We asked upcoming Frontend Nation speaker, Simon Le Marchant a few questions. In this blog, we explore Simon's unique perspective on frontend development, covering topics like CSS preferences, project scalability, and emerging trends. But beyond the technical details lies Simon's true passion – a drive to merge technologies and explore the boundaries of possibility. Join us as we glimpse into the future of web development through Simon's eyes, where creativity always triumphs.

Watch the full interview here

Here's what we covered in our chat.

Ana Marija Majkić (AMM): Tell us a bit about your background.

Simon Le Marchant (SLM): So before I was in creative frontend development, I started my career actually in video production - wedding videos and then motion graphics for corporate design. Same time I was tinkering on the side, always building little applications, hoping I'd create something that would make me a millionaire (which never happened!).

But what really caught my attention was working in ActionScript, having that Flash canvas, and writing code to move elements around. I enjoyed coding in general, but that creative side in the browser resonated with me.

AMM: Vanilla CSS or CSS frameworks?

SLM: Oh man, choosing between vanilla CSS and frameworks is tough! I grew up writing plain CSS before compilers existed. So the basics like centering a div come very naturally (don't want to brag, but I can probably center one in 45 mins or less!).

I lean towards BEM-styled CSS and have been into Sass, though you don't really need a preprocessor now with native nesting and other modern CSS features. Not against frameworks like Tailwind or Bootstrap - they have their utilities. But my personal choice will be vanilla BEM CSS.

AMM: How would you recommend structuring a project for scalability?

SLM: In the early prototyping phase, I get so excited that I want to build the most complicated thing! But I've learned the simplest approach is best. Plan for the 80% case - make something simple that works. Then handle edge cases one by one as needed. If you build for every edge case upfront, you'll accrue tons of technical debt. Keep it simple, and you'll have a scalable project over time.

AMM: What are some exciting frontend trends you've seen?

SLM: So many new trends, and they keep popping up at a dizzying rate! By the time you read this, there are probably 10 new frameworks we need to learn.

WebGPU is really exciting - that hardware access step up from WebGL. But what has my attention recently is web containers in the browser, like what StackBlitz is doing. I've seen WordPress with MySQL, even Postgres running in the browser! Are we going to have backends become client-side? Crazy times ahead.

AMM: What's your largest passion as a developer?

SLM: My passion stems from the intersection of technologies - that hacker mindset of combining different open-source tools, and code, and seeing what cool things I can build. I'll discover a new tool and immediately think "How can I use this with X? How can I mash it up with WordPress or CloudFlare Workers?". Looking at intersections and pushing possibilities is where the fun lies for me, apart from just making pretty UIs.

AMM: How do you envision the future of web development?

SLM: I think the future is really bright! Lots of people say with AI coding assistants like ChatGPT and Copilot, devs will be obsolete in 5-10 years. But 20 years ago we had to start transpiling, using the terminal...I hated it and thought "This is the end!". But I learned it and it was fine. The same will be true for AI - it will seem daunting initially, but we're creative folks and will adapt. The landscape will look radically different in 10, 20, 30 years for sure. But we'll still be the ones running the show.

Catch Simon's Crazy Creative Coding Session at Frontend Nation 2024!

Join Simon Le Marchant as he delves into the world of frontend development with refreshing candor and creativity. From his background in creative coding to his daring visions of the future, Simon promises an unforgettable session. Titled "Crafting Completely Crazy and Collectively Constructive Creative Coding Concoctions," this session invites participants on a wild journey into browser-based creative engineering Check out his talk promo here - it'll give you a REALLY good idea of what Simon's all about!

Together, we'll piece together an insane real-time web experience using random code bits, pushing every button, and pulling every lever to see what happens. While groundbreaking results aren't guaranteed, one thing's for sure – it'll be a wild ride! Secure your free spot today and join a global community of passionate frontend devs.

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