GitHub presents Copilot, JS1024 2021 edition, new Chrome Store policies, and Safari Technology Preview 127 | Front End News #036

NOTE: This is issue #036 of my newsletter, which went live on Monday, July 5th. If you find this information useful and interesting and you want to receive future issues as they are published, ahead of everyone else, I invite you to join the subscriber list at frontendnexus.com.

Fate conspired against this issue. I've been traveling over the weekend. Both power and the cellular signal went off in the area on Monday, which left me without internet access for hours. Despite all this, I gathered some interesting topics for you this week.

GitHub introduced Copilot, their AI-powered code assistant. You can now prove your JavaScript skills by participating in the 2021 edition of JS1024. The policies for Chrome Store extensions will update on August 2. Mac users can now download Safari Technology Preview 127. And the main release of the week is TypeScript 4.4 Beta.

Introducing GitHub Copilot

GitHub introduced Copilot, an AI-powered tool that provides code suggestions. The tool is powered by Codex, the new AI system created by OpenAI. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

GitHub Copilot

The good people of Fireship put together a very nice review of this tool, which I invite you to check as well.

YouTube: The Truth about Github Copilot // AI Programming First Look

JS1024 is on

The yearly JavaScript golfing competition is upon us again. You have until July 15th to submit your projects. Of course, your code must have a maximum of 1024 bytes. The rules of the competition and examples from previous years are available on the official site.

js1024

Browser news

Chrome

The Chrome team published some clarifications regarding the policies for web extensions in the Chrome Store. The main goal of this initiative is to respect user choice and improve security. These changes will go into effect on August 2.

Chrome extensions: clarifying our extension policies for a safer, more consistent web store

WebKit

We're getting a new version of the Safari Technology Preview. The list of changes is extensive, and it starts with the addition of discrete animation support for grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows. Check out the release notes below for the complete list.

Release Notes for Safari Technology Preview 127

Software updates and releases

espree v8.0.0 - an Esprima-compatible JavaScript parser
p5.js v1.4.0 - a processing-inspired creative coding library
plotly.js v2.2.0 - open-source JavaScript charting library
react stepzilla v7.0.0 - a React multi-step/wizard component for sequential data collection
SolidJS 1.0 - a JavaScript library for building user interfaces
TypeScript 4.4 Beta
wait-on - a CLI and Node Library to Wait for Ports, Files, Sockets, etc.
web3.js v1.4.0 - Ethereum JavaScript API