Lecture Notes on Tech Stack Overview

Introduction

• Importance of personal tech stack to the speaker.
• Origins of the speaker's tech stack, referred to as the T3 stack.
• History of T3 stack and its evolution.

Current Tech Stack Details

• Frequent changes in tech stack based on new solutions and technologies.
• Speaker hasn't updated detailed stack information since early 2023.
• Complexity of stack and recommendation against its use for beginners.

CI Optimization

• Usage of AI tools has increased pull requests.
• Introduction to Blacksmith for CI/CD optimization.
  • Claims to double CI speed with minimal changes.
  • Offers faster builds and improved caching.
  • Provides free trials with 3,000 free minutes monthly.

Application Overview

• Applications discussed: Pick Thing and T3 Chat.
• Categories of interest in tech stack:
  • Frontend framework, style system, state manager, API system library.
  • Backend framework, backend language, database dialect and provider, hosting provider.
• Common tools: React, Tailwind, Next.js, TypeScript, Vercel, Cloudflare.

Frontend Details

• Transition from server components to automated client-side solutions.
• Use of Clerk and PostHog for authentication and analytics respectively.
• Discussion on analytics differences: product vs. page view analytics.

State Management

• Mention of several state management tools: React Query, Zustand, Legend State, Dexie.

API System

• Use of tRPC for backend and frontend interaction.
• Advantages of tRPC: type safety and integration between frontend and backend.
• Problems with server actions led to adopting tRPC.

Routing

• Use of React Router within Next.js.
• Challenges with server-side routing.
• Custom solutions to handle routing and static page generation.

Database Management

• Transition from free tiers to specific database solutions like PlanetScale and Upstash.
• Issues faced with Terso and need for reliable database providers.

Hosting and Deployment

• Use of Vercel and Cloudflare for hosting solutions.
• Cloudflare used for image optimization and CDN services.
• Emphasis on microservices for removing complexity.

Package Management

• Preference for pnpm over Bun for package management.
• Discussion on runtime choices; Node.js preferred over Bun for stability.

Authentication Solutions

• Use of Clerk and OpenAuth based on application needs.
• Critique of certain authentication solutions and preference for keeping authentication separate.

Conclusion

• Emphasis on starting with simple solutions and scaling complexity only when necessary.
• Regular reflection on the necessity of complexity.