Zell Liew is a front-end developer, writer, and creator known for deep, practical explorations of CSS, JavaScript, accessibility, and modern web tooling. His work blends thoughtful technical guidance with personal reflections on life, work, and growth, and is frequently featured on CSS-Tricks and Splendid Labz.
341 articles from this blog
Analyzes the security and implementation of storing access tokens in Cookies vs LocalStorage, providing a technical comparison for developers.
Explores different mental models for understanding JavaScript, emphasizing the importance of upgrading rather than replacing your existing knowledge.
A developer shares a custom library to simplify and improve accuracy of Facebook ad conversion tracking by combining Pixel and Conversion API events.
A developer shares their setup for tracking analytics with Posthog and running ads via Facebook, focusing on key events for a project.
A developer shares their evolving approach to CSS, moving towards building a personal UI system called Splendid UI to simplify web development.
Three effective learning techniques for mastering JavaScript quickly: using analogies, understanding cause and effect, and simplifying concepts.
Explains how to dynamically change CSS custom properties (variables) using Tailwind CSS utility classes for responsive layouts.
Exploring the challenges of designing an API for an Astro-first component library, focusing on popover component architecture and hydration.
A tutorial on how to get and set CSS Custom Properties (CSS Variables) using vanilla JavaScript, including helper functions to simplify the process.
Explores two Vanilla JavaScript methods—Getters/Setters and Proxies—to implement automatic reactivity similar to frameworks like Svelte.
A tutorial on creating visually appealing neon buttons using CSS drop-shadow, box-shadow, and animation effects.
A guide to fixing Tailwind CSS spacing issues when using Astro components and slots with a custom utility plugin.
A tutorial on using the fileCache utility from Splendid UI to easily implement local file system caching in Node.js applications.
Announcing zlFetch's support for FormData and its utilities for converting FormData to objects and query strings.
Explores the limitations of Scoped CSS in modern frameworks like React and Vue, focusing on styling child components and slot content.
Updates to the zlFetch library, a wrapper for the Fetch API, including error handling improvements, debug mode, and instance creation.
Announcing the launch of the Magical Dev School student portal, a central hub for accessing programming courses and workshops with new user-friendly features.
A guide to testing CSS container queries efficiently using a custom utility or Polypane browser, with code examples in Astro.
Explains why to use Svelte over Astro files for components in Astro projects, focusing on reusability and syntax.
Explains the correct HTML structure for using CSS container queries to avoid sizing errors with container query units.
