Top 7 Featured DEV Posts of the Week

Welcome to this week's Top 7, where the DEV editorial team handpicks their favorite posts from the previous week.

Congrats to all the authors that made it onto the list 👏

The Spirit of Plan 9 on the Web

Jeff Lindsay ・ May 6

#showdev #webdev #devops #go

@progrium introduces the latest release of Wanix, which draws inspiration from Plan 9 from Bell Labs to bring a radically simple architecture to modern platforms.

DOOM...*rendered* using a single DIV and CSS! 🤯🔫💥

GrahamTheDev ・ May 10

#javascript #css #webdev #webassembly

@grahamthedev demonstrates the remarkable possibilities of CSS by rendering the output of DOOM within a single div.

Guitar Chords in CSS

Mads Stoumann ・ May 7

#css #webdev #showdev #tutorial

@madsstoumann showcases the improved attr() method in CSS by creating a visually appealing guitar chord notation system without using JavaScript.

It wasn’t the idea that failed: it was the execution

Salma Alam-Naylor ・ May 9

#webdev #history #programming

@whitep4nth3r takes us on a journey through the history of visual website builders, from FrontPage in 1995 to today's modern tools like Figma Sites. Salma examines why visual web development tools historically produced terrible HTML markup and continue to struggle meeting important standards.

Why You Should Boycott VS Code

Peter Strøiman ・ May 5

#vscode #opensource #programming #tooling

@stroiman argues that while Visual Studio Code is distributed as open-source software under the MIT license, Microsoft engages in "Open-source Theatre" by actively preventing its extensions from being used in VSCode forks. Peter explains how this practice violates the ethos of open-source software, which should allow for modification and distribution without restrictions, and encourages readers to consider alternatives like VSCodium, Neovim, or even closed-source options that don't pretend to be what they're not.

The Hidden Role of Probability in Large Language Models

Maulik Sompura ・ May 6

#learning #programming #ai #machinelearning

@maulik_sompura_22 reveals how large language models operate through probability distributions rather than true understanding - showing that even the most impressive AI responses are essentially mathematical gambles made one token at a time.

How to Boil Potatoes? I Thought I Knew — Until I Didn't.

Mehuli Mukherjee ・ May 5

#programming #java #webdev #performance

@mehulimukherjee reminds us that optimization often means rethinking the entire approach rather than tweaking what's familiar.

And that's a wrap for this week's Top 7 roundup! 🎬 We hope you enjoyed this eclectic mix of insights, stories, and tips from our talented authors. Keep coding, keep learning, and stay tuned to DEV for more captivating content and make sure you’re opted in to our Weekly Newsletter 📩 for all the best articles, discussions, and updates.