• Frank Jamison seated at a wooden table in a medieval styled setting, wearing dark leather armor and a cloak, with an open book, polyhedral dice, and a lit candle in front of him against a warm stone background.
    Web Development Fundamentals

    The DOM Without Magic: Rolling for Initiative in the Browser

    March 2, 2026 - By 

    The first time I truly understood the DOM, it felt less like learning a new API and more like discovering the rulebook behind the dungeon screen. For years I treated the browser like a mysterious Dungeon Master who simply made things appear. Click a button, something happens. Submit a form, data vanishes into the ether. Change a class, styles rearrange themselves like obedient goblins. It felt magical. It is not…

  • Portrait of a web developer seated at a candlelit desk, holding a twenty-sided die beside an open book showing HTML code in a medieval-style study.
    Web Development Fundamentals

    HTML: Structure Is a Contract

    February 9, 2026 - By 

    I didn’t fall in love with HTML.I tolerated it. Like a lot of developers, I treated HTML as the tutorial zone. The place you pass through on your way to the real game – JavaScript, frameworks, flashy interactions, dragons that breathe async fire. HTML felt like the character sheet you fill out quickly so you can start rolling initiative. That was a mistake. Over time – through teaching, debugging, accessibility…