Toptal Blog

The Toptal Blog is the top hub for developers, designers, management consultants, executives, and entrepreneurs, featuring key technology updates, tutorials, freelancer resources, and management insights.

Toptal core team members share their experience, expertise, and perspectives on the Toptal Edge Blog

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The 10 Most Common JavaScript Issues Developers Face

At first, JavaScript may seem quite simple. Yet the language is significantly more nuanced, powerful, and complex than one would initially be led to believe. Many of JavaScript’s subtleties lead to a number of common problems—10 of which we discuss here—that keep code from behaving as intended. It’s important to be aware of and avoid these pitfalls in one’s quest to become a master JavaScript developer.

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Ryan J. Peterson

Ryan is an architect, entrepreneur, and developer. He is skilled in building cloud-scalable, extensible software systems.

Unity AI Development: An xNode-based Graphical FSM Tutorial

Take your Unity AI game to the next level with xNode. In this tutorial, we boost our FSM-based AI with a graphical user interface, delivering an enhanced development environment.

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Garegin Tadevosyan

Garegin is an accomplished Unity and C# game developer. He created a networking protocol for gamified playground equipment, served as the CTO of an educational gaming startup, and was a game developer on a multinational social-casino team.

For Your Health: 5 Tips and Strategies for Wellness Branding

The health and wellness industry is booming, creating opportunity—and a competitive market. Wellness businesses can apply these branding best practices to stand out and connect with customers.

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Pilar Rios Niño

Pilar is a UX/UI designer and illustrator with deep expertise building brand design and strategy for yoga, health food, and fitness companies. She holds a postgraduate degree in UX/UI design and bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and advertising and public relations.

How to Define an MVP Scope in 3 Hours

Scoping an MVP doesn’t have to take days. Product manager Phillip Wood explains how he gathers product specialists, designers, and engineers to brainstorm features, pare them down, and create wireframes—all in a few hours.

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Phillip Wood

Phil is a senior product leader with 17 years of fintech experience. He has led consulting engagements with Visa, Mastercard, and TD Bank, and built successful payment and business loan products with fintech startups. Phil has a record of driving increased user engagement through better product and UX design.

Elevate Your E-commerce Journey With Animated UX Microinteractions

Toptal experts share their insights and best practices for designing motion effects that enhance e-commerce UX and increase conversions.

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Emily Adiseshiah

Emily is a UX writer and editor whose work has been featured in UX Magazine, Usability Geek, Justinmind, and other noteworthy publications.

Python vs. R: Syntactic Sugar Magic

Python and R empower data scientists to solve problems using elegant syntactic sugar, simplifying coding and solution exploration. Each language brings its unique capabilities and approach to bear.

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Leandro Roser

Leandro is a data scientist and machine learning developer who creates solutions for companies, including Profasee and Boston Consulting Group. He has expertise with TensorFlow, Spark, Python, and R.

Forensic Accounting: Due Diligence’s Secret Weapon

More than just a way to investigate financial crimes, forensic accounting is the most in-depth form of due diligence and compliance. But smaller firms often overlook its value. Here’s why that’s risky.

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Ryan Zanoni

Ryan is a Senior Editor at Toptal. He has more than 11 years of experience as a writer and editor covering business and technology.

Necessary Friction: The Theatrics of UX Security

Contrary to conventional wisdom, there are times when making products harder to use can be beneficial. Here’s how to use positive friction to enhance UX security and user trust.

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Nenad Ivanovic

Nenad is a digital product designer and security expert who specializes in identity verification, e-commerce marketplaces, and fintech platforms. He has led design teams at creative agencies, IT firms, and startups, and has presented at conferences and events, such as UX Belgrade.

Supply Chain Lessons and Opportunities: Learnings From a Crisis

The supply chain crisis caused global players and local businesses alike to rethink logistics networks. Here’s how the world economy can emerge stronger and more resilient.

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Zachary Elfman

Zachary is an expert in financial modeling, fundamental analysis, and valuation. He has completed the sale of a small business, advised on early-stage funding rounds, and acted as interim CFO for startup companies. He holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics and Political Science.