Jon Portella's Blog
The last 15 years
December 17, 2025 • 8 min readReflecting on all the stuff I’ve put out there
Why I love RSS
December 11, 2025 • 2 min readEmail was the problem
Cursor loves your attention
November 14, 2025 • 2 min read(Plays agent finished sound)
Team onsites are fun
November 14, 2025 • 2 min readGenerally on favour of them
A human wrote this
November 14, 2025 • 1 min readAnd it shows
How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer: A One-Minute Guide
July 20, 2023 • 4 min readLanding a job as a software engineer requires more than just technical skills. In this one-minute tutorial, I’ll outline the key steps to…
Using SVGs on the Web — A Deep Dive
April 28, 2021 • 14 min readThere isn’t one best way to implement SVGs on our websites, since each method has its pros and cons. Let’s learn their differences.
CDNs — A Deep Dive
April 21, 2021 • 7 min readYou’ve used them before but you’re not completely sure what they are, here are some answers.
How To Call a Function When a User Stops Typing
April 21, 2021 • 2 min readWe’ll learn how to implement a browser auto-saving draft system in JavaScript
Trying To Write Every Day? Here’s How To Stick to It
April 21, 2021 • 3 min readMany people struggle to build a writing habit. I did too, but I solved it with this simple mantra
Time-Traveling in Git? Meet Git Reflog
April 6, 2021 • 4 min readLet’s learn to use the power of this advanced tool for Git disaster‑saving
Building a carousel with Swiper
April 6, 2021 • 4 min readLet’s build a touch-triggered image slider with lazy loading, navigation, and pagination, in one minute.
A Snazzy Trick: How To Style Your console.log() Messages
March 25, 2021 • 2 min readA quick guide (with examples) on applying CSS to log messages in the browser’s console
The One Thing You Need to Know To Avoid CSS Overflow
March 25, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to prevent CSS overflow with variable-length text using a simple wrapper component that keeps text on one line.
Master Git Diff With These Not-So-Known Commands
March 24, 2021 • 3 min readSave time while reviewing your own pull requests
Lazy Load Images with LazySizes
March 23, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to lazy load images, in one minute.
Use RegEx Lazy Quantifier to Match Alt Tags
March 19, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to use RegEx Lazy Quantifier, in one minute.
Prevent Hyphen Line-Breaks with Non-Breaking Hyphen
March 18, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to avoid hyphen line-breaks, in one minute.
Forward Proxy vs. Reverse Proxy
March 17, 2021 • 3 min readUnderstand the difference between forward proxies and reverse proxies, and when to use each one.
Avoid Headaches with Static Code Analysis Tools
March 16, 2021 • 3 min readLearn to avoid headaches with Static Code Analysis Tools, in one minute.
Remove All node_modules Directories at Once
March 15, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to remove all your node_modules directories, in one minute.
Build a 3D Bank Card with Vanilla-tilt.js
March 12, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to build a 3D bank card, in one minute.
Count Total Lines in a Git Repository
March 11, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to count the total number of lines in a Git repository, in one minute.
Track User Scroll with IntersectionObserver
March 10, 2021 • 2 min readLearn how to leverage window.IntersectionObserver to find out how many visitors see your content, in one minute.
Using Regex Negative Lookahead to Replace HTTP with HTTPS
March 9, 2021 • 3 min readLearn how to use Regex’s Negative Lookahead, in one minute.
How To Use a VPN to Change Your Public IP Address From the Command Line
March 8, 2021 • 3 min readA tutorial on setting a VPN and using it from the CLI to hide our IP and location
Autosave Your Shell Config in a GitHub Gist
March 5, 2021 • 3 min readDon’t lose your aliases again when switching computers!
Find Out Our Public IP Address and Country From the Command Line
March 4, 2021 • 2 min readA quick explanation and a couple of handy one-liners
Use gist-paste to Save Text Files as GitHub Gists From the Command Line
March 3, 2021 • 3 min readA quick tip to save time on saving and sharing documents
Running Code Snippets on Chrome’s Console
March 2, 2021 • 3 min readA quick guide for web developers on this great time-saver when executing JavaScript on the go.
The Right Way To Log Objects in Node.js
March 1, 2021 • 2 min readAnd a few other methods that you can also use, but beware of the caveats!
Quick Async One-Liners With Async Immediately Invoked Function Expressions
February 26, 2021 • 2 min readA neat trick for a job interview or to save time on quick scripts
Quick Refactor: Keep Casing in VSCode Search + Replace
February 25, 2021 • 2 min readA simple Visual Studio Code trick to save precious time while refactoring
Persist CSS Changes Done in Chrome’s Dev-Tools
February 24, 2021 • 4 min readAvoid losing all those changes on the elements tab if you accidentally reload your browser
Using JavaScript To Test Browser Support for a CSS Pseudo-Class
February 23, 2021 • 3 min readAn obscure (but effective) way to do CSS feature detection with JavaScript. In the example, we test for a feature that only Microsoft browsers have.
The Ugliest 6 Reasons To Not Enrol In A Coding Bootcamp.
October 2, 2020 • 5 min readThere are some ugly parts that people don’t talk about. Before deciding to enrol, mind all the possible outcomes.
How I Doubled My Income in 3 Months
September 30, 2020 • 8 min readThe story of my career change, and how first choices aren’t usually the best for your future
5 Remarkable Git Commands That Will Boost Your Coding Productivity
September 29, 2020 • 5 min readThese are custom made, they don’t appear in the Git docs! Saved me countless headaches in the last two years…
5 cool JS tricks to impress your teammates
September 25, 2020 • 7 min readSome web-dev wisdom, not just limited to JS!
Creating a Blackjack game
February 11, 2020 • 1 min readA memento of my first ever JavaScript project circa February 2018.
Displaying data with variable length
January 15, 2020 • 2 min readNever trust the design.
6 Things I Learned in May 2019
May 30, 2019 • 5 min readSome cool React.js libraries, PropTypes, node_modules updates and an Easter Egg.
You are using browser events wrong
May 15, 2019 • 4 min readStop listening.
9 Things I Learned in April 2019
April 30, 2019 • 8 min readThis time tips and tricks on CSS Modules, a lot of BASH and GIT stuff, macOS apps, using searchable components and fighting Chrome's autocomplete styling.
12 Things I Learned in March 2019
March 31, 2019 • 6 min readTips and tricks including but not limited to Pandas, JavaScript sliders and swipers, a flights API, BASH automations and some other nifty ideas.
Downloading Reddit Images in Bulk
January 29, 2019 • 2 min readGet all the neat desktop goodness from /r/wallpapers with this command line utility built in Node.js
Picking Random Comments On Instagram
January 15, 2019 • 2 min readA web app to make Instagram contests suck less.
Hello World
December 31, 2018 • 1 min readMandatory