Hello and Happy New year! To kick off 2021, GDG Central Florida and GDG Suncoast will host Chrome Dev Summit Extended, an opportunity to explore what’s new in our favorite web browser. We’ll explore themes like new modern JavaScript features, debugging faster with new DevTools tips and tricks, and making beautiful web experiences with Web stories components.

In this blog post, I wanted to give a shoutout to my favorite themes from the Chrome Dev Summit. I have included links to the conference sessions for your review. Hope you find this learning content helpful.

Transitioning to modern JavaScript

Over 90% of web traffic comes from browsers that support modern JavaScript, yet most websites ship legacy syntax in order to support a small number of very old browsers.

We now have the ability to deliver modern and legacy code to browsers based on what they support, but this doesn’t extend to the large amount of dependency code in our applications. Our dependencies are still published as verbose legacy syntax in order to support the lowest common denominator of browsers today.

What’s new in DevTools

This session gives an overview of the latest and greatest features in Chrome DevTools.

State of speed tooling

Our understanding of how to accurately represent and optimize for a users’ experience continues to grow more accurate and informed. Our speed metrics, automation story, and best-practice recommendations are kept up to date to reflect these learnings.
Learn about the newest user-centric metrics in our tools, and how to leverage Google and Chrome’s newest features and products to build and maintain an exceptionally fast experience for all of your users.

Superpowers for next gen web apps: Machine learning

Discover how to achieve superpowers by embracing machine learning in JavaScript using TensorFlow.js in the browser. Learn what machine learning is, get a high-level overview of how it works, get inspired through a whole bunch of creative prototypes (from invisibility to teleportation) that push the boundaries of what is possible in the modern web browser, and then take your own first steps with machine learning in minutes. By the end of the session, everyone (no matter what your background) will understand how to recognize an object of their choice, which could then be used in any creative way you can imagine on your own website. No background in machine learning is required. Take your first steps with TensorFlow.js!

Connecting hardware devices to the web

The web platform is opening up incredible opportunities by letting web developers communicate with hardware devices over Bluetooth, USB, NFC, Serial, and HID. This talk gives an overview of those APIs, how they work, and what developers have delivered so far.

Next-level web apps on desktop

The web is the best way to reach the maximum number of users with your application. It’s also the easiest way for users to try your app before subscribing or installing it! This session is a whirlwind tour of the exciting new capabilities that have been added to help developers build fully featured apps on the web.

Introduction To Web Stories

Web Stories are a web-based version of the popular “Stories” format that blend video, audio, images, animation, and text to create a dynamic consumption experience. Learn about the why, what, and how of Web Stories and how Google has gone the extra mile to let Web Stories shine by providing the right tools and the right guidance for content creators to succeed on the web.

Make sure to check out the other sessions from Chrome Dev Summit 2020 at https://developer.chrome.com/devsummit/schedule/ .