Stepping Back from Open Source (Mostly)
Leaving most of my open source projects in security mode and/or with other maintainers.
Goldblog
A blog about open source, static analysis, and web dev.
Latest posts
2025 In Review
Looking back at the accomplishments and goals from my fourth and final year as a full-time independent open source maintainer.
2025 Finances In Review
Breaking down the income streams and totals from my fourth and final year as a full-time independent open source maintainer.
If I Wrote a Linter, Part 4: Summary
Summarizing the last three posts of ideas for a new linter, along with next steps for its Flint prototype.
If I Wrote a Linter, Part 3: Ecosystem
This is how I would steer a new ecosystem around a modern linter from scratch: emphasizing shared terminology, a plugin registry, and one-way compatibility layers.
If I Wrote a Linter, Part 2: Developer Experience
This is how I would tailor the developer experience for a modern linter from scratch: focusing on end-to-end type safety, self-apparent configs, and native workspaces.
If I Wrote a Linter, Part 1: Architecture
This is how I would architect a modern linter from scratch: focusing on built-in TypeScript support, a straightforward rule development experience, and deduplicating tooling.
Hybrid Linters: The Best of Both Worlds
Native speed for parsing and type checking is wonderful. I also want the huge benefits of writing lint rules in an ecosystem's primary language. Here's how I think we can have both.
So You've Got A Gap In Code Coverage
This is my standard explainer for pull request reviews where changed lines aren't covered by unit tests.
My Plans for 2025
How I'm going to make my 2025 impactful.
2024 In Review
Looking back at the accomplishments and goals from my third year as a full-time independent open source maintainer.
2024 Finances In Review
Breaking down the income streams and totals from my third year as a full-time independent open source maintainer.
Split Out Unrelated Changes
This is a general explainer for pull request reviews where I think unrelated changes should be split into a separate PR.
Try...Catch As Little As Possible
This is a general explainer for pull request reviews where a try...catch statement is used more than I think it needs to be.
Why I'm Migrating from X to Bluesky
Twitter has been a core part of my web development career for over a decade. But Twitter's been replaced by the vastly inferior X. Here's why I'm finally ready to commit to Bluesky.
How I Attend a Conference
From attending a few dozen conferences and co-organizing one of my own, this is how I make the most of in-person event.
Why Typed Linting Needs TypeScript Today
Typed linting is powerful but requires a full type checker to function well. Today, that means TypeScript. This is why we haven't found a suitable replacement yet.
Definitely Formatted
How we migrated the massive DefinitelyTyped repository from using a linter for formatting to the dprint formatter.
The Cost of a Lint Rule
Explaining why deep work can be so difficult in open source.
Please Stop Sending Me Nested Dependency Security Reports
Security is important. Overusing report mechanisms for non-actionable noise is counterproductive.
My Plans for 2024
How I'm going to make my 2024 beautiful.
2023 In Review
Looking back at my second year as a full-time independent open source maintainer.
2023 Conferences In Review
Recapping the fantastic in-person conferences I attended in 2023.
You Probably Don't Need `eslint-config-prettier` or `eslint-plugin-prettier`
Explaining two popular Prettier integrations for ESLint, and why I avoid both of them.
Rust-Based JavaScript Linters: Fast, But No Typed Linting Right Now
Explaining why the speed gains from Rust linters aren't comparable to the full feature set of typescript-eslint.
TypeScript Contribution Diary: Filtering Out Types From JavaScript-Only Import Suggestions
Removing type-land entries from import completions that can't be used in value-only-land.
Contributing to a create-typescript-app Repository: FAQs
FAQs for contributing to my create-typescript-app project or any repository scaffolded using it.
Contributing to a create-typescript-app Repository
A thorough guide through contributing to create-typescript-app or any repository scaffolded using it.
Speeding Up Centered Part 5: Emoji Processing
Finding and eliminating thousands of calls to recreate a giant regular expression in a popular open source emoji plugin.
Speeding Up Centered Part 4: Unused Code Bloat
Using Knip to automatically detect unused files and dependencies in the Centered repository.
Speeding Up Centered Part 3: Barrel Exports
Automating changes to module imports to overcome the build system not correctly tree shaking barrel exports.
Speeding Up Centered Part 2: Hidden Embedded Images
Finding and removing giant unused assets hidden in marketing page to speed up that page's performance.
Speeding Up Centered Part 1: 81 <iframe> Embeds
Improving a page's performance by over-eager loading most of its embedded content.
The Blurry Line Between Formatting and Style
Why separating responsibilities between your formatter and linter isn't always clear-cut.
Configuring ESLint, Prettier, and TypeScript Together
How I recommend getting your formatter, linter, and type checker to play together nicely.
Configuring ESLint, Prettier, and TypeScript Together: FAQs
How I recommend getting your formatter, linter, and type checker to play together nicely.
Seven Reasons Why Conversational AI is Dangerous
While AI systems such as OpenAI and ChatGPT can be helpful in certain situations, there are also significant risks associated with their use.
TypeScript Contribution Diary: Tuple Types Indexed by a Type Parameter
Fixing a slight bug in how TypeScript resolves type elements of tuple types indexed by type parameters.
My Plans for 2023
How I'm going to make 2023 awesome.
Configuring Markdownlint Alongside Prettier
Using the common markdown linter and disabling any rules that would intersect with dedicated formatters such as Prettier.
2022 In Review
Looking back at a pivotal year in my open source career.
How I Apply to Conferences: FAQs
Common questions and answers for my How I Apply To Conferences article.
How I Apply to Conferences
From a hundred conference applications and thirty speaking roles, this is my process for submitting talks.
No Unattainable Intelligence
In trying to make ourselves relatable, we reinforce the negative perception of intelligence gaps.
Six Months of Full Time Open Source
What it's like to quit your job and try to work on open source tooling full time.
Type Parameters in the "Add Missing Function" Codefix
Corrects the missing function codefix to add type parameters when the function needs to be generic.
Standards Compliant Rickrolling
How to create an effective rickroll site with the Vimeo Player SDK despite modern web browser autoplay restrictions.
Why Open Source Pull Requests Can Take A While
Maintenance and development costs run both ways. Open source contributors and maintainers alike have to balance their finite energy and time resources within many constraints.
TypeScript Contribution Diary: Allowing Code in Constructors Before `super()` (Technical Overview)
More technical descriptions around allowing derived classes with properties to include code before `super()` call that doesn't touch `this`.
TypeScript Contribution Diary: Allowing Code in Constructors Before `super()`
Allowing derived classes with properties to include code before `super()` call that doesn't touch `this`. A grand pull request three years in the making -- with cake!