Tony Alicea
@tonyalicea.dev
Udemy & Pluralsight Instructor - The Smyth Group - https://tonyalicea.dev/courses - https://thesmythgroup.com
350,000 students and counting. Don't Imitate, Understand.
350,000 students and counting. Don't Imitate, Understand.
The second episode of my new Don't Imitate Understand podcast is out! In it we talk about an important skill that leads and devs should have: the ability to be Abstraction Breakers.
Web dev is an ecosystem of leaky abstractions. Good architecture means understanding them. 👇
Web dev is an ecosystem of leaky abstractions. Good architecture means understanding them. 👇
November 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
The second episode of my new Don't Imitate Understand podcast is out! In it we talk about an important skill that leads and devs should have: the ability to be Abstraction Breakers.
Web dev is an ecosystem of leaky abstractions. Good architecture means understanding them. 👇
Web dev is an ecosystem of leaky abstractions. Good architecture means understanding them. 👇
(1/10) Big Announcement! I'm incredibly excited to announce a new way to learn with me and fight skill atrophy in the age of AI. Introducing All Access Mentorship.
It's a way to save money on courses from me, connect live every month, plus lots of other perks: 👇
It's a way to save money on courses from me, connect live every month, plus lots of other perks: 👇
October 24, 2025 at 12:20 PM
(1/10) Big Announcement! I'm incredibly excited to announce a new way to learn with me and fight skill atrophy in the age of AI. Introducing All Access Mentorship.
It's a way to save money on courses from me, connect live every month, plus lots of other perks: 👇
It's a way to save money on courses from me, connect live every month, plus lots of other perks: 👇
1/6 📚 Something I'm excited to share:
I'm now offering special group and community rates for my "Understanding React" course to student cohorts, bootcamps, learning groups, and community organizations.
I'm now offering special group and community rates for my "Understanding React" course to student cohorts, bootcamps, learning groups, and community organizations.
June 12, 2025 at 2:26 PM
1/6 📚 Something I'm excited to share:
I'm now offering special group and community rates for my "Understanding React" course to student cohorts, bootcamps, learning groups, and community organizations.
I'm now offering special group and community rates for my "Understanding React" course to student cohorts, bootcamps, learning groups, and community organizations.
🧵 Introducing Spec-Based Prompting for User Interfaces – a vocabulary for guiding AI-generated designs inspired by shot-based prompting (zero-shot, few-shot) but focused on specification detail instead of examples [1/6]
May 21, 2025 at 2:33 PM
🧵 Introducing Spec-Based Prompting for User Interfaces – a vocabulary for guiding AI-generated designs inspired by shot-based prompting (zero-shot, few-shot) but focused on specification detail instead of examples [1/6]
Diátaxis is a popular approach to writing technical documentation. But it also explains why students get stuck in tutorial hell.
Most courses fall in the "tutorials" and "how-to" quadrants; docs in the "reference" quadrant. But, in the real world, you need the understanding.
Most courses fall in the "tutorials" and "how-to" quadrants; docs in the "reference" quadrant. But, in the real world, you need the understanding.
February 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Diátaxis is a popular approach to writing technical documentation. But it also explains why students get stuck in tutorial hell.
Most courses fall in the "tutorials" and "how-to" quadrants; docs in the "reference" quadrant. But, in the real world, you need the understanding.
Most courses fall in the "tutorials" and "how-to" quadrants; docs in the "reference" quadrant. But, in the real world, you need the understanding.
You can't call everything a skill issue. There's such a thing as ergonomics (a UX and DX concept).
Like the masochist's coffee pot, if a tool makes it easy to do something wrong, it isn't purely a skill issue when something goes wrong.
Like the masochist's coffee pot, if a tool makes it easy to do something wrong, it isn't purely a skill issue when something goes wrong.
February 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
You can't call everything a skill issue. There's such a thing as ergonomics (a UX and DX concept).
Like the masochist's coffee pot, if a tool makes it easy to do something wrong, it isn't purely a skill issue when something goes wrong.
Like the masochist's coffee pot, if a tool makes it easy to do something wrong, it isn't purely a skill issue when something goes wrong.
I've realized that a key to truly getting RSCs is remembering that React co-opted the term "render", which means "client rendering" and "server rendering" are also co-opted.
Made this to commemorate the moment. :D
Made this to commemorate the moment. :D
January 11, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I've realized that a key to truly getting RSCs is remembering that React co-opted the term "render", which means "client rendering" and "server rendering" are also co-opted.
Made this to commemorate the moment. :D
Made this to commemorate the moment. :D
My talk on React Compiler at @reactsummit.gitnation.org is now available to watch for free with no registration! Check it out: gitnation.com/contents/if-...
December 23, 2024 at 1:31 PM
My talk on React Compiler at @reactsummit.gitnation.org is now available to watch for free with no registration! Check it out: gitnation.com/contents/if-...
Really appreciated this testimonial from an Understanding React student this week. I spent 2 years carefully designing a React internals course accessible to both devs new to React *and* devs with years of React experience.
I'm so glad devs of all levels are finding it helpful.
I'm so glad devs of all levels are finding it helpful.
December 11, 2024 at 8:07 PM
Really appreciated this testimonial from an Understanding React student this week. I spent 2 years carefully designing a React internals course accessible to both devs new to React *and* devs with years of React experience.
I'm so glad devs of all levels are finding it helpful.
I'm so glad devs of all levels are finding it helpful.
I was a bit scared of putting out a course on a topic so different from my other courses. I'm so glad to see people "getting it".
It's available this week for Black Friday on Udemy for....seriously.....a ridiculously good price.
www.udemy.com/course/right...
It's available this week for Black Friday on Udemy for....seriously.....a ridiculously good price.
www.udemy.com/course/right...
November 26, 2024 at 12:22 AM
I was a bit scared of putting out a course on a topic so different from my other courses. I'm so glad to see people "getting it".
It's available this week for Black Friday on Udemy for....seriously.....a ridiculously good price.
www.udemy.com/course/right...
It's available this week for Black Friday on Udemy for....seriously.....a ridiculously good price.
www.udemy.com/course/right...
Had a lot of fun being interviewed by @henrihelvetica.bsky.social at React Summit. A great conference!
November 22, 2024 at 11:13 PM
Had a lot of fun being interviewed by @henrihelvetica.bsky.social at React Summit. A great conference!
It was so nice to meet @kentcdodds.com at React Summit! #reactsummitus
November 20, 2024 at 6:47 PM
It was so nice to meet @kentcdodds.com at React Summit! #reactsummitus
Awesome to be present for @tannerlinsley.com announcing TanStack Start moving into beta. Congrats to Tanner and the team! #reactsummitus
November 20, 2024 at 2:59 AM
Awesome to be present for @tannerlinsley.com announcing TanStack Start moving into beta. Congrats to Tanner and the team! #reactsummitus
Had a fantastic lunch chatting with @jherr.dev and @htmx.bsky.social about the skill of debugging and lots more. Loving this conference! #reactsummitus
November 19, 2024 at 7:42 PM
Had a fantastic lunch chatting with @jherr.dev and @htmx.bsky.social about the skill of debugging and lots more. Loving this conference! #reactsummitus
At this crazy awesome venue for #jsnationus watching @wesbos.com doing a great job taking us through new things in the web platform!
November 18, 2024 at 9:33 PM
At this crazy awesome venue for #jsnationus watching @wesbos.com doing a great job taking us through new things in the web platform!
It was great to meet @acemarke.dev in person after connecting on the Reactiflux discord! #jsnationus
November 18, 2024 at 8:58 PM
It was great to meet @acemarke.dev in person after connecting on the Reactiflux discord! #jsnationus
Had a great time at lunch talking with @addyosmani.bsky.social about Chrome dev tools! #jsnationus
November 18, 2024 at 8:28 PM
Had a great time at lunch talking with @addyosmani.bsky.social about Chrome dev tools! #jsnationus
November 18, 2024 at 5:30 PM
Ok @jsnation.gitnation.org, I’m here! Come say hi! #jsnationus
November 18, 2024 at 5:07 PM
Ok @jsnation.gitnation.org, I’m here! Come say hi! #jsnationus