https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/ Recent content in Posts on jameskerr.blog Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Sun, 22 Feb 2026 21:24:25 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2026/i-will-not-become-my-heros/ Sun, 22 Feb 2026 21:24:25 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2026/i-will-not-become-my-heros/ A version of how I thought my life would look died today. Now my life will look different. I am afraid. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2026/i-lost-my-airpods/ Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:01:50 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2026/i-lost-my-airpods/ Quiet the noise. Uncomfortable, yet alluring. You get used to it. We get used to anything. So choose carefully what to get used to. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/mostly-functions/ Tue, 02 Dec 2025 10:08:36 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/mostly-functions/ I love object-oriented programming. I love naming concepts and materializing them with a class. I love dot notation. I love hiding implementation behind a seemingly simple accessor. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/refs-rails/ Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:42:40 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/refs-rails/ The standard way to dynamically update HTML content in Ruby on Rails relies heavily on DOM IDs. These IDs are used to identify the target HTML element for an update. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/exposed/ Thu, 24 Jul 2025 20:19:32 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/2025/exposed/ Yesterday, I got my first conference talk proposal rejection. It was going to be about folder structures, so I’m guessing there wasn’t enough AI to make the final cut. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/superdb-website-build-review/ Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:27 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/superdb-website-build-review/ My work designing and developing the superdb.org website is finished. The first commit was on October 4th, 2024 and the final commit was on February 5th, 2025. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/use-state-object/ Thu, 15 Aug 2024 16:34:22 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/use-state-object/ I am loving this API for working with React state. It’s a very light wrapper around useState. I call it useStateObject. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/3-types-of-css-utility-classes/ Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:33:58 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/3-types-of-css-utility-classes/ A 9.0 earthquake shook my front-end world when I discovered “layout primitives” at every-layout.dev. Then an aftershock rolled through when I learned about fluid sizing and spacing tokens from utopia. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/ship-that-code-publish-that-post/ Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:38:31 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/ship-that-code-publish-that-post/ Two articles I read this week have inspired the heck out of me. The first was by Jared Turner of thoughtbot with the punchy title “WIP is waste”. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/debug-node-with-breakpoints-vscode/ Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:29:18 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/debug-node-with-breakpoints-vscode/ I made a quick screen recording using the VSCode debugger to break on a line of code in my NodeJS electron process. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/budget-apps-missing-spending-commitment/ Sun, 02 Jun 2024 08:34:44 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/budget-apps-missing-spending-commitment/ The one thing missing in every budgeting application is the “Spending Commitment”. Definition: “A thing I am already committed to paying for” https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/fix-for-kamal-deploy-assets-not-updating/ Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:31:32 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/fix-for-kamal-deploy-assets-not-updating/ Does this sound like you? You are using Sprockets to pre-compile assets for production. You are using Kamal to deploy. You have asset bridging enabled in your deploy. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/how-to-set-output-in-github-actions/ Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:15:10 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/how-to-set-output-in-github-actions/ This is the syntax for setting an output parameter in a Github Actions step. echo "{name}={value}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" Here’s an example of using this syntax in a workflow step. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/responsive-sizing-for-react-arborist-tree-component/ Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:00:47 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/responsive-sizing-for-react-arborist-tree-component/ Many people ask me about how to dynamically set the width and height of the Tree component based on its parent using react-arborist. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/cache-the-result-of-a-javascript-getter-method/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 12:49:54 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/cache-the-result-of-a-javascript-getter-method/ My first programming language was Ruby. Well, it was actually Microsoft Excel, then VBA, then C# for a university class, then Ruby. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/the-friend-is-you/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:46:19 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/the-friend-is-you/ Imagine hanging out with someone all day who berates you. They make final judgements about your character. They criticize anything you do imperfectly. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/javascript-sort-comparators/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 11:39:07 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/javascript-sort-comparators/ After 13 years of JavaScript, I finally have a way to remember how the comparator function in Array.sort() works. I think the trouble is that all the examples use this shorthand syntax. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/offline-monaco-editor-in-electron/ Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:58:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/offline-monaco-editor-in-electron/ The Monaco Editor is awesome. It’s what powers VSCode. I wanted to use it to power the query editor pane in Zui, the data exploration app I work on. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/all-transitions-settled/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 20:26:00 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/all-transitions-settled/ I just published a JavaScript library called transitions-all-settled that allows you to wait for CSS transitions to settle before you do something. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/there-are-only-two-types-of-transactions/ Wed, 08 Nov 2023 09:40:46 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/there-are-only-two-types-of-transactions/ There are only two types of transactions. The ones you are present for. The ones you are not. This just dawned on me. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/against-single-element-react-components/ Mon, 06 Nov 2023 15:51:23 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/against-single-element-react-components/ It's not uncommon to see this type of single element React component. function Title({ children, ...rest }) { return <h1 {. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/how-to-optimize-your-hugo-blogging-workflow-on-mac/ Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:22:36 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/how-to-optimize-your-hugo-blogging-workflow-on-mac/ I love this quote by John Cutler from his post on disincentives. “Good things can happen when you make it easier to do good things. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/a-better-goal-than-sinless-perfection/ Sun, 22 Oct 2023 13:46:13 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/a-better-goal-than-sinless-perfection/ Any two people in a close relationship are bound to eventually hurt each other. To most of us, it is no surprise when this happens. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/i-have-enough/ Tue, 17 Oct 2023 09:28:23 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/i-have-enough/ I have enough food in my kitchen. I have enough water to drink. I have enough clothes to wear. I have enough things in my house. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/company-culture-church-community/ Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:06:12 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/company-culture-church-community/ This is a great podcast episode about company culture. The gist is, it doesn’t matter what people say or write about what the culture is. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/let-it-flow/ Mon, 02 Oct 2023 12:02:50 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/let-it-flow/ I was just in the gym and as I lifted a weight I thought of the energy flowing out of me to lift it. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/pipe-nodejs-readable-stream-into-child-process/ Fri, 22 Sep 2023 10:00:27 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/pipe-nodejs-readable-stream-into-child-process/ I love pipes. Anytime I can pipe something somewhere, it seems that order has claimed a victory over chaos. In fact, there is pipe-related photo of me at the end of this article for your viewing pleasure. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/waiting-for-a-comet/ Wed, 20 Sep 2023 09:53:06 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/waiting-for-a-comet/ Comets are constantly falling. We don’t know when. But if we’re open, our eyes are open, The comment will appear. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/a-battle-of-wit/ Sat, 16 Sep 2023 17:44:44 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/a-battle-of-wit/ Swords drawn, Draw blood, Blood in the water Recover, Respond, Respect Cross the line, Cut too deep, Feel the heat https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/partially-controlled-react-components/ Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:00:00 -0800 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/partially-controlled-react-components/ A common distinction in React is Controlled vs Uncontrolled components. But the real world is not so black and white… https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/others-may-know-more/ Mon, 10 Jul 2023 04:13:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/others-may-know-more/ A child knows nothing about itself. Its body is a mystery, its ideas, its dreams, its feelings. The child relies on caregivers to teach her everything. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/its-good-to-wonder-about-mysteries/ Thu, 29 Jun 2023 10:15:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/its-good-to-wonder-about-mysteries/ I was talking with a group of friends trying to come up with possible answers to unanswerable questions like: What happens when we die? https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/use-data-transition/ Tue, 27 Jun 2023 11:55:19 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/use-data-transition/ I’m working on a React app that has frequent data transitions. Each time a user submits a query, the state is reset as we wait for a response from the server. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/playground-confrontation/ Wed, 21 Jun 2023 12:00:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/playground-confrontation/ While at a playground this weekend a man talked to my 3-year-old son in a way that upset me and I had to do something about it. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/compressing-experience/ Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/compressing-experience/ Experiences compress into memories. Memories compress into feelings. Feelings compress into instincts. Instincts compress into the unconscious. The unconscious compresses into the collective human unconscious. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/joshua-tree-trip/ Wed, 31 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/joshua-tree-trip/ We took a trip down to Joshua Tree this weekend for a cousin’s wedding. For the first time, I could appreciate the gifts of a desert climate. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/jet-fuel/ Fri, 05 May 2023 16:10:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/jet-fuel/ We build an engine for it. It propels us to new heights. It explodes. It destroys everything around it. It takes us to heavenly places. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/tricks-for-taking-great-photos/ Thu, 04 May 2023 12:39:05 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/tricks-for-taking-great-photos/ I’ve owned a full frame camera for over 5 years. I’ve acquired 3 lenses and snapped many thousands of photos. And yet, last week I discovered these five tricks and was shocked by my ignorance of them. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/its-a-gift-for-me-to-be-angry/ Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:43:39 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/its-a-gift-for-me-to-be-angry/ When I’m angry I stop needing everyone to like me. I don’t care if they approve of what I do. My face doesn’t hurt from smiling all the time. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/13-decisions-to-make-before-publishing-to-npm/ Thu, 30 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/13-decisions-to-make-before-publishing-to-npm/ This post is half rant, half guide. Each of these 13 questions reveals tradeoffs that take time and mental energy to research. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/netflix-does-not-have-my-best-interest/ Thu, 23 Mar 2023 18:59:18 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/netflix-does-not-have-my-best-interest/ I watch Netflix because I’m too tired to do anything else. The kids are finally sleeping and I’m spent. It’s meant to be a quick escape from life before I do what I really need to do which is sleep. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/embedded-divinity/ Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:52:26 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/embedded-divinity/ What if we didn’t think of God as infinite. What if God poured itself into this particular universe. What if He’s completely bound to this one cosmos. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/adults-dont-share/ Fri, 23 Dec 2022 09:00:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/adults-dont-share/ All the time at the playground I hear, “good sharing!” and “no no Jackson, you need to share”. We parents think it is some critical skill that children need to learn. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/typescript-classes-verbose/ Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:37:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/typescript-classes-verbose/ Whenever a class needs a few arguments in TypeScript, I cringe because I know I’m going to need to perform a ceremony to make it happy. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/sharing-steps-in-github-action-workflows/ Mon, 13 Jun 2022 13:00:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/sharing-steps-in-github-action-workflows/ I’ve got an electron app that needs to be built on all three platforms. I’ve got three workflow files all with slightly differing steps. https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/react-useref-and-forward-ref/ Tue, 03 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.jameskerr.blog/posts/react-useref-and-forward-ref/ What do I do when my component uses a ref internally but also needs to forward a ref from its parent?