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.

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

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UX Myths – Prototyping, User Testing, and UX Deliverables

Prototyping, user testing, and UX deliverables are important to the design process, but there are some UX myths that can put these processes at risk of being devalued by clients.

9-minute readContinue Reading
James Tucker

James Tucker

James is a problem-solver who fuses cognitive science techniques with interaction design to make products people love.

ELK to AWS: Managing Logs With Less Hassle

The ELK stack boasts a range of impressive capabilities, but in some scenarios, it can be difficult to configure and maintain.

In this article, Toptal DevOps Engineer Fabrice Triboix explains why he decided to shift to a serverless solution that requires less maintenance and allows for superior scaling.

9-minute readContinue Reading
Fabrice Triboix

Fabrice Triboix

Fabrice is a cloud architect and software developer with 20+ years of experience who’s worked for Cisco, Samsung, Philips, Alcatel, and Sagem.

Will JS Frameworks Spark a Front-end Revolution?

Are Vue.js, React, and Angular actually delivering a good developer and user experience, or are they used simply because they’re the current de facto standard? Discover some exciting approaches to web development.

< 5-minute readContinue Reading
Kevin Bloch

Kevin Bloch

Kevin has 20+ years among full-stack, desktop, and indie game development. He lately specializes in PostgreSQL, JavaScript, Perl, and Haxe.

What Is Strategic Design Thinking and How Can It Empower Designers?

Designers are not mere pixel pushers. If they improved communication and employed their skills more effectively through strategic design thinking, they could make a bigger impact with their work.

8-minute readContinue Reading
Kent Mundle

Kent Mundle

Kent is a globally recognized environmental designer who uses design and writing to create innovative and transformative experiences.

A Deep Look at JSON vs. XML, Part 3: XML and the Future of JSON

In Part 1 and 2, we took a closer look at the evolution of the web, how XML and JSON arose, and the differences between the two standards.

In this final part of our series on JSON vs. XML, Toptal Freelance Full-stack Developer Seva Safris looks at XML as a data interchange format and how well it supports complex requirements. And finally, he will discuss the future of JSON as well as explore solutions that bring the strengths of XML to JSON.

17-minute readContinue Reading
Seva Safris

Seva Safris

Seva is a veteran of both enterprise and startups and a UC Berkeley graduate in EECS and MSE with 20 years of industry experience.

A Deep Look At JSON vs. XML, Part 2: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Both

Nearly all computer applications rely on either JSON or XML. Today, JSON has overtaken XML, but is it better? In part 1 of this series on JSON vs. XML, we take a closer look at the history of the web to uncover the original purpose of XML and JSON and analyze how JSON became the popular choice.

15-minute readContinue Reading
Seva Safris

Seva Safris

Seva is a veteran of both enterprise and startups with 20 years of industry experience and a UC Berkeley graduate in EECS and MSE.

Yours Truly, Freelance Design Advice

It wasn’t easy, but you looked uncertainty in the eye and made the biggest bet of your career. Now what? We’ve got an encouraging word for new freelancers and anyone who’s braved self-employment.

< 5-minute readContinue Reading
Micah Bowers

Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

A Deep Look at JSON vs. XML, Part 1: The History of Each Standard

Nearly all computer applications rely on one of two principal message standards: JSON and XML. Today, JSON is the most widely used format, having overtaken XML within the last 5 years, but is JSON better than XML?

In part 1 of this multi-part series on JSON vs. XML, Toptal Freelance Full-stack Developer Seva Safris will take a closer look at the history of the web to uncover the original purpose of XML and JSON, and analyze the software trends in recent years that lead to JSON becoming more popular than XML.

13-minute readContinue Reading
Seva Safris

Seva Safris

Seva is a veteran of both enterprise and startups with 20 years of industry experience, and a UC Berkeley graduate in EECS and MSE.

How to Structure an Effective Typographic Hierarchy

Since designers work with so much text-based content, creating an effective typographic hierarchy—one that clearly shows what information is most important—is a vital skill for designers to master.

7-minute readContinue Reading
Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman

Cameron comes from a design background and is the author of two web design books: Color for Web Design and The Smashing Idea Book.

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