👋 Hello Dev Community — First Post!

#webdev #beginners #firebase #nextjs

👩🏼‍💻 Hey everyone! I’m Megan — a full-stack creator who likes to break things (on purpose), fix them (eventually), and learn along the way.

Right now I’m exploring:

JavaScript + its sidekicks (React, Node.js, Next.js)

Databases that don’t ghost me (Supabase, Firebase, Postgres)

UI experiments with Tailwind + design tools

Why I’m here:

To share things I’m learning (the messy, the funny, and the useful)

To connect with other devs who love building weird/cool/impactful stuff

To keep myself accountable while navigating through projects 🚀

If you’re into web dev, new tools, or just want to chat about building things that almost work on the first try, I’d love to connect. Drop a comment and say hi 👋

— Megan

Top comments (15)

Ben Halpern • Sep 24

Hey Megan great to have you!

Megan Propps • Sep 24

glad to be here - these are my people 🙌

Kyle Logue • Sep 24

Hi! 👋 I'm new here too. Maybe we can learn from each other and build or break some things along the way.

Megan Propps • Sep 24

let's just start by breaking stuff together, that's more fun...i'm working on the KendoReact components challenge now - what about you?

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Megan Propps • Sep 26

wow kyle - that is really impressive! i like the mock server + watch mode idea. also curious how it compares to tools like openapi-typescript — what’s the main difference?

Kyle Logue • Sep 26

OpenAPI TypeScript is fantastic at what it does - it's the gold standard for generating TypeScript types from OpenAPI specs. Really solid, mature tool that handles type generation beautifully. But here's where I found gaps in my actual workflow:

OpenAPI TypeScript gives you the types, but then you're on your own for the rest of the development process. You still need to:

Set up your own mock server (maybe json-server or MSW)
Figure out realistic test data that actually catches edge cases
Handle the coordination between frontend and backend teams
Manage the whole "design contract together" workflow

I got so frustrated with this fragmented toolchain that I ended up building something more integrated. My approach bundles the type generation with realistic mock servers, team collaboration workflows, and handles the entire "design → generate → mock → integrate" cycle in one tool.

Think of it like this: OpenAPI TypeScript is excellent plumbing, but I needed the whole bathroom. Not because their tool isn't great - it absolutely is - but because I kept hitting the same coordination problems even with perfect types.

The realistic mock data piece has been huge for me. Instead of generic "string" values, I get varied, edge-case-testing data that actually helps me catch integration issues before they happen.

Have you used OpenAPI TypeScript in your projects? What's been your experience with the rest of the workflow after you get the types generated?

Megan Propps • Oct 3

I've dabbled with openapi-typescript in a recent project, mostly for generating types from specs to keep my TypeScript frontend calls safe and synced with the backend. It nailed the type safety and compile-time checks, but that said, you're right about the post-generation workflow - I ended up piecing together MSW for mocking and manual test data, and it all just felt kinda messy and awkward, especially when passing stuff off to the team. Your integrated approach with realistic mocks and collaboration sounds like it could streamline that a ton.