Is jQuery Really Dead? And Other Hot Takes w/ Travis Wagner

This week, Robbie and Chuck talk with Travis Wagner about his career move from Universal Music to Crunchyroll and the nuances of backend development. They discuss a wide range of hot takes, including whether jQuery is still relevant in 2025.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:05) - Meet Travis Wagner
• (02:41) - Whiskey intro and rating: Finger Lakes Distilling McKenzie Rye Whiskey
• (15:04) - Implicit vs Explicit types
• (16:58) - Tailwind vs Vanilla CSS
• (19:22) - Is YAML good or bad?
• (20:24) - Thoughts on Python and semicolons
• (25:19) - Git Rebase vs Git Merge
• (28:24) - Does GitHub history help your career?
• (36:34) - Learning assembly
• (39:47) - iTerm vs Ghostty vs Warp
• (41:09) - What's wrong with using jQuery in 2025?
• (48:17) - Astro and trying out other frameworks
• (53:17) - What Travis would do if tech wasn't an option

Links

• Universal Music: https://www.universalmusic.com/
• Crunchyroll: https://www.crunchyroll.com/
• Crablang: https://crablang.org/
• Finger Lakes Distilling McKenzie Rye Whiskey: https://fingerlakesdistilling.com/
• Sloth Pipe: https://github.com/trvswgnr/sloth-pipe
• Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
• Boot.dev: https://www.boot.dev/
• Python: https://www.python.org/
• iTerm: https://iterm2.com/
• Ghostty: https://ghostty.org/
• Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
• jQuery: https://jquery.com/
• Intercooler.js: https://intercoolerjs.org/
• HTMX: https://htmx.org/
• React: https://react.dev/
• Claude: https://claude.ai/

Connect with Travis

• Website: https://techsavvytravvy.com/
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/techsavvytravvy
• GitHub: https://github.com/trvswgnr

Connect with Chuck and Robbie

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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Veteran web developers RobbieTheWagner and Charles William Carpenter III host this informal, whiskey-fueled fireside chat with your favorite web devs. They discuss all things web development including JavaScript, TypeScript, EmberJS, React, Astro, SolidJS, CSS, HTML, Web3, and more. They take a unique approach and focus on getting to know the human side of developers and their hobbies outside of work, all while sampling a new whiskey that they rate on their unique tentacle scale.