Kyle Shevlin

Hi, I'm Kyle Shevlin, founder and lead software engineer of Agathist, a software development firm that specializes in web & mobile applications built with React, React Native , Astro and TypeScript .

I am also a writer, speaker and coding instructor. This is my personal site where I share all the content I create.

I primarily write articles and create courses, focusing on breaking software concepts down to their fundamentals. Check out one of my posts or courses (or all of them). If you like what you read, then sign up for my newsletter, too.

If you're looking to hire me and my team, send an email to kyle@agath.ist. If you need to reach me regarding something else, then my personal email is the best way to do so.

Enjoy your time here and thank you.

Recent Posts

1. Responsive Design and Composition

   Responsive UI can be very challenging to write well and can often lead to some of the nastiest code you have ever encountered. Learn how to use multiple compositions to make responsive design a whole lot cleaner and easier.

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   Tags

   ReactCSSTailwindRefactoring
2. Design System Retrospective

   What I learned and what I would do differently

   I built a cross platform (React & React Native) design system at my last company. I'm in the middle of building another one for a client. Let me tell you what I learned, decisions I regret, and what I'm doing differently this time.

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   Tags

   ReactDesign SystemsCSSTailwind
3. Prefer Noun-Adjective Naming

   English grammar puts the adjective before the noun, but when it comes to file or function naming, I think you should do the opposite.

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   Tags

   ReactJavaScriptTypeScript
4. Prefer Multiple Compositions

   aka Prefer Understandability and Maintainability Over Absolute DRYness

   The flexibility of JavaScript and React means there are lots of ways to achieve the same result. Let's consider why we might choose one way over another when it comes to React. Specifically, when to choose a more verbose solution with composition over the DRYest code possible.

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   Tags

   ReactJavaScriptTypeScriptRefactoring
5. align-items: center vs. text-align: center

   aka Understanding flex columns better

   Let me show you one of the most common things I see people get confused about when working the Flex columns.

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   Tags

   ReactCSSTailwind
6. Creating a React Native “Curved Bottom Bar” with Handwritten SVG

   I recently made a "curved bottom bar" in React Native for a client. Instead of using a library, let's build it from scratch with some handwritten SVG. It's no where near as intimidating as it sounds.

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   Tags

   ReactReact NativeSVGJavaScript
7. Tailwind “Minimum Full Height” Layout

   I've been using Tailwind CSS on a lot of projects lately. Almost all my layouts for these projects are some version of the "minimum full height" layout, and I wanted to quickly show you how I do that with Tailwind.

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   Tags

   TailwindCSS
8. Make Checkpoint

   aka How a Makefile Improves my Side Projects

   Learn how to create a simple Makefile to quickly create a "checkpoint" in your Git history when you are rapidly prototyping.

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   Tags

   ProductivityPrototypingScripts
9. Agathist VSCode Themes

   I created a VSCode theme inspired by Agathist's brand colors and released it as a VSCode Extension.

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   Tags

   VSCode
10. Two Types of Composition

    Not only is "composition" a confusing word, but there is more than one way to do it. Let's break those ways down into two types and learn about "nesting composition" versus "merging composition".

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    Tags

    JavaScriptTypeScriptSoftware Engineering