⏰ The Temporal API finally shipped — and other news you missed

Cloudflare buying Astro caught me off guard. Hosting companies acquiring frameworks is a pattern now, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

Meanwhile, jQuery 4.0 shipped (I had to check that wasn't satire) and Chrome finally shipped the Temporal API after what feels like a decade. Here's what else is worth your time:

Astro is Joining Cloudflare (6 min)
The Astro Technology Company team is now part of Cloudflare. The framework will remain open source, but this acquisition signals Cloudflare's serious ambitions in the framework space. Worth reading alongside Astro's announcement for the full picture.

jQuery 4.0 Released (5 min)
After years of development, jQuery 4.0 is here. Dropped IE support, removed deprecated APIs, and modernized the codebase. If you're maintaining legacy projects or just curious what jQuery looks like in 2026, this is a significant milestone.

Temporal API Ships in Chrome 144 (5 min)
The Temporal API is finally here — a modern replacement for JavaScript's notoriously painful Date object. This is genuinely useful: immutable date/time objects, proper timezone handling, and an API that makes sense. Start learning it now.

A Social Filesystem (5 min)
Dan Abramov's latest thinking on formats over apps. A short but thought-provoking piece about how we might organize digital content differently. High signal-to-noise ratio.

The Recurring Dream of Replacing Developers (6 min)
Every generation of technology brings predictions that developers will become obsolete. This piece puts the current AI moment in historical context. Whether you're worried about your job or rolling your eyes at the hype, this adds useful perspective.

The Code-Only Agent (6 min)
An exploration of AI agents that work purely through code generation rather than tool use. Interesting technical approach that challenges assumptions about how agents should be built.

React Is Not Slow — Your Architecture Is (34 min)
A deep dive into React performance problems and their actual causes. If you've been blaming React for slow renders, this might change how you structure your components.

Making (Very) Small LLMs Smarter (19 min)
Docker's principal architect on getting better results from smaller models. Practical techniques for anyone running local LLMs who doesn't have unlimited GPU memory.

Building an Agentic Memory System for GitHub Copilot (8 min)
How GitHub is adding cross-agent memory to Copilot, letting agents learn and improve across your workflow. A look inside the engineering of AI-assisted development tools.

Airbnb Staff Eng on How to Not Get Stuck at Senior (30 min)
Real talk about transitioning past senior level. Covers calibrations, the unwritten rules of promotions, and experiences across Stripe, Airbnb, and Meta. One of the better career progression pieces I've seen.

AI Is Not Ready to Replace Junior Devs Says Ruby on Rails Creator (5 min)
DHH pushes back on the "AI will replace all developers" narrative. His argument: AI still lacks the judgment and context that even junior developers bring. Worth reading regardless of where you stand.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Software Engineer Productivity (5 min)
Common productivity traps that kill engineering output. Useful for self-assessment and for understanding why some teams move faster than others.

The "Senior Developer" Is Now the New "Entry Level" (3 min)
A dev's observation about how job requirements have inflated. Entry-level roles now ask for senior-level experience. This resonated with a lot of developers based on the discussion it sparked.

GLM-4.7-Flash
A new Chinese AI model hitting the scene. Part of the ongoing global competition in LLM development. Worth watching if you follow the AI model landscape.

Lume 0.2 — Build and Run macOS VMs with Unattended Setup
Create and run macOS virtual machines without manual intervention. Useful for CI/CD pipelines, testing across macOS versions, or automating Mac development environments.

Nanolang — A Language Designed for Coding LLMs
An experimental programming language specifically designed to be targeted by AI code generators. Interesting research direction for how we might optimize the human-AI coding interface.

Reticulum — Secure Anonymous Mesh Networking
A cryptographically secure networking stack that works over almost any medium. If you're interested in resilient, decentralized communication infrastructure, this is worth exploring.

Localspace v1.0 — A Modern localForage Alternative
6x faster batch operations than localForage, full TypeScript support, and a cleaner API. If you're doing serious client-side storage, worth evaluating.

NPort — Free Open Source ngrok Alternative
Expose local servers to the internet with custom subdomains, no paid tier required. If ngrok's pricing has been bothering you, here's an alternative.

Cloudflare Takes on Next.js (10 min)
Theo breaks down the Astro acquisition and what it means for the framework ecosystem. Is Cloudflare building a vertically integrated development platform?

Stack Overflow and Firefox Are Dead? (10 min)
Scott and Wes discuss whether Stack Overflow is actually dying and what it means for developers in an AI-driven world. Good discussion on how developer resources are shifting.

We Need to Talk About Ralph (10 min)
What if you put Claude Code in a while loop? Theo explores autonomous coding agents and the emerging patterns around long-running AI development sessions.

I Don't Think I Need an IDE Anymore (10 min)
Web Dev Cody explores whether AI tools have made traditional IDEs less necessary. Provocative take on how development workflows are changing.

You Should Be Using Dev Containers (10 min)
CJ from Syntax makes the case for dev containers and shows how to get started. If you've been curious about containerized development environments, this is a good intro.

That's it for this week. Reply if you have something I should include next time.

Until next week,
Niall