly, leaving behind names that quietly document organizational history. It closes with a plug for the author's book and essays about AI. 236 25 7. 7 [](/posts/you-don-t-need-a-mac-to-develop-ios-apps-anymore-expo-blog-zzqwavqqs "You don't need a Mac to develop iOS apps anymore — Expo blog") Article Expo Blog · 4w You don't need a Mac to develop iOS apps anymore — Expo blog Expo has launched EAS Simulator, a cloud-hosted iOS Simulator (and Android emulator) streamed to a browser tab, removing the requirement for a physical Mac to develop and test iOS apps. It supports Fast Refresh from Windows or Linux machines (demonstrated on Windows on ARM), simulated camera feeds via AVFoundation injection, shareable session URLs for team collaboration, full session replay for PR evidence, and control by AI coding agents (via agent-device or Argent) or any framework's simulator build, including non-Expo apps. It is currently a limited-access preview available via waitlist. 232 33 8. 8 [](/posts/react-19-3-react-sfqiftbgy "React 19.3 – React") Article React · 5w React 19.3 – React React 19.3 is now available on npm, stabilizing two previously experimental APIs: View Transitions and Fragment Refs. The new component animates elements entering, exiting, moving, or resizing using the browser's View Transition API, with support for custom animations via addTransitionType and integration with Suspense for coordinated loading of fallbacks, images, and fonts. Fragment Refs let developers attach DOM behaviors (event listeners, focus management, IntersectionObserver/ResizeObserver) to a group of sibling elements without needing a wrapper div, by passing a ref to a Fragment. React DOM adds a new browser() API to opt components out of server-side rendering when they depend on browser-only APIs, plus Trusted Types support to prevent DOM-based XSS. Server Components can now render Context directly from a 'use client' module without a wrapper Provider. The release also includes numerous other changelog items and bug fixes across react, react-dom, and react-server packages. 209 27 9. 9 [](/posts/public-api-access-is-now-open-for-everyone-ljj8kh9sa "Public API access is now open for everyone") Article daily.dev Changelog · 4w Public API access is now open for everyone Public API access on daily.dev is now open to all accounts, not just Plus subscribers. Every account can create a personal access token from Settings, with 200 free requests per month (higher limits for Plus). The release includes new quests and achievements, out-of-the-box integrations for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and OpenClaw, and five step-by-step guides covering authentication, building a terminal client, a morning-briefing agent, bookmark organization, and using the API as an alternative to web search. Non-Plus API access is in beta with limits subject to change. 206 20 10. 10 [](/posts/i-was-tired-of-leaving-the-terminal-so-i-built-nikki-sni47arro "I Was Tired of Leaving the Terminal, So I Built Nikki") Article Nikhil · 4w I Was Tired of Leaving the Terminal, So I Built Nikki A developer shares the story behind building Nikki, a small terminal-based note and reminder tool for Linux, created to avoid the context switching of leaving the terminal to jot down quick thoughts. The tool supports adding, searching, and listing notes, desktop notifications, and reminders via a background systemd service. The author reflects on solving workflow friction by removing steps rather than adding new tools, and invites readers to share their own terminal workflow pain points. 219 36 11. 11 [](/posts/nestjs-v12-is-out--rcnfc7r2o "NestJS v12 is out.") Article scopespace · 6w NestJS v12 is out. NestJS version 12 has been released, with a link to the full announcement shared externally. No further details about the specific changes are included in the post itself. 196 21 12. 12 [](/posts/ai-is-already-better-at-coding-than-most-software-developers-vivynmbng "AI Is Already Better at Coding Than Most Software Developers") Article DEV · 5w AI Is Already Better at Coding Than Most Software Developers An experienced developer argues that coding itself was never the most valuable part of software engineering, and that AI has already surpassed most developers at writing code. She contends that as coding becomes commoditized, the real bottleneck shifts to judgment, coordination, architecture, and decision-making — illustrated by an anecdote where implementing a change took five minutes but agreeing on what to build took four days. She cites METR research suggesting AI's advantage shrinks as tasks require more experience and judgment, and predicts the job market will reward developers who understand product and architecture over those who only code, while pure 'code craftsmen' face displacement. 195 53 13. 13 [](/posts/csnrcuaoh "Software Engineer: I'm Tired of Pretending") Video Lonely Programmer · 4w Software Engineer: I'm Tired of Pretending A software engineer reflects candidly on burnout, imposter syndrome, and the exhausting pressure to constantly keep up with new technology and AI. The piece describes the tech industry's obsession with chasing hype, the emotional toll of endless interviews and certifications, the isolating effect of AI-driven work, and the difficulty of admitting struggle in a culture that demands constant productivity and reinvention. 183 44 14. 14 [](/posts/looking-for-group-find-someone-to-build-with-learn-from-or-consult-tpzytifqa "Looking for Group: find someone to build with, learn from, or consult") Article daily.dev World · 2w Looking for Group: find someone to build with, learn from, or consult A community thread invites developers to find collaborators, co-founders, pairing partners, mentors, or quick consults for side projects and technical problems. Participants post using a structured template covering their role, stack, timezone, what they're working on, what they need, commitment level, and what they offer in return. Once two people express mutual interest, the organizer connects them by email. 196 46 15. 15 [](/posts/i-dual-booted-linux-for-a-year-then-deleted-windows-and-never-thought-about-it-again-va5uoawac "I dual-booted Linux for a year, then deleted Windows and never thought about it again") Article XDA Developers · 5w I dual-booted Linux for a year, then deleted Windows and never thought about it again A longtime Windows user recounts a year-long journey of dual-booting Linux alongside Windows 10 after learning his PC couldn't run Windows 11\. Early attempts with Ubuntu and GNOME didn't click, but discovering KDE Plasma and eventually settling on Fedora KDE changed his experience. Over time, returning to Windows felt increasingly cumbersome compared to the control and familiarity he'd built with Linux, and he eventually wiped Windows entirely, feeling no desire to go back. 175 49 16. 16 [](/posts/stop-using-enum-in-typescript-try-as-const--z9mxie9i5 "Stop using "enum" in TypeScript. Try "as const"") Article Sandhya K · 2w Stop using "enum" in TypeScript. Try "as const" TypeScript enums compile into extra JS objects and numeric enums allow assigning arbitrary numbers, undermining type safety. Using \`as const\` instead provides the same autocomplete and type checking with zero runtime overhead, works with plain string literals, and avoids extra imports, resulting in smaller bundles. 214 30 17. 17 [](/posts/stop-using-useeffect-to-derive-state-compute-it-during-render--apzjgifvm "Stop using "useEffect" to derive state. Compute it during render.") Article Sandhya K · 2w Stop using "useEffect" to derive state. Compute it during render. Deriving values from existing state or props shouldn't require useEffect plus setState, since that pattern adds an extra render, causes a flash of stale UI, and risks state drifting out of sync. Instead, compute derived values directly during render, and only reach for useMemo when the computation is genuinely expensive. Effects should be reserved for syncing with external systems, not for syncing state with other state. 183 16 18. 18 [](/posts/day-30-30-aws-system-design-patterns-dwvvouwkz "Day 30/30 AWS System Design Patterns") Article Joud Awad · 5w Day 30/30 AWS System Design Patterns A scenario-based system design puzzle explores why an Aurora PostgreSQL database behind a Redis cache-aside layer spikes to 100% CPU every 15 minutes during high traffic. The root cause is thundering herd: a hot cache key's fixed 15-minute TTL causes simultaneous expiry while thousands of requests per minute are hitting it, triggering hundreds of identical expensive queries at once against Aurora. Scaling the database instance or adding read replicas only raises the ceiling without fixing the underlying cache stampede; the real fix involves addressing simultaneous expiry (e.g., jittered TTLs, locking, or background refresh) rather than just tolerating staleness or throwing more compute at the database. 154 33 19. 19 [](/posts/screenshot-is-dead-long-live-snapshot-cigxmnqro "Screenshot is dead, long live Snapshot") Article daily.dev Changelog · 4w Screenshot is dead, long live Snapshot A new feature called Snapshot lets users generate polished, shareable images from posts, briefings, hot takes, and profile achievements with a single click, replacing the habit of taking screenshots. Snapshot works across posts (TLDR, paragraphs, selected text, poll results), Briefings (bullets, sections), Happening Now highlights, Hot Takes, and profile pages. Additionally, a new Slack integration allows sharing posts directly to any channel in a Slack workspace, posting as the user rather than a bot. 171 48 20. 20 [](/posts/cs-degrees-dropped-low-level-programming-and-the-industry-is-noticing-vyrrxpneq "CS degrees dropped low-level programming and the industry is noticing") Article Trends · 5w CS degrees dropped low-level programming and the industry is noticing A viral video by YouTuber Laurie Wired argues that CS programs fail students by teaching Python first without ever following up with material that builds an understanding of memory, cache behavior, and hardware fundamentals. GPU engineer Seb Aaltonen and a TheStandup panelist add supporting anecdotes, including one panelist admitting they aced a Java-heavy degree without ever understanding heap vs stack. The discussion turns into a broader debate about whether CS degrees should split into applied (job-ready) and theoretical (foundations-focused) tracks, with the consensus being that Python as a first language is fine, but skipping a low-level course entirely leaves a lasting gap that hiring engineers keep noticing. 149 36 21. 21 [](/posts/oaolexiyl "Circuit Breaker Pattern Explained: Timeouts, Retries and Fallbacks") Video Joud Awad · 5w Circuit Breaker Pattern Explained: Timeouts, Retries and Fallbacks A deep-dive video transcript explains why slow, hanging dependency calls are more dangerous than outright failures because they hold onto threads, database connections, and other limited resources until other parts of the system starve. It walks through the four-part resilience chain—timeout, retry with jitter, circuit breaker, and fallback—explaining how each works and why none is sufficient alone. It compares real default configurations across Resilience4j, Hystrix, Polly, and go-breaker, showing how differently each library defines its trigger threshold, open-state duration, and half-open request allowance. It also covers Envoy's outlier detection as a service-mesh-level alternative, AWS's retry token bucket approach as a substitute for circuit breakers, cases where circuit breakers should not be used (400 errors, non-idempotent writes, sharded resources), and the importance of observability and manual override for circuit breaker state changes. 151 20 22. 22 [](/posts/txuybf3w4 "Shadcn Just Made Tailwind 30x Faster") Video Horde · 6w Shadcn Just Made Tailwind 30x Faster Shadcn and Aiden released a new package called CN, a drop-in replacement for clsx and tailwind-merge used inside the ubiquitous utils.ts file in shadcn projects. CN claims full API parity while being roughly 30x faster on the standard benchmark and 37x faster across 144,000 real-world calls harvested from 58 open-source repos, achieved by moving tailwind-merge's conflict-resolution rules to compile time (flat lookup tables) plus a three-layer caching system for repeated calls. Migration is a single CLI command, \`npx shadcn latest migrate cn\`, which removes clsx and tailwind-merge from package.json and swaps in the new dependency. The project is open source with 776 GitHub stars at time of writing. 144 14 23. 23 [](/posts/the-3-skills-that-separate-architects-from-senior-developers-lc6mrt9wq "The 3 Skills That Separate Architects From Senior Developers") Video The Serious CTO · 6w The 3 Skills That Separate Architects From Senior Developers Argues that becoming a software architect is a distinct job from being a senior developer, not just a title upgrade. Three skills separate the two: systemic thinking (understanding tradeoffs across the whole system, illustrated by a microservices migration that increased recovery time from 15 to 90 minutes), organizational influence (framing technical decisions in terms of cost, risk, and value, illustrated by a budget comparison between legacy and cloud-native infrastructure), and structural design (fixing the root causes of coupling rather than symptoms, illustrated by a company scaling from 10 to 80 engineers into a 'big ball of mud'). Uses Netflix's seven-year microservices migration, which included building Hystrix, Eureka, and Zuul first, as an example of vision including a migration path. Ends with a pitch for one-on-one coaching toward promotion and leadership roles. 142 8 24. 24 [](/posts/10-javascript-error-handling-patterns-that-actually-matter-5pvuorxty "10 JavaScript Error Handling Patterns That Actually Matter") Article JS Development · 4w 10 JavaScript Error Handling Patterns That Actually Matter A practical rundown of ten JavaScript error handling patterns covering async/await try/catch, why try/catch doesn't catch errors from setTimeout or event callbacks, global fallback handlers for unhandled promise rejections in both browser and Node.js, custom error classes, preserving original errors with the cause option, deciding when failures should throw versus return null, avoiding silent catch blocks, React Error Boundaries for rendering failures, Node.js process-level handlers as emergency exits, and using optional chaining appropriately. Closes with a decision framework mapping failure types to handling strategies. 176 10 25. 25 [](/posts/tailwind-labs-is-joining-shopify-5wtla8j7j "Tailwind Labs is joining Shopify") Article Collections · 5w Tailwind Labs is joining Shopify Tailwind Labs is joining Shopify, giving Tailwind CSS a stable long-term home with continued active maintenance. Tailwind CSS and other Tailwind Labs open-source projects remain MIT-licensed and technically unchanged. On the commercial side, Tailwind Labs will stop growing its business around Tailwind: existing Tailwind Plus and ui.sh customers keep access, but new signups are closing. Shopify was an early large-scale adopter of Tailwind and already depends on it heavily internally and across its merchant ecosystem. 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