Learn Discord, Linux and Serverless

We can use the Discord API to build bots, integrations, and extensions for the platform.

discord

The final step we need to take is to deploy our Discord bot to production. We'll be using using GitHub and Railway.app. 

[Railway.app](https://railway.app/) is a deployment platform that allows us to deploy our bot to the cloud. They give you $5 or 500 hours of free usage per month, which probably won't last you the full month, but it's a great way to get started.

Deploy a Discord.js Bot for Production

Disabling buttons can be useful in Discord servers to prevent users from clicking on buttons that are no longer relevant. By disabling a button, you can inform users why the button is no longer clickable and avoid confusion or frustration.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to create a button that will disable itself when a submissions for a book-club have closed.

Conditionally Disable a Custom Discord Button

Now, let's learn how to add roles to users in a Discord server using a Discord.js collector.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to create a collector to gather users who click on a specific button, filter out users who do not have a certain role, and add a specific role to the users who meet the filter criteria.

Add Roles to Users using a Discord.js Collector

Let's now learn how to create dynamic channels and roles with our Discord bot.

We want to be able to create new roles and channels for the book clubs and their attendants that we create in our server.

We'll be using methods from the `interaction` object to create the role and channel. And, we'll make sure to create both the role and channel each with the correct permissions.

Create Dynamic Channels and Roles with a Discord Bot

In this lesson, you will learn how to create custom buttons in Discord.js using `ActionRowBuilder` and `ButtonBuilder`. You will also learn how to style and add text to the button using `ButtonStyle` and the `setEmoji` method.

We'll need to make these buttons for our book-club message to give users the ability to let us know that they want to be a part of the club. 

`ActionRowBuilder` and `ButtonBuilder` are important, here's what they do:

`ActionRowBuilder` is used to create a row of buttons or other action components in a Discord message. This class provides methods for adding buttons, text, and other components to the row, as well as methods for formatting the row.

`ButtonBuilder` is used to create individual buttons within the `ActionRowBuilder`. This class provides methods for setting the text, emoji, style, and other properties of the button.

By using them both, we are able to create a row of buttons exactly how we want them to look!

Create Custom Discord Buttons with ActionRowBuilder and ButtonBuilder

In this lesson, you will be learning how to display relative time in a Discord embedded message using the Unix timestamp. 

We'll be adding a countdown timer to an embedded message to show the time remaining until submissions to a book-club close.

By the end of this lesson, you will have the ability to convert hours into seconds, add it to the current time in the Unix timestamp, and create a variable to store the wait time in seconds to display the short date time and relative time in Discord.

Display Relative Time in a Discord Embedded Message

Let's convert our Discord bot to respond with embedded messages.

Embedded messages in Discord are a great way to make your bot's responses look a lot more visually appealing!

We'll create a new command called `/bookclub` that will take in a book title, an author, and the number of hours until the submission deadline from the user. Then, it will `reply` with an object that Discord will automatically convert into an embedded message.

Have a Discord Bot Respond with Embedded Messages

In this lesson, you will learn how to build custom commands that can receive user input.

As a Discord user, you may have noticed that many servers use custom commands to provide information, moderate the chat, or enhance the overall user experience. By learning how to build these custom commands, you'll be able to create a more interactive and dynamic Discord server for your community!

We'll start by introducing the basics of slash commands and how they can be used in a Discord app. You'll then learn how to create a simple command that sends a response back to the user who triggered the command. 

We'll also cover how to make your commands more dynamic by adding arguments.

By the end of the lesson, you'll understand how to receive and respond to input from users and be able to build more sophisticated bots that can interact with your users in meaningful ways.

Receive and Respond to Input From Users with Discord.js Slash Commands

Now that our files are set up, we can now write our first Discord.js slash command.

By create custom commands, we extend the functionality of our Discord bot and can make it much more fun and interesting. 

We'll start by creating a new file in the commands folder, importing the slash command builder, and defining the data and execute sections of the command. We'll then register the command and test it in the Discord application.

By the end of this lesson, you'll have a solid understanding of how to create custom slash commands in Discord.js. So get ready to dive in and start building!

Create Your First Discord.js Slash Command

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

In this lesson, you will be setting up the necessary files for your first Discord.js slash command. The goal of this lesson is to give you a solid foundation to build upon as you create your own custom commands for Discord.

We will be importing and using `fs` and `path` to read from the command and events directories, using `Collection` from Discord to store and retrieve your commands, and creating the `Client` using the `GatewayIntentBits. 

Also, we are going to deploy your commands and set up events to execute them properly once they're written.

Setup for Discord.js Slash Commands

Using the Discord.js library, we're going to send our first message command! 

Let's create a classic "hello world" message command and learn how to create a new client instance, enable the necessary gateway intents, listen for specific events, and respond to those events by accessing a "message object" and then sending a message back.

Create your first Discord.js Bot Message Command

Now that we've set up a bot on our Discord server, let's write some code to get it do some fun stuff.

We're going to set up a new project and use the `Discord.js` library. While setting up this project you'll learn how to properly configure the client and log in to your bot by passing a Discord API token to `client.login`.

Once the project is set up we'll send our first event using the `client.once` and event, and set up some scripts so that we can start the bot using yarn.

Throughout the lesson, you will be introduced to important concepts and best practices for building Discord bots. By the end of the lesson, you will have a basic understanding of how to create a simple bot and be ready to continue building

Send your first Discord.js Bot Event 

In this lesson, you'll learn how to create and configure a Discord bot.

You will see how to create the bot, select the options you will need, give it the correct amount of permissions, and add it to your server.

Here is the link to the Discord Developer Portal: [https://discord.com/developers/applications](https://discord.com/developers/applications)

Create and Configure a Bot using the Discord Developer Portal

You'll be learning about collectors, sending custom messages, creating channels and roles, all dynamically. All of the different topics I cover in this course will be a guide for you to use each of these concepts individually so I highly encourage you to take what you learn to build something new and tell me what you build! 

I'll cover how to setup your bot in the discord developer portal then we'll set it up locally. I'll go over how to create a simple chat bot then go into much more detail on how to create slash commands. There is a break on lesson 5 where I'll go over some files that I've copy over from the Discord.js guide. There will be a template you can clone if you don't want to copy the files over yourself but I'll be running through each of them individually so you can understand what's going on.

The Discord.js guide is a super helpful resource when you need more information on specific topics you're struggling with. Discord.js also has a massive Discord channel that's a great place to ask questions that you just can't figure out yourself. The last resource is the Discord status page to check for things like api outages and other issues on Discord's side. All three of these resources will be linked down in the description. 

With that said, thank you for taking my course and let's get to it. 

Resources: 
- Discord.js Guide
    - [https://discordjs.guide/](https://discordjs.guide/)
- Discord Channel
    - [https://discord.com/invite/djs](https://discord.com/invite/djs)
- Discord Status Page
    - [https://discordstatus.com/](https://discordstatus.com/)

Introduction to Build a Book Club Bot with Discord.js

Build a Book Club Bot with Discord.js

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a powerful expansive cloud infrastructure platform for building modern web applications.

AWS provides services for data, presentation, authentication, security, video encoding, and much more. Offering over 175 fully-featured services from data centers globally, AWS powers a large percentage of the internet.

Now that we are SSH'ed into our EC2 instance we can start modifying the server to actually run the application that we want to to run. Before we do that we want to switch users because you initially SSH you are the root user.

We will start by adding a `ghost-admin` user that we will give sudo permissions to. Once we are logged into that user we will update the server to ensure we are on the latest and greatest versions before installing additional software.


Add and Log In to an AWS EC2 Instance with a sudo User

Ghost has two hard dependencies which need to be installed before it can run. Those are Nginx and Node.js.

We will start by installing Nginx and set Nginx up to control the traffic coming into the EC2 server. After this, we'll install NVM using the raw install script that they provide on GitHub. With NVM installed we can then install the latest version of Node.js


Install Nginx and Node.js on a AWS EC2 Server

To run Ghost, we first need to install the ghost cli. This can be done with npm now that Node.js is installed on the server.

After installing the CLI we will create a directory `/var/www/ghost` that the actual installation of Ghost will occur in. We'll update the permissions of this file to include the `ghost-admin` user that we are logged in as.


Install Ghost CLI and Create Directory

JavaScript® (often shortened to JS) is a lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions, most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic, and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

javascript

In this video you'll learn how to deploy a React app to AWS using AWS Amplify Hosting's drag and drop folder functionality. The app will also automatically be globally distributed on AWS's global CDN.

Deploy a React App to AWS in 24 seconds

Starting from a prebuilt frontend, Jason Lengstorf guides you through the creation of a "Corgi Up-boop App" that uses Netlify Functions and Hasura. You can view [the deployed final product on Netlify](https://egghead-serverless-functions.netlify.app/).

You'll set up the Netlify CLI, and configure a local development environment before writing and deploying functions with a few different use cases.

The first example function bypasses CORS restrictions to retrieve corgi data from an example third-party API.

Next, you'll configure environmental variables to securely communicate with the Unsplash API without exposing private keys to the client.

Serverless functions don't persist data by themselves, so we will use  Hasura to create a GraphQL API for tracking the number of "boops" each corgi receives.

This course is an excellent illustration of the speed of Serverless functions, and how fast you can implement functionality in your web applications.

An all-in-one workflow that combines global deployment, continuous integration, and automatic HTTPS.

netlify

Build a Corgi Up-boop Web App with Netlify Serverless Functions and Hasura

Environment variables set in a `.env` file can be imported using the Netlify CLI with the following command: `netlify env:import`.

This allows you to manage environment variables directly on Netlify, providing the benefit of security and flexibility of sharing environment variables with your team. 

From inside Netlify, you can access the environment variables in:

`Site settings` > `Build & deploy` > `Environment` > `Environment variables`

Import and Set Environment Variables from a .env file using Netlify CLI

When we import assets in React components outside of the `public` folder that Nitro reads for assets by default when running the development server we need to tell Nitro how to find them with the `devProxy` configuration option.

```typescript
export default defineNitroConfig({
  renderer: './renderer.ts',
  devProxy: {
    '/app/assets': 'http://localhost:5173/app/assets'
  }
})
```

This is ultimately inadequate in scenarios where you want to import assets arbitrarily and have them "just work" but works in a pinch.



Use devProxy in Nitro Config to Serve Static Imported Assets in Dev Mode via Vite

Learn how to use devProxy in Nitro Config with Vite to serve static assets in React components in dev mode.

Start with a basic Vite React TypeScript app and enhance it for production use by integrating Nitro as the server. 

This requires a custom Vite plugin for nitro as well as a custom renderer and manually creating Nitro config.

The other way to approach this would be to add Vite to a Nitro app instead. Same basic result.

The [Nitro config reference](https://nitro.unjs.io/config) is a great read of you'd like to explore more options.


Configure a Vite React TypeScript Application on a Basic Nitro Server

Configure a Vite React TypeScript app by integrating Nitro for production, using custom plugins, renderers, and configs.

Quick Get Started style introduction to Vite using `pnpm create vite` with the React TypeScript template.

See [more in the official docs](https://vite.dev/guide/).

Create a Vite App with the React TypeScript Preset

Quick guide to start a Vite app using React TypeScript template with pnpm.

Over the years, your application have grown huge. Sometimes, really HUGE.

Many developers have contributed to the codebase. One day they pushed one coding style, a different one another day. Sometimes even different patterns and solutions for similar problems.

You want to keep your codebase consistent. In the Angular ecosystem, there were well established patterns for doing things the right way ™️. But the old solutions are being challenged by signal-based approach.

Eventually, you ask yourself the key question: **Should you integrate with the NEW solutions or stick to the battle-tested ones, but already considered LEGACY**?

That's a very good question indeed. Don't rush with architectural decisions 🤓.

## 👉 First, think of what problems you want to solve by introducing the change.

Do you have 1k LoC Angular components? Maybe even 2k? Do you and your team enjoy working with these? 😏

Where does the **domain logic and state management code** belong to - do you have a clear guidance on which code should be put where? Have you spot that different devs implement similar features in totally different ways?

Do you keep on asking the same questions over and over again: **whether this certain piece of code** should be **imperative** (plain old object properties and variables) or **reactive** (streams)? It'd be nice to keep all thinga reactive, but more often than not, it introduces complexity.

## 👉 Second, think of long-term consequences.

You are going to have more than one way to **manage the state**. But is that really an issue? If your codebase is modular, separate modules should not depend on each other in any way. Inner abstractions of one should be invisible to the other, etc.

You are going to introduce a **new tool**. On one hand, you need to learn it, and so does your team. But on the other hand, it's a breathe of fresh air. And it's useful to question the way you've been doing things so far. Maybe there's a more effective way?

You are going to embrace signal-based APIs. And that means taking taking advantage of Zoneless Angular. This means using all modern Angular APIs. And you know that signals are the future. Why would you want to stick to the **less performant, less type-safe, less flexible and, objectively, less effective solutions**?

## 👉 Finally, plan your INCREMENTAL integration.

INCREMENTAL is the absolute keyword here. You don't want to tell your PM you need to stop delivering features because of a refactor.

Actually, there's no need for a "refactor". Just pick the first new feature to be implemented. Or pick the one that needs to be extended.

NGRX Signal Store allows you to create both very simple & small stores, as well as bigger ones. **Composition** is the key here.

**Start simple**.

Create a `withState` section with the signals that hold the state. That's already reactive. And relatively simple.

```ts
const initialState: CartState = {
  items: ...,
  rebate: ...,
}

export const CartStore = signalStore(
  withState(initialState)
);
```

Create a `withMethods` section to provide ways to change the state:

```ts
export const CartStore = signalStore(
  ...
  withMethods((store) => ({
    addItem(item: ShoppingItem): void {
      patchState(store, (state) => ({ items: [ ...state.items, item ] }));
    },
    ...
);
```

Create a `withComputed` section to provide all derived computations:

```ts
export const CartStore = signalStore(
  ...
  withComputed(({ items }) => ({
    totalPrice: computed(() => items().reduce(...))
    ...
);
```

**Start simple**.

Now you can (literally) **`inject` this code into your existing solution**. All you need is to inject your brand new NGRX Signal Store implementation into a component, or a service:

```ts
@Injectable()
class ExistingBigService {
  cartStore = inject(CartStore)
  //...  
}
```

and that's it! What's beatiful is that NGRX Signal Store should remain an implementation details (of a component, service, etc). It **shouldn't leak outside to the entire application unintentionally**. Small NGRX Signal Stores help us to **keep logic more modular**.

Don't hesitate - give NGRX Signal Store a try! Start with the [_**Scalable Signals Angular Architecture with NGRX Signal Store**_](https://egghead.io/courses/scalable-signals-angular-architecture-with-ngrx-signal-store-a33abd39) course now!

Integrating NGRX Signal Store with an existing Angular application


Integrate NGRX Signal Store into your Angular app incrementally for modular, reactive state management. Improve consistency and performance with modern APIs.

In React 19, managing script tags efficiently within components can lead to performance enhancements and simpler code structures.

Originally, using script tags directly in a React component involved complex setups, like using `useEffect` to dynamically add JavaScript code. For instance, a component might dynamically inject script tags to load external widgets. This approach, while functional, resulted in multiple script tags and duplicate iframe elements. This duplication not only cluttered the output but also negatively impacted performance by loading scripts multiple times.

The workaround for this would be to manually hoist any common scripts and maybe load them when they weren't needed by any components.

With React 19 we now have a more effective method. This involves directly placing the script tag within the React component's return statement. This approach ensures that React handles the script loading, avoiding the duplication of script tags.

By implementing the script tags this way, the loading initiator becomes React DOM, which efficiently manages script loading and deduplication. This setup prevents multiple requests for the same script when the component is rendered multiple times, enhancing the overall application performance.

Furthermore, directly embedding the script tag simplifies the code, making the component cleaner and more maintainable.

Efficiently Render Script Tags in React 19 Components

Learn how to efficiently render script tags in React 19 components to improve performance by avoiding duplicate script loads and simplifying your code.

Let's learn how to dynamically manage title tags in React 19 applications. Rendering `<title>` dynamically is simple enough, however, a challenge arises when multiple title tags are present in the document, which can lead to issues with screen readers and search engine optimization (SEO). The solution presented involves ensuring that only one title tag is rendered at a time by using conditional rendering.

Also we need to make sure to have a single string within the title tag using a template literal, ensuring our HTML remains valid and optimized.


Deduplicate Title tags with React 19

Learn to manage multiple title tags in React 19 dynamically. Ensure accessibility and SEO by preventing duplicate title tags with clear examples.

In React 19, we can easily add a title tag like "Starship Deets" which then appears in the head section of the HTML even when we render it inside our components. This method also applies to meta tags such as character set and viewport settings, which are also lifted to the head section automatically.

This is an awesome feature because it maintains the same composition style we are familiar with in React components. It simplifies the handling of HTML head elements without needing extra setups like `useEffect` for accessing the head section. Even in situations where our components are rendering within a body element, like within a div, we can manage our head content directly within our components. React takes care of hoisting these elements where they need to go.


Hoist Title and Meta tags in React 19

Hoisting title and meta tags directly in React 19 components allows for simpler composition, similar to other React elements. Manage meta and title tags.

<PodcastLinks />

Dax Raad, known for his strong opinions on Twitter, sat down for a chat about web dev, career moves, and building cool stuff. He's not afraid to throw some heat at popular tools like [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/), though he still helps people use it. Dax is particularly excited about local-first development, which he thinks isn't getting enough attention. He argues that sometimes the best web dev move is to step away from web dev entirely and explore other areas of programming.

When it comes to career growth, Dax encourages developers to think beyond the "web dev" label and see themselves as programmers capable of tackling any challenge. He advocates for trying out weird stuff and learning unusual languages, as these experiences can lead to unexpected opportunities. Taking smart risks in your career can open doors to awesome possibilities.

In the business world, Dax is a fan of making "asymmetric bets" - moves with low downside but huge potential upside. He applies this philosophy to his work on [SST](https://sst.dev/), reasoning that even if it fails, he'll walk away with valuable experience. He also emphasizes the importance of resisting quick payouts in favor of potentially bigger wins down the road.

Looking to the future of tech, Dax is betting on local-first development. He sees potential in getting in early on emerging technologies like [Solid.js](https://www.solidjs.com/). Building in public and making connections in new tech communities can pay off in unexpected ways.

Dax also challenges the notion of constant hyper-productivity in tech. He suggests balancing focused work with time for exploration and learning. Sometimes, he points out, what seems like a "dumb" choice (like learning a niche language) can turn out to be a smart career move in the long run.

## Good Stuff Mentioned

- [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/)
- [Vercel](https://vercel.com/)
- [SST](https://sst.dev/)
- [Elixir](https://elixir-lang.org/)
- [Solid.js](https://www.solidjs.com/)
- [RepliCache](https://replicache.dev/)
- [Linear](https://linear.app/)
- [Remix](https://remix.run/)
- [Shopify](https://www.shopify.com/)
- [React](https://react.dev/)

Developer Career Growth and Asymmetric Bets with Dax Raad

<PodcastLinks />

Dev and Joel discuss React Miami conference, praising its fun atmosphere and location. They chat about React Server Components, with Dev sharing his experience building a mini framework. They talk about Vinxi, Nitro, and the unjs ecosystem as tools for creating custom frameworks. The conversation touches on Vue's popularity outside web dev circles and non-web dev conferences. They discuss the benefits of TypeScript and strongly-typed APIs. Dev mentions his upcoming talk on durable objects at [a conference in Dallas](https://x.com/DThompsonDev/status/1829674506237194456). They end by discussing WebSockets, PartyKit, and platform-specific frameworks.

## What's Good?

- [React Miami Conference](https://www.reactmiami.com/) 
- [Brenley Dueck's blog post on Simple RSC with Vinxi:](https://www.brenelz.com/posts/simple-rsc-with-vinxi/)
- [Vinxi](https://github.com/nksaraf/vinxi)
- [Nitro](https://nitro.unjs.io/guide/configuration)
- [unjs ecosystem](https://unjs.io/)
- [Solid Start](https://start.solidjs.com/)
- [TanStack Router](https://tanstack.com/router/latest) 
- [PartyKit](https://github.com/partykit/partykit) 
- [Durable Objects (Cloudflare)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/durable-objects/)
- [Flightcontrol](https://www.flightcontrol.dev/) 
- [SST](https://sst.dev/)
- [OpenNext](https://open-next.js.org/)

Nitro, Vinxi, and RSCs - What's Good with Dev Agrawal

**Note:** This course is being actively developed and more lessons will be added in the future.

Cursor is an AI-enhnaced code editor that allows you to call upon the robots to refactor or stub out functions for you with natural language. 

In this course, John will show you workflows that will save you time and effort by utilizing the features such as its mult-line editing and context.

In particular, by giving Cursor's AI the proper context, whether that's lines of code or multiple files, you'll get better output when trying to extend or refactor logic that's present.


Bite-size video tutorials for badass web developers.

Search

Search Results