• 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…

  • Professional web developer sitting in a modern home office holding a coffee mug, wearing a JavaScript T-shirt and hoodie, with dual monitors displaying code in the background, representing software development and clean coding practices.
    Web Development Fundamentals

    When “It Works” Isn’t Enough

    February 18, 2026 - By 

    I used to think that if my JavaScript ran without errors, I had done my job. If the feature shipped, the console stayed quiet, and the tests passed, I’d mentally roll for loot and move on. Victory secured. XP gained. On to the next quest. But somewhere between shipping features and revisiting old projects, I started noticing something uncomfortable: working code is not the same thing as readable code. And…