DEV Community: Luke Cartwright

3 things I want to learn in 2026

Luke Cartwright — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 06:59:08 +0000

In 2026 there are a few bits of tech I would like to learn.

n8n

This has been covered a few times by Dev YouTubers and has piqued my interest. It's an open-source workflow automation tool that's fair-code licensed, powerful for no-code/low-code integrations, and self-hostable.

n8n sign-up

GraphQL

GraphQL has been out for a while, but I want to try it out properly as an upcoming project is using it. Time to go beyond REST and explore efficient data fetching, schemas, and tools like Apollo or Relay.

GraphQL official site

TypeScript Advanced

TypeScript is everywhere in modern frontend and backend work, but I want to level up with advanced features like conditional types, mapped types, template literal types, and better inference for large-scale projects.

TypeScript documentation

Instagram AI policy

Luke Cartwright — Fri, 31 May 2024 06:40:36 +0000

Instagram is updating it's privacy policy to give you the right to not have your data used to train AI going forward.

Here is the email I received:

We're getting ready to expand our AI at Meta experiences to your region. AI at Meta is our collection of generative AI features and experiences, such as Meta AI and AI creative tools, along with the models that power them.

What this means for you

To help bring these experiences to you, we'll now rely on the legal basis called legitimate interests for using your information to develop and improve AI at Meta. This means that you have the right to object to how your information is used for these purposes. If your objection is honoured, it will be applied from then on.

How do I object the use of my data to included in AI training data?

You can fill out this form to object from having your data used in the future.

Once you have given a reason you need to verify your email (because they send you a code). Then, at least for me, it took minutes for them to reply and say my data will not be used going forward.

Do you notice the wording?

If your objection is honoured, it will be applied from then on.

So it looks like our data has been used in the past but for any future AI training and developments it will not be used.

Thanks 🙏

Thank you for reading and I hope this was helpful.
If you think someone else should know this then share this article with them so they can also object Instagram from training their AI with their data.

Planet scale DB alternative

Luke Cartwright — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 19:09:38 +0000

Do you have a Postgres DB on Planetscale that you need to transfer over?

Well, I transferred over to Hostinger.

Isn't Hostinger a website host? You are right but when you get website hosting you also get 2 Databases included!!

How does £3.99 per month sound compared to $39 per month?

Why not sign up today https://hostinger.co.uk.

Thank you for your time.

Planet scale is removing free tier!

Luke Cartwright — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 19:07:35 +0000

Like many I have watched Planet scale grow to become a great resource! Their YouTube channel is a great resource but with a free tier, there was always going to be risks

What is happening?

Their Hobby plan will be retired on April 8th, 2024 and they have decided to "part ways with members of our team (primarily Sales and Marketing)".

What's the reaction?

It's not good. Developers like free tiers. But they also understand businesses don't make money by using just free tiers. Planet scale has said that they want to make sure Planetscale is "not just in the short-term, but forever" and will be "prioritising profitability".

Also it's very passive for letting people go by saying they are going to "part ways with members of our team". 😬

What now?

Well the next month is going to be busy to transfer DBs from Planetscale or paying for their service (looks like it starts at $39)

What are your thoughts?

Resources:https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-forever

Sending Emails using Node

Luke Cartwright — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 11:27:06 +0000

Why would you want to send emails via code?

I was recently working on a project where there was a requirement to send an email to a user when an update had been made to their account. I reviewed a number of different options but I found Sendgrid to be super easy to setup and the super generous free tier was suitable for the project. If you need to send an email in code, let me show you how to do that.

When would I want to send an email?

For me this email was to be sent when an update had been made to a users account access. This would need a link to verify an email address and also encourage them to login because they had now been granted access.

You might want to send an email at a different stage? Perhaps when a user has logged in for the first time or perhaps as a notification when something happens in your app/ website?

So how do we get started?

First let's set up a Sendgrid account.
Sendgrid has a free tier that enables 100 free emails a day. So let's sign up at https://sendgrid.com/.

Then in your code, install @sendgrid/mail with npm i @sendgrid/mail then include the package in a index.js.

Also make sure you have Node js installed on your computer.

Generate a SendGrid API key

To generate an API key, start by logging into your account and scroll to the settings on the right hand side (see above screenshot). And then click on the blue "Create API key" button in the top left hand corner. Give the API key a name and set the permissions to Full access for now (You can customise later) .

You will then be shown a screen with the API key (This will only be shown once).

Now in an .env file add export SENDGRID_API_KEY=<Replace with Your API Key>

Now we are setup how do I send an email?

First import the send grid package into your file then create a function that sets the api key, the HTML message and the message object that will be sent.

const sgMail = require("@sendgrid/mail");

const sendEmail = () => {
   sgMail.setApiKey(process.env.SENDGRID_API_KEY);

   const HTMLmessage = `<h1>Test Email</h1>`
   const msg = {
        to: receiverEmailAddress, // Change to your recipient
        from: "Your test Email <accounts@test.co.uk>", // Change to your outgoing email
        subject: "This is a test email",
        html: HTMLmessage,
  };

  await sgMail.send(msg);
}

But what if I want to use a custom domain for my FROM email address?

This is the great thing about Sendgrid, you don't need to setup an email server. You can just add some config to your Nameserver for your domain and send emails from any email with your domain name!!

Where do I get a Domain from?

You can buy domain names from many places, but one I recommend and have been using for the last couple of years is Namecheap.com

Send emails from my domain name

Under the Sendgrid settings there is an option called "Sender Authentication". Navigate to that page and begin authenticating your domain.

In Namecheap.com buy a domain and then navigate to Advanced DNS section.

Add a new record (Needs to be a Cname record) by adding the first value in the host as the Authenticating section on Send grid suggests.

Once you are setup you can then run your index.js by adding sendEmail() at the end of the file and running node index.js to send the email to yourself. (Set the email address in the msg object)

And we have lift off!

Already got a domain name? You can get 50% off a top domain transfers by using promo code TLD23TSAPR and to get up to 62% off shared hosting use HOST23TSAPR

Extra resources:
Quickstart to send emails using Nodejs

The React documentation has been revamped!

Luke Cartwright — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 07:43:41 +0000

It's been a long time coming.

The old site reactjs.org now redirects to legacy.reactjs.org/docs/ and the new site can be found at https://react.dev/.

The react documentation feels a lot more modern and includes the react hooks as well as using functional components compared to class components- the more modern way to use react.

Also like any good dev website, they have light/dark mode 😂

What do you think of the new docs?

Cheap way to host a Javascript project. (e.g. Node APIs & React Apps)

Luke Cartwright — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 17:32:24 +0000

With the announcement of the removal of the free tier on Heroku, I, like many others was scrambling for an alternative.

Heroku used to offer free 'Dynos' but now are offering dynos for $7 which are always active or $5 for eco-dynos which go inactive after 30 minutes.

So what are some good alternatives?

I currently use these services and have done for the last 8 months or so. These are great services and are either the same or cheaper.

Digital Ocean

One option I chose for a Node API and React app was using Digital Ocean. I have been using this for the last 8 months and I found it very easy to setup. See my article on setting up an API on digital ocean.

The cost is $5 for a droplet and with the link below you can get a free $200 credit when you sign up to get started https://m.do.co/c/b6731a07428c.

How to deploy a node.js app to digital ocean using Docker

Luke Cartwright ・ Oct 30 '21

#docker #devops #node #webdev

This is actually better value than Heroku because these Droplets don't become inactive after 30 mins and remain active like the Heroku $7 dynos.

AWS S3

Another way I have used is hosting a React app on AWS S3.
A React app is a static page when running 'npm run build' because the file is 1 html file with a minified JavaScript file. These files can be stored on a public S3 bucket.

This costs me a few pennies per month to host the static files.
I used these 2 resources to automatically run build and push to S3 everytime I push my code to GitHub. This uses a GitHub action and a S3 bucket.

GitHub actions https://github.com/jakejarvis/s3-sync-action

Note: this contains a referral link but I have used this service for 8 months now and I have found it very helpful and good.

I hope these resources will be of a help to someone. Please share your thoughts below and with others if you think they will find it helpful

Rotate your Circle CI keys now.

Luke Cartwright — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 10:54:52 +0000

This morning many developers recieved an email informing them that circle CI had been breached between 21st December 2022 and 4th January 2023.

Image from https://www.bleepingcomputer.com

Am I affected?

The statement says:

"At this point, we are confident that there are no unauthorized actors active in our systems; however, out of an abundance of caution, we want to ensure that all customers take certain preventative measures to protect your data as well."

What do I need to do?

The recommendation is to 'Immediately rotate any and all secrets stored in CircleCI. These may be stored in project environment variables or in contexts.'
This includes SSH keys and other secrets.

How do I rotate my keys?

To rotate keys please refer to this documentaion on circle ci's website - https://circleci.com/docs/managing-api-tokens/#rotating-a-project-api-token

Do you have any questions?

Please see this tweet from circle ci to some common questions- Tweet about common questions being answered by a circle ci engineer

Or add a question to the circle ci discussion board

References:

CircleCI security alert https://circleci.com/blog/january-4-2023-security-alert/
Circle CI twitter account https://twitter.com/CircleCI
Article about circle CI https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/circleci-warns-of-security-breach-rotate-your-secrets/

Heroku is removing the free tier

Luke Cartwright — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 07:28:00 +0000

If you are anything like me, you have a few small projects that you are hosting on Heroku. Read on to learn more about some of the changes that will likely affect you.

What is Heroku?

Heroku is a Platform As A Service (PAAS) "based on a managed container system, with integrated data services and a powerful ecosystem, for deploying and running modern apps" heroku.com.

This means that, with a small amount of config, you can get your web app live and available to the world without setting up servers. Heroku offers, what they call, Dynos. These are used to run your code and a small servers to run your Web apps on.

What currently is available?

Currently Heroku offers a generous free tier so that developers can get their web apps up and running quickly and for free.

The only real downsides are not enabling a custom domain and slower cold starts.

A cold start is when the dyno, if it is not used for 30 mins, is spun down until a HTTP request fire's it back up again.

So what has changed?

The main change is that from November 28, 2022 this FREE tier will no longer be available. As part of this, the free Heroku Postgres, and free Heroku Data for Redis® will also be NO LONGER FREE.

So, if you are currently using a free tier of these, then you will need to upgrade to a paid plan before that date.

What do you need to do?

Heroku suggests that you upgrade to a paid plan before that date.

So that means that you'll need to join these plans:
Heroku Dynos starts at $7/month, Heroku Data for Redis® starts at $15/month, Heroku Postgres starts at $9/month.

What else has changed?

Starting October 26, 2022, they will also begin deleting inactive accounts and associated storage for accounts that have been inactive for over a year. So make sure you check you account and either remove any unused dynos/ projects or update your dynos to a hobby account for $7 a month.

What alternatives are there?

You could migrate your app to Digital ocean for $5 a month. And you can sign up here to get $200 free credit to get you started. (For full disclosure this is a referral link). And use this article to dockerise and deploy an API to digital ocean:

How to deploy a node.js app to digital ocean using Docker

Luke Cartwright ・ Oct 30 '21

#docker #devops #node #webdev

Or here is a very helpful github repo that lists other sites with free tiers.

https://github.com/ripienaar/free-for-dev

To get alternative to Heroku checkout the Web hosting section.

Thank you so much for reading. If you found this helpful, would you consider buying me a coffee to say thank you?

References

https://blog.heroku.com/next-chapter

Do you want some FREE illustrations or vectors for your hero image?

Luke Cartwright — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 20:54:55 +0000

Here's some great FREE sites to get you started...

Illustrations 👨‍🎨

1 drawkit.com

2 www.opendoodles.com

3 freeillustrations.xyz

4 undraw.co

5 iradesign.io

6 patternpad.com

For more great sites to add to your Bookmarks follow:

My Twitter

Software and the chicken and the egg problem

Luke Cartwright — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 22:55:00 +0000

I have an idea for a SAAS business. But so does everyone. Its about execution that counts.

But which do you do first? Do you write code or market it first? Do you built it or sell it first?

Theses are very really questions.

My response is market it and validate the need for it first.

So here's my idea 💡

If you want to start out and build an online store where do you go? Etsy? Shopify?

Great but here the problem. I'm not sure about you but do you pay fees for just about everything on Etsy? You pay a fee to have a store, you pay a fee to selling a new product. Fees fees fees.

And shopify is great but at £29 a month... when you start out and have 2 orders every few months. That's a big hit to the budget when you don't sell. And at that cost you still have to design and build your site before going public....

So what's the solution?

Sell products and only pay 1 fee when you sell something.

Upload product details and the site will do the rest.

Customise a store front like a YouTube channel and be featured on the home page.

What do you think?

Here's the marketing, before the building.

Do you think this is the right way around? Do you think this will work?

Leave a comment or follow to keep up on the progress of this idea.

Thank you for reading 📚

To help me to fund this please could you buy me a coffee?

Developers, you NEED a designer.

Luke Cartwright — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 07:56:29 +0000

When developing websites and software, developers can sometimes focus on the technicalities of it too much instead of the design and look of the software. At the end of the day the user needs to like to use your project. So if this is you, maybe it's time to reach out to a designer for a good price.

Recently I tried fiverr. You may have heard of it. It's a website where freelancers offer their services as 'gigs'.

I had heard about it and watched some YouTube videos of people using it but I'd never tried it myself. Have you?

So let me tell you my experience. I've been working on a Progressive Web app that I felt needing a bit of a face lift. So I decided to hire a designer to come up with a design. I'll tell you my experience and see if its something you also want to try too. I'll give you 10% off your first gig so you can save the dollar.

I first went to fiverr.com and was a little disappointed that people were not just charging a FIVER. That was a minor disappointment, but the website seems to offer a lot of services.

I typed in 'design UI' and I found one that was reasonably priced for my budget. The designer I chose was ahsanali0332. I messaged him to see how much it would be and if it was possible to redesign my app. We agreed a offer of 4 pages for £17.

I sent over screenshots of my current website along with some other information about the app and the functionality. And he was off. In just over a day and a half he replied with a figma file with a dark and light mode version of the app. Amazing. To be honest I was surprised about the speed. And I think you'd find that in your experience too.

I asked for a few tweaks and within a day he made the changes and sent over an updated Figma file. This designer was incredible. I was very happy with the service and happy with the design.
We were good to go.

We had a design which looked good and definitely was a face lift from the previous version of the app. There were some UX issues that he had offered solutions for which I knew would make a big boost to the site.

So now we have a design.

I found that, now I had something to work towards, it helped me to create the components and visualise the app. Within a day or so I had created one of the pages of new design using the new visuals. Now the app home page felt fresh and ready. I could have just worked on my own design but if you are anything like me, I design on the go.
I make a small tweak and then maybe another and I just design as I go. Not ideal.

So, Developers, for £17 I was able to get a good design and then using the figma file which I used to see the fonts used, the colours and the spacing. I'm pretty happy with my experience of Fiverr and I've used a few times now with different gigs.

What has been your experience of Fiverr?

Thank you for reading and to get you started you can get 10% off your first order using the links in this article. If you don't like it, no worries, leave a comment.