Learn Alpine, Reactfire and Zeit-now

zeit-now

[Vercel](https://vercel.com) is a hosting platform that works very well with [Next.js](https://nextjs.org) - because it's their framework! In this lesson, we prepare our project to be deployed to production by:

- Pushing code to [GitHub](https://github.com/)
- Deploying repo to [Vercel](https://vercel.com)
- Updating [GitHub OAuth app](https://github.com/settings/developers) to use production URL
- Updating [Supabase](https://supabase.com/) project to use production URL

## Resources

- [Deploy Next.js to Vercel guide](https://nextjs.org/learn/basics/deploying-nextjs-app/deploy)
- [GitHub OAuth App settings](https://github.com/settings/developers)
- [Vercel](https://vercel.com)
- [Supabase URL configuration](https://app.supabase.com/project/_/auth/url-configuration)

Deploy Next.js App Router project to production with Vercel

Remix is a full stack web framework that focuses on web standards and the server/client model so that you can develop the features your users want and need without being bogged down in over-abstractions. When you get good with Remix, you actually get good at the foundations of web development.

remix

Using a GitHub repo to deploy our application to Vercel, keeps our code and live production site in sync. In this lesson we look at using the [GitHub CLI](https://cli.github.com/) tool to create a public repo, and adding it as a remote origin for our project.

Additionally, we create a new Vercel project from this GitHub repo, add our Supabase environment variables, and deploy. Lastly, we update the Homepage URL in our GitHub OAuth app to be our new Vercel URL, and set our Supabase project's [Authentication Site URL](https://app.supabase.com/project/_/auth/url-configuration) to our new live application URL.

## Extension ideas

- Style the app using Tailwind CSS (or another method of choice)
- Implement the ability for a user to `update` and `delete` their own messages
- Add the option to set a username and display this alongside messages
- Add separate message threads/chat rooms
- Implement private messages/chat rooms

## Resources

- [GitHub CLI](https://cli.github.com/)
- [Vercel docs](https://vercel.com/docs)
- [Deploying Remix app to Vercel](https://vercel.com/guides/deploying-remix-with-vercel)

Deploy a Remix Application to Vercel from a GitHub Repository

Next.js is a minimalistic framework for server-rendered React applications.

Deploy a project on Vercel (formerly ZEIT) from a GitHub repository

Alpine.js offers you the reactive and declarative nature of big frameworks like Vue or React at a much lower cost.

You get to keep your DOM, and sprinkle in behavior as you see fit.

alpine

Welcome to this beginner level series on Alpine JS! 👋🏞

Alpine JS is a rugged, minimal framework for composing JavaScript behaviour in your markup. It brings declarative, reactive, data-driven nature of libraries like React or Vue to your HTML templates.

This is the series intro video. Let's get started!

Series Intro - Beginner Level Alpine JS

In this lesson, we build a little app that fetches dog photos from the dog.ceo API, based on a "breed" search field. We want the API call to happen again when the search value changes, and to do so we use the `$watch` property from Alpine JS, which lets us define what state property we want to watch, and what callback function to run when a change happens.

We also use the `debounce` modifier on the `x-model` property to avoid firing an API call on each keystroke.

Refetch API data when a state value changes with the `$watch` property in Alpine JS

Welcome to this beginner level series on Alpine JS! 👋🏞

Alpine JS is a rugged, minimal framework for composing JavaScript behaviour in your markup. It brings declarative, reactive, data-driven nature of libraries like React or Vue to your HTML templates.

In this series, you will learn about Alpine's handy **directives**. You'll discover how to define a component scope with `x-data`, run code on mount with `x-init`, attach event listeners with `x-on`, display data with `x-text`, decide wether or not to show an element with `x-show`, iterate through data with `x-for`, retrieve a DOM element with `x-ref`, learn how to achieve _two-way data binding_ with `x-model`, and much more.

You'll also learn how **"modifiers"** can be applied and chained to directives to provide additional functionality: control the animation transition of entering and leaving DOM elements, debounce an event listener, etc.

We'll also touch on what Alpine calls **"magic properties"**, which give you access to native browser events (`$event`), reference to DOM elements (`$refs`), and more.

You'll gradually discover Alpine's API and syntax, from building simple tabs to a mini app that fetches a dog picture based on a "breed" search field. 🐶

**Get ready to breathe some fresh air** - it's time to walk into cool, green Alpine pastures! 🏞

Sprinkle declarative, reactive behaviour on your HTML with Alpine JS

In this lesson, we see how the `x-model` directive makes achieving "two-way data binding" effortless in Alpine JS.

We see what it would take to recreate the same functionality with an `x-bind` directive for the input value, as well as an `@input` event listener which, thanks to an access to the browser's native events via the `$event` magic property, sets the state value to `$event.target.value`.

Keep a DOM input and state value in sync with the `x-model` directive in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we learn how to retrieve a DOM element via the `x-ref` directive in Alpine JS, which gives us a reference to the element it is applied on. In our case, an input field.

We can then use the `$refs` object, and reach for the ref we need to target.

This allows us to trigger the focus state of the input field, with the `.focus()` method.

Focus an input field on button click with `x-ref` and the `$refs` property in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we learn how the `x-init` directive in Alpine JS lets us run a JavaScript expression once the component has initiated.

We see the nuances that allow us to trigger that code before Alpine performs initial DOM updates, or after these updates have been made.

Focus in input field on page load with `x-init` in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we smoothen the transitions between tabs by applying a `transition` modifier to our `x-show` directive.

We see how we can ignore the leaving elements, and focus the animation on the entering elements. We tweak the transition duration and origin by chaining additional modifiers to our `x-show` directive.

Control enter and leave transitions with the `x-show.transition` modifier in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we create a set of tabs with Alpine JS, where only the content of the currently active tab is visible. To do this, we define an `activeTab` state value with `x-data. We then wire up our buttons to change the value of `activeTab` on click, and use `x-show` to determine if the tab content should be visible or not, based on the value of `activeTab`.

We also take control of the `class` attribute with `x-bind`, and we conditionally output an "active" class based on, you guessed it, the value of `activeTab`.

Toggle visibility and styles based on state with `x-show` and `x-bind` in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we define a "count" state value with the `x-data` directive provided by Alpine JS. This defines a new scoped component, which can have access to this state.

We then display the "count" value in our HTML with the `x-text` directive, which updates an element's `innerText` value.

We also hook up buttons with click event listeners with `x-on:click`, which allows us to modify the count value as desired.

Update a count state value with the x-on event listener directive in Alpine JS

In this lesson, we move the component definition to a function, defined in a script tag in the HTML document.

We then iterate through an Array of Objects with the `x-for` directive in Alpine JS. We use a `<template>` tag to wrap the HTML element we want to repeat for each item, and put the `x-for` directive on that template tag.

We also define a "computed" property by adding a method on our function, which checks if a given ID matched the currently active tab id. This computed property allows us to determine wether or not to apply the "active" classname to our tab buttons.

Iterate through data with the `x-for` attribute in Alpine JS

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

node

Now by Zeit has recently been updated and now supports multi-language monorepos. In this lesson we'll build and deploy a simple app with an API powered by Node.js and Go.

If you want to follow along with this lesson, you will need to install [now-cli](https://github.com/zeit/now-cli).

Deploy a Monorepo to Now V2

Angular is a development platform for creating applications using modern web standards. Angular includes a wealth of essential features such as mobile gestures, animations, filtering, routing, data binding, security, internationalization, and beautiful UI components. It's extremely modular, lightweight, and easy to learn.

angular

In this lesson we will add support for deploying our application to [now.sh](https://zeit.co/now).

We will create a `now` object in package.json where we configure the name, the alias and the list of files we want to deploy.

We create an npm run-script called `now-build` and set the value to `true` to skip building the project on `now.sh`. The second run-script called `now` invokes `now deploy && now alias`. 

After this we sun `npm run build && npm run now` to build and deploy our app!

Deploy an Angular CLI Project to now.sh

React is one of the web’s most popular frameworks for building JavaScript applications. 

If you know what you’re doing, React can drastically simplify how you build, use, and maintain code.

Whether you’re a React newbie or you’re ready for advanced techniques, you can level-up with egghead. Explore our in-depth courses, lessons, and community resources to build more powerful applications and crack open your career.

react

In this lesson, we’ll make a few small changes to our scripts and add some environment variables that will be used at build time to get our application ready to be deployed to a production environment using the `now` service. Once properly configured, we’ll use the `now` CLI and publish our application to a production server.

Configure a React & Redux Application For Production Deployment and Deploy to Now

Express is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework that provides a robust set of features for web and mobile applications.

express

Now is a great way to deploy your node application, but the generated URLs aren't memorable or easily remembered. With Now's alias command, you can fix that. In this video lesson we'll cover how to add an alias to a deployment, giving you a custom `*.now.sh` subdomain, how to create an alias using your own custom domain name, how to list your aliases and finally how to remove an alias if you no longer want it.

Use Now alias for custom sub-domains

`now` allows you to take your JavaScript (Node.js) or Docker powered websites, applications and services to the cloud with ease,
speed and reliability. In practical terms, any directory that contains a `package.json` or `Dockerfile` can be transported to the cloud with one command: `now`.


Applications require a lot of sensitive information. Database passwords, API keys and secrets used for signing JWTs, just to name a few. If you're deploying your application using the Now CLI, you can deploy your secret information right through the CLI and give your code access to those secrets without exposing them directly in your source code. In this lesson, we'll cover how to add secrets to now, how to use a secret as the value of an environment variable and how to list and remove secrets in now.

Use Secrets When Deploying Applications with Now

In this lesson, you'll learn how to enhance the accuracy of components generated by Cursor Composer by aligning your project's package.json with Cursor's rules. We'll guide you through extracting the list of installed packages from your package.json and incorporating them into your .cursorrules file, along with brief descriptions of their functionalities. By providing Cursor with this contextual information, you'll enable it to generate components that are more precise and functional on the first attempt. The lesson includes demonstrations of component generation both with and without these enhancements, highlighting the improvements in accuracy and efficiency.

Boost Cursor Composer Accuracy: Integrating package.json with Cursor Rules

Speed up your bug-fixing process dramatically with Cursors Composer. Take a warning from your logs, search for relevant terms, then seamlessly import both the warning and search results into Composer. Add documentation and apply fixes to all search results in one go. This streamlined workflow resolves multiple issues rapidly, saving valuable development time.

Batch Fix Every File in Search Results with Cursor's Composer

 We map over the initial set of results then use `Promise.all` to efficiently fetch the details of each pokemon rendered in the table. This allows us to add more columns to our pokemon table.

Fetch and display row details with Promise.all in Tanstack Table

map over the initial set of results then use `Promise.all` to efficiently fetch the details of each pokemon rendered in the tanstack table

Create a custom hook to fetch remote data by passing a promise to the React 19 `use` hook. Then render this data in Tanstack Table by memoizing the results and passing them to `useReactTable`.

Render remote data in a Tanstack Table with React 19's use hook and a promise

Create a custom hook using React 19’s use to fetch data with a promise. Render it in a Tanstack Table by memoizing and using useReactTable.

You know when you're deep in the code trenches and need someone to challenge your assumptions? That's exactly what this is about.

Instead of waiting for someone to poke holes in your master plan, you can paste that strategy straight into AI Studio and let it pressure test your ideas. We're talking about using this tool to validate everything from your feature proposals to your ambitious refactoring strategies.

The real magic happens when you hit that microphone button. Now you're in a real-time verbal sparring match. It's like rubber duck debugging but the duck actually pushes back and makes you defend every architectural decision you've made.

Here's the workflow:
1. Drop your master plan into the system instructions
2. Tell the AI to challenge every assumption
3. Hit that mic and defend your choices like you mean it
4. Watch your plan either emerge stronger or get rightfully dismantled

This approach is perfect when you're:
- Stuck in your own head with a complex problem
- Need to validate if your approach holds water
- Want to catch edge cases before they catch you
- Looking for opportunities you might have missed because you're too close to the code

It's like having a senior dev on call 24/7, ready to challenge your ideas and push you to think deeper about your solutions.

Now go forth and get your ideas challenged. Your projects will thank you for it.


An Uncomfortable and Challenging Conversation with AI Studio

In this lesson, you'll learn how to effectively brainstorm your project ideas before working with AI agents. We'll cover:

1. The importance of having a clear plan before starting work with AI agents
2. Using traditional brainstorming techniques to gather your thoughts
3. Leveraging video recording to capture your brainstorming session
4. How to review and analyze websites for inspiration
5. Documenting likes, dislikes, and potential features for your project
6. Using AI tools (like AI Studio) to organize and process your recorded brainstorming session

The lesson emphasizes a modern approach to brainstorming that combines traditional techniques with video recording, making it easier to later process your ideas through AI tools. This method helps ensure that no ideas are lost and that your thoughts can be effectively organized by AI for future reference.

How to Brainstorm Your Project Features to Prepare for AI Agents

fast-check allows us to create composite generators that suit our testing needs. We'll generate two numbers to create a point simulating an X and Y and assert that the distance should always be greater than or equal to 0.

Generate composite objects with fast-check fc.record

Just using fast-check by itself can make you tests verbose and tough to read. Lucky for us there are many integrations with fast-check such as the `@fast-check/jest` package that will help remove some boilerplate from our test.

Tidy up your test with @fast-check/jest

Many people share .cursorrules files, but trying to craft your own from scratch is a huge pain. Instead, this lesson shows you how to grab ALL community-created .cursorrules files to build a custom rule set for your projects. We'll use Gitingest and Google AI Studio to gather these examples and generate an awesome starting point customized to your specific project.

Generate Custom .cursorrules for Your Project Based on Community Examples

The GitHub CLI allows you to search issues and filter on different criteria like amount of comments. This allows you to search for real-world situations and pains/solutions people have using different technology. 

With the GitHub CLI in hand we'll drop 100s of issues as context in Googles AI Studio and have Gemini determine the 10 most frequently asked questions. This will give us a sense of how people use a library and where people get hung up.