Frontend & JS Digest — Week 29

TypeScript 7.0 makes the Go-native compiler the default, with full builds typically 8-12x faster, lower aggregate memory use, parallel checking and project builds, a rebuilt watch mode, and LSP-based editor support. The migration caveat is that 7.0 has no programmatic API yet, so tools that need one can run against the companion TypeScript 6 package until the new API arrives in 7.1.

Safari Technology Preview 247 adds a local MCP server that lets coding agents inspect Safari's DOM, console, network requests, screenshots, computed page state, performance timing, and accessibility issues. This closes an important testing gap: an agent can now investigate the browser that actually has the compatibility bug instead of guessing from Chromium.

Software Mansion builds the same SpaceX app with Kotlin/Compose Multiplatform and React Native/Expo, then compares size, cold start, RAM, and CPU across six devices. KMP dominates Android size, startup, and memory, while iOS is much closer and React Native uses 3-4x less RAM there—good measured evidence that neither framework wins independently of platform.

Medal's frontend team describes escaping the loop where legacy components block dependency upgrades while feature work creates more legacy code. Replacement components, documentation, and custom ESLint rules made cleanup continuous; that unlocked pnpm, Vite and Rolldown, Vitest, a React Router 5-to-7 path, and a renderer bundle trimmed to 2.7 MB.

AI QR-code generator that turns a URL, logo, and short style prompt into branded codes, then runs every variant through a real decoder before export. It uses level-H error correction and produces high-resolution PNG, SVG, and PDF files—much more useful than an artistic QR code that looks great but cannot survive a phone camera.

A from-scratch JavaScript runtime with its own Ant Silver engine, npm-package support, direct TypeScript execution, a VM-isolated sandbox, and an approximately 8.6 MB binary. Its Hono cold-start benchmark reports 5.4 ms versus Bun's 12.8 ms, Deno's 24.8 ms, and Node's 31.1 ms; ambitious claims for a very young runtime, but definitely one to watch.

Sindre Sorhus's Node package displays PNGs, JPEGs, and animated GIFs directly in the terminal. Version 5 automatically uses full-resolution Kitty or iTerm2 graphics protocols when available, then falls back to 24-bit ANSI half-block rendering everywhere else—a tidy abstraction for CLI tools that need more than ASCII previews.

Zero-dependency shader collection for React with ready-made image filters, logo animations, gradients, noise, dithering, metaballs, glass, halftone, god rays, and plenty more. The gallery is the documentation: browse the live effects, pick one, and install `@paper-design/shaders-react` instead of rebuilding the same fragment shader yet again.

Live WebGL globe for tracking 30,000+ satellites, with dedicated views for Starlink shells, GPS and other constellations, ground stations, re-entries, close approaches, transits, historical data, and amateur radio. It has been online since 2019 and feels less like a demo than a full satellite operations dashboard that happens to run in the browser.

JavaScript port of the open-source gta2-resurection project, running GTA 2 in the browser with data from Rockstar's official freeware release. Cars, weapons, wanted levels, missions, multiplayer, keyboard controls, and optional mods are all here—an impressively complete piece of browser-game archaeology.

Interactive pattern laboratory that collides a line grid with symmetric tiling, then lets you tune fold symmetry, rotation, pan, disorder, radius, zoom, palette, intersections, edges, and contrast. The URL preserves the parameters, so the link itself is a saved generative artwork rather than just the tool's home page.