What I Learned This Week: From Web3 to Modern Web Architecture
Web3: Making Sense of the Crypto Jungle
This week, I dove headfirst into the world of Web3. It's wild, chaotic, but also incredibly fascinating. Here are some of the key things I learned:
- Centralized vs Decentralized Exchanges (CEX vs DEX): I now understand how they operate differently, including concepts like custodial risk, order books, and fees.
- Order Types: Market order vs Limit order—simple terms, but very different implications depending on volatility and slippage.
- Liquidity and Depth: These define how stable an exchange is for larger trades. Shallow depth = more price impact.
- Slippage: That annoying little hidden cost you notice only when it's already too late 😅.
- Cold vs Hot Wallets: Cold wallets = offline & safer. Hot wallets = online & faster, but also riskier.
Even if I’m not trading yet, it feels empowering to understand the backbone of Web3 infrastructure.
React Query vs React.use
I’ve always relied on useState + useEffect to fetch data, but React Query changes the game. Here’s how:
- It handles caching, loading, error, and refetching automatically.
- Works great with APIs, especially in apps where you’re reading remote data often.
- Less boilerplate than writing
fetch, setting state, handling loading manually.
Pairing this with tRPC was an eye-opener. I don’t have to manually write API routes with fetch—just define procedures and call them directly.
Also got more comfortable with React's experimental use() function—very cool for reading async resources in server components.
Next.js + TailwindCSS Deep Dive
- Server Actions: I explored this new way of handling mutations on the server, securely and without needing client-side API calls.
- Next.js API routes vs tRPC: Understanding when and why to use each helped me rethink my fullstack flow.
- TailwindCSS
data-*Attributes: These let you style components conditionally based on data state, without adding extra JS or class toggling. Clean and powerful!
Takeaway
Honestly, the amount of learning I crammed into one week surprised me. I’m starting to feel more confident navigating between frontend and backend concerns, and understanding what’s happening under the hood—whether it’s a React hook or a crypto exchange protocol.
These aren’t just “buzzwords” anymore—they’re starting to click.
I’m building things with more intention now.