A Byte of Coding Issue 372

Hey-yo,

Hope you all have a nice weekend! Here’s the issue.

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require(esm) in Node.js

Published: 18 March 2024

Tags: javascript, nodejs

Joyee Cheung elaborates on why and how she added require for ES modules to nodejs.

Some highlights:

• require didn’t work before because ES modules were async

• delay in implementation likely due to a silo problem (those who worked on the ESM implementation and those who didn’t)

• feature is still experimental

Introducing Natural Input for WebXR in Apple Vision Pro

Published: 19 March 2024

Tags: web, vr

Ada Rose Cannon and Brandel Zachernuk “explore how natural input for WebXR works, and how to leverage it when developing a WebXR experience for Apple Vision Pro”. I’d be curious to hear if anyone tried the headset and what they think.

Some highlights:

• “WebXR lets you transform 3D experiences created in WebGL into immersive, spatial experiences available directly in the browser”

• webxr standard assumed input would be through hardware (buttons and mice), so had to be modified for the spatial input used by the headset

• issues exist but can be reported to the webkit team

The Developer’s Guide to SSO

Published: 27 October 2023

Tags: sponsored, auth, web

WorkOS has published a guide on how to best integrate single sign-on (SSO) in your app.

Some highlights:

• common requirement for enterprise customers

• ​describes the general request flow for a user logging in with SSO

• summarizes how to build SSO from scratch and how to use existing providers

Vector Similarity Search with PostgreSQL’s pgvector – A Deep Dive

Published: 20 March 2024

Tags: postgres, ml, database

Divine Odazie elaborates on the specifics of pgvector, which is a postgres extension that allows you to easily store and use vector embeddings.

Some highlights:

• not really a deep, deep dive, but definitely covers most aspects of the extension

• can be used for natural language processing, image search and recognition, recommendation systems, and anomaly detection and fraud prevention

• also goes over the different indices that can be used