Dana Ciocan
@danaciocan.com
I am a Senior Engineer at Octopus Energy. I love being creative in my spare time. I make my own clothes and grow my own food. My pronouns are they/them. I blog about technology at danaciocan.com
Did part 1 of day 3 of #adventofcode this morning before work. Looked at part 2 and immediately didn't like Advent of Code any more
December 3, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Did part 1 of day 3 of #adventofcode this morning before work. Looked at part 2 and immediately didn't like Advent of Code any more
Spilled tea over my mechanical keyboard and now the down arrow switch is stuck 🫠 I feel conflicted because while I really like this keyboard in many ways, it has caused me nothing but trouble because its switches keep doing stuff like this even without tea. So maybe it's time to get a new one
December 2, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Spilled tea over my mechanical keyboard and now the down arrow switch is stuck 🫠 I feel conflicted because while I really like this keyboard in many ways, it has caused me nothing but trouble because its switches keep doing stuff like this even without tea. So maybe it's time to get a new one
Did part 1 of day 2 of #adventofcode this morning before work. Have some ideas for how to do part 2 but not counting my chickens after yesterday 😆
December 2, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Did part 1 of day 2 of #adventofcode this morning before work. Have some ideas for how to do part 2 but not counting my chickens after yesterday 😆
I've completed "Secret Entrance" - Day 1 - Advent of Code 2025 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2025/day/1
Day 1 - Advent of Code 2025
adventofcode.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I've completed "Secret Entrance" - Day 1 - Advent of Code 2025 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2025/day/1
Did part 1 of day 1 of #adventofcode this morning before work and have a pretty good idea of how to do part 2 🤔
December 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Did part 1 of day 1 of #adventofcode this morning before work and have a pretty good idea of how to do part 2 🤔
I've been meaning to write about this for ages. If you are currently looking for a new role, here's what I learned from my job search this year. The market is tough and my heart goes out to you if you are going through redundancy or struggling to find work danaciocan.com/job-hunting-...
My top job hunting tips
How I navigated the job market to find my new role
danaciocan.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I've been meaning to write about this for ages. If you are currently looking for a new role, here's what I learned from my job search this year. The market is tough and my heart goes out to you if you are going through redundancy or struggling to find work danaciocan.com/job-hunting-...
how is #adventofcode2025 already upon us?? 🫠
November 30, 2025 at 9:01 AM
how is #adventofcode2025 already upon us?? 🫠
Test-driven development saved me today - I've been implementing a React component that's got some nuance to it and having the tests there from the get go has made it so easy to refactor and simplify. Hooray for TDD!
November 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Test-driven development saved me today - I've been implementing a React component that's got some nuance to it and having the tests there from the get go has made it so easy to refactor and simplify. Hooray for TDD!
I'm thinking of doing "weekly roundups" on my blog where I talk about all the things I learned in the previous week - I just think it would be neat to have a bit of a log and if someone else can learn from it too, even better!
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I'm thinking of doing "weekly roundups" on my blog where I talk about all the things I learned in the previous week - I just think it would be neat to have a bit of a log and if someone else can learn from it too, even better!
huh - did not know there was a JSX-enabled version of markdown. I look forward to exploring what that will allow me to do...
November 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
huh - did not know there was a JSX-enabled version of markdown. I look forward to exploring what that will allow me to do...
Something reminded me of the alternatives to the TODO comment - FIXME, REFACTOR, HACK, BUG etc. Does anyone still use those?
November 24, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Something reminded me of the alternatives to the TODO comment - FIXME, REFACTOR, HACK, BUG etc. Does anyone still use those?
Every day another agentic framework. Kind of over it now - can I just use the tools I've only just gotten used to please?
November 24, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Every day another agentic framework. Kind of over it now - can I just use the tools I've only just gotten used to please?
Had a play with displaying markdown files in Next.js app router this morning - thought I'd share how I did it because it turns out, it's super easy! danaciocan.com/how-to-displ...
How to display markdown files in Next.js
Learn how to display markdown files using Next.js' app router easily and efficiently with this step-by-step guide
danaciocan.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Had a play with displaying markdown files in Next.js app router this morning - thought I'd share how I did it because it turns out, it's super easy! danaciocan.com/how-to-displ...
Doing some serious in-depth reading on Next.js' app router - any useful articles, videos or other resources you'd recommend I check out?
There should be a couple of blog posts coming out of this
There should be a couple of blog posts coming out of this
November 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Doing some serious in-depth reading on Next.js' app router - any useful articles, videos or other resources you'd recommend I check out?
There should be a couple of blog posts coming out of this
There should be a couple of blog posts coming out of this
Always a bit scary when you propose a completely new approach for an ongoing project, but so good when the team listens and is appreciative of your ideas 😊
November 20, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Always a bit scary when you propose a completely new approach for an ongoing project, but so good when the team listens and is appreciative of your ideas 😊
If you haven't read Cory Doctorow's "Enshittification" yet, I highly recommend you do - I listened to the audiobook and it was entertaining (I couldn't put it down) as well as informative. It also made me feel slightly ill - so sad to see what's happened to our beautiful internet!
November 19, 2025 at 1:49 PM
If you haven't read Cory Doctorow's "Enshittification" yet, I highly recommend you do - I listened to the audiobook and it was entertaining (I couldn't put it down) as well as informative. It also made me feel slightly ill - so sad to see what's happened to our beautiful internet!
Had a fantastic time at #TechMids 2025. What an event! So lovely to see so many familiar faces and I learned a lot from all the talks. Well done and thank you to the team of organisers who clearly put a LOT of love and care into it. This is why grassroots events are the best 💜
November 14, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Had a fantastic time at #TechMids 2025. What an event! So lovely to see so many familiar faces and I learned a lot from all the talks. Well done and thank you to the team of organisers who clearly put a LOT of love and care into it. This is why grassroots events are the best 💜
I'm heading to conf.techmids.org tomorrow and if you're based in the Midlands and work in tech, you should totally join - there are still tickets available!
TechMids Conf - A community-driven tech conference
TechMids Conf is an all day, full stack conference on Friday 14th November 2025 Come along for a day of inspiring talks, social chatter and fun.
conf.techmids.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I'm heading to conf.techmids.org tomorrow and if you're based in the Midlands and work in tech, you should totally join - there are still tickets available!
Just finished 'Deceptive Patterns: Exposing the Tricks Tech Companies Use to Control You' by Harry Brignull - very illuminating book. Highly recommend anyone working for a tech company in a design, product or engineering capacity to give this a read
November 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Just finished 'Deceptive Patterns: Exposing the Tricks Tech Companies Use to Control You' by Harry Brignull - very illuminating book. Highly recommend anyone working for a tech company in a design, product or engineering capacity to give this a read
Wrote a blog post about code reviews: danaciocan.com/lets-talk-ab...
Slowly getting back into the swing of things again 😊
Slowly getting back into the swing of things again 😊
Let's talk about code reviews
Quick tips to make your feedback shine
danaciocan.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Wrote a blog post about code reviews: danaciocan.com/lets-talk-ab...
Slowly getting back into the swing of things again 😊
Slowly getting back into the swing of things again 😊
Interesting... appwrite.io/blog/post/wh...
I've only used TanStack Query so far but might have to have a go at TanStack Start at some point soon 🤔
I've only used TanStack Query so far but might have to have a go at TanStack Start at some point soon 🤔
Why developers are leaving Next.js for TanStack Start, and loving it
The React world is full of opinions, and every few years a new framework changes how we think about building apps. Next.js has been the default choice for a long time, but recently, more developers ha...
appwrite.io
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Interesting... appwrite.io/blog/post/wh...
I've only used TanStack Query so far but might have to have a go at TanStack Start at some point soon 🤔
I've only used TanStack Query so far but might have to have a go at TanStack Start at some point soon 🤔
I made a silly Halloween CSS art codepen codepen.io/dana-ciocan/...
you might want to open it up and hover over his face 😆
you might want to open it up and hover over his face 😆
Mayor from Nightmare Before Christmas
...
codepen.io
October 30, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I made a silly Halloween CSS art codepen codepen.io/dana-ciocan/...
you might want to open it up and hover over his face 😆
you might want to open it up and hover over his face 😆
I definitely feel like a JavaScript developer trying to use TypeScript a lot of the time, so doing some Total TypeScript learning today to try and improve
res.cloudinary.com/total-typesc...
res.cloudinary.com/total-typesc...
October 29, 2025 at 10:32 AM
I definitely feel like a JavaScript developer trying to use TypeScript a lot of the time, so doing some Total TypeScript learning today to try and improve
res.cloudinary.com/total-typesc...
res.cloudinary.com/total-typesc...
This seems really cool! Love the fact that web components stuff is all community-driven and it's native web tech.
daverupert.com/2025/10/cust...
daverupert.com/2025/10/cust...
The killer feature of Web Components
The personal blog of Dave Rupert, web developer and podcaster from Austin, TX.
daverupert.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:50 AM
This seems really cool! Love the fact that web components stuff is all community-driven and it's native web tech.
daverupert.com/2025/10/cust...
daverupert.com/2025/10/cust...