Andre Landgraf is the author of Full Stack Web Development with Remix; we got the chance to sit down and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Andre: Full Stack Web Development with Remix
Q: What are your specialist tech areas?
Andre: Web Development
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Andre: Packt reached out via Twitter, and we jumped on a quick call a few days later. The offer to write a book about my favorite web framework was very intriguing, but I also just started a new job and knew it would be a big commitment. After talking it over with my partner, we decided it would be worth the effort.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Andre: I am a big fan of incremental improvements and iterative development. I had just finished migrating a production site I maintain from Gatsby to Remix. Additionally, I have been an early supporter of Remix and started playing around with it even before it was open-sourced. I knew I wanted to focus on progressive enhancement, web standards, and Remix’s role in these areas. With that in mind, I outlined a basic structure for the book and dove in, refining the code and content with each new chapter.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Andre: Many! I felt overwhelmed many times with the big pile of work. I got frustrated when I realized I missed something important. I felt insecure when I got something wrong that I thought was true. My current manager at LinkedIn often says “consistency is key”, which especially holds true for large undertakings such as writing a book. Divide and conquer one issue at a time! Also, a supportive editor can make a huge difference; thank you, Brooks!
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Andre: I fell in love with Remix from the moment I first tried it. It’s so refreshing to use and just a fantastic framework combining cutting-edge approaches with web standards. The field of web development is advancing rapidly, but I believe Remix will become the de facto standard for building full-stack React applications.
Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Andre: There are many good resources for learning Remix. I learned how to use Remix from reading through the documentation, RFCs, YouTube videos, conference talks, blog posts, and other content of the Remix team and community. By learning Remix, I learned about the importance of the web server and having access to the full stack of the web platform. My book boils down to these insights and what I’ve learned about web development via Remix. If you want to learn about combining web standards and modern best practices, this book is for you.
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Andre: React is an amazing tool for building modern web applications, but there is more to building for the web than syncing client state to the UI. I want my readers to take away that the web platform is awesome and provides an array of great tools, both on the client and the server, to enhance the user experience. Remix unlocks the full potential of the web platform. After reading my book, you will know how to use HTTP caching and streaming, cookies, the URL, and HTTP request-response flows to your advantage to build better React applications.
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Andre: Double down on learning web standards. This knowledge is transferable and will serve you well, no matter which web framework you use in future projects or jobs. There is a lot to learn, but reaching for the MDN Web Docs if something is unclear is an excellent habit worth focusing on!
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Andre: Absolutely! -> https://andrelandgraf.dev/blog
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites, and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning? What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Andre: The Remix docs and the MDN Web Docs are both great starting points. I also love the Remix Singles videos on the remix.run YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_bin5HPrw&list=PLXoynULbYuEDG2wBFSZ66b85EIspy3fy6!
Q. How would you describe your author’s journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Andre: The team at Packt was very supportive throughout the process. They made sure to keep me on track with my timeline but also ensured there was enough room for important enhancements. I very much appreciate the support, especially from Aamir, Jane, and Sonam that I worked closely with. I can totally recommend Packt for aspiring authors!
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Andre: I help organize the Remix Bay Area meetup group and tutor aspiring developers every Monday about All Things Web. You can find all the relevant links on my website: https://andrelandgraf.dev/
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Andre: I learn the most by following @ryanflorence, @mjackson, the Remix team, @kentcdodds, @sergiodxa, @jacobmparis, and other awesome folks from the Remix community on Twitter.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Andre: Incremental improvements and iterative development! I used a TODO list to note down any random thoughts and iteratively improved the content.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Andre: Don’t start with the introduction. It’s the hardest part to get right and usually easier once you work on the main content.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share.
You can find Andre’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
