Scale, Crop, and Zoom Images in a React Web Application

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you might remember a few tutorials I wrote around the Cropper.js library for JavaScript applications. In these tutorials I demonstrated how to manipulate images in Angular as well as Vue.js web applications. While the tutorials were more or less the same, the framework was different, which resulted in some differences in the code used.

So what if we were building a React application and needed to manipulate images prior to uploading them to a server?

In this tutorial we’re going to see how to use Cropper.js to crop images within a React web application. While we won’t be uploading these images to a remote server for storage, such as a task can be easily accomplished with a bit of imagination.

Make HTTP Requests with Axios or Fetch in a React Web Application

In most client facing applications there’s a need to consume data from remote web services, also referred to as APIs. This is because there is a separation of backend and frontend logic in modern applications, not specific to the web. With JavaScript, there are quite a few options when it comes to making HTTP requests, some of which I explored in my previous tutorial titled, Execute HTTP Requests in JavaScript Applications.

What if we wanted to execute HTTP requests using a popular framework like React?

In this tutorial, we’re going to look at what it takes to make HTTP requests and consume data from remote web services using React and simple JavaScript.

Test Password Strength with RegEx in a React Application

While some organizations think it is up to the user to protect themselves by choosing strong usernames and passwords, the developer can help influence good password choices by including it in the design of the application. For example, the developer could include bars, percentages, or colors to help dictate quality of a password as the user enters it into a form.

A lot of us know a weak password is short and contains either alpha or numeric, but never both. We also know strong passwords include symbols as well as variations of character case-sensitivity. So how can we check for these things in the application?

In this tutorial we’re going to make use of regular expressions to test the quality of a password. This is going to be done with simple JavaScript in a React application.

Generate Images from HTML with Gulp and Puppeteer

Have you ever needed to generate an image from your HTML? Whether it be for design purposes or for marketing purposes with social media, knowing how to get a screenshot of your HTML design without manually taking the screenshot can be a great thing.

A use-case I was interested in was around feature graphics for each of my blog posts. Sure I could open a graphic design tool like Affinity Photo, or use the same feature graphic for every tutorial, but what if I wanted to automatically generate them based on certain criteria?

In this tutorial we’re going to see how to use Puppeteer to take screenshots of our HTML through a headless Gulp task.

Maps and Location Services with HERE by Example, Released

I’m pleased to announce that a new course has been published, this time on the subject of maps and various location services. This course titled, Maps and Location Services with HERE by Example, focuses on building web applications using JavaScript and products by HERE Technologies.

In this course you’ll see many step by step examples on how to work with interactive maps, geocode and reverse geocode locations, calculate different types of routes, and more.

TPDP E32: Getting Familiar with TypeScript for Development

I’m happy to announce that E32 of The Polyglot Developer Podcast is now available for download!

This episode features Corbin Crutchley, a friend, regular guest, and owner of the blog, Unicorn Utterances. You might remember Corbin from the episode, Asynchronous JavaScript Development, where we focused on promises, callbacks, and a lot of other asynchronous topics in JavaScript. This time around we’re focusing on TypeScript, which is a super-set to JavaScript, and is becoming an increasingly popular development technology.

Execute HTTP Requests in JavaScript Applications

When it comes to modern application development, whether that be web, mobile, or other, there is almost always a need interact with remote web services, generally through HTTP. When working with frameworks such as Angular, Vue, and React, there is baked in functionality for making requests, but what about if you’re using vanilla JavaScript or you’d prefer not to use those built in functionalities?

In this tutorial we’re going to explore a few options towards making HTTP requests in JavaScript. Particularly we’re going to focus on the classic XHR request, using a modern JavaScript Fetch, as well as using a third-party package called Axios.