This weeks newsletter (#1228)

app/(app)/letters/end-of-year-release-notes/page.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+Tue, December 17, 2024 • Niall Maher
+
+# ⭐️ git commit -m 'End of Year Release Notes'
+
+The end of the year is here, and like any good development cycle, it's time for a well-deserved break. We'll pause our weekly newsletters until January 7th to rest, refactor our thoughts, and come back with fresh perspectives for 2025.
+
+But before we git checkout to holiday mode, **I want to take a moment to thank YOU**. Yes, you reading this right now. You've made 2024 our most impactful year yet at Codú. Together, we've built something truly special:
+
+✨ 17 in-person events brought together over 2,000 developers\
+✨ Supported emerging talent through 40+ mentorship sessions\
+✨ Watched our knowledge base grow to 900+ articles\
+✨ Celebrated reaching 20,000 monthly readers\
+✨ Had our biggest Hacktoberfest celebration ever\
+✨ Delivered nearly 50 weekly newsletters straight to your inbox\
+✨ Helped countless developers level up through CV reviews & 1-on-1 support
+
+These aren't just numbers -- they represent real connections, growth, and achievements in our developer community. Whenever you opened a newsletter, attended an event, or shared your knowledge, **you helped make this community.**
+
+## 📚 This Week's Picks
+
+**[10 new Git commands you should start using today](https://appwrite.io/blog/post/10-git-commands-you-should-start-using)** (10 min)\
+Learn these Git commands to make your workflow smoother, faster, and flexible.
+
+**[Fun](https://github.com/vercel/fun)** (GitHub Repo)\
+Another golden resource from Vercel. Fun provides a local development runtime for serverless functions. It supports various runtimes (Node.js, Python, and Go) and closely mimics the AWS Lambda environment.
+
+**[How Google takes the pain out of code reviews, with 97% dev satisfaction](https://read.engineerscodex.com/p/how-google-takes-the-pain-out-of)**\
+A study of Google's code review tooling (Critique), AI-powered improvements, and recent statistics.
+
+**[Pure CSS Halftone Effect in 3 Declarations](https://frontendmasters.com/blog/pure-css-halftone-effect-in-3-declarations)** (16 min)\
+Ana shows us how to create an excellent CSS halftone effect with a single div.
+
+**[State of Node.js Performance 2024](https://nodesource.com/blog/State-of-Nodejs-Performance-2024)** (11 min)\
+This article revisits the State of Node.js performance, with a focus on comparing versions 20 through 22. The goal is to provide a detailed analysis of how the platform has evolved over the past year.
+
+**[The CSS Display Property is Changing Forever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY0FN71vCbw)** (video)\
+In this video Kyle will teach you the new way to use the display property as well as what this means going forward for CSS.
+
+**[Next.js 15.1](https://nextjs.org/blog/next-15-1)** (release)\
+Next.js 15.1 has stable React 19 support in both routing systems and improved error debugging with enhanced source maps. They also added some more tweaks that you can read all about here.
+
+## 📖 Book of the Week
+
+**[Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track](https://amzn.to/41AhCsD)**
+
+If you've ever wondered about growing your career beyond "senior developer" without jumping into management, this book is for you. Will Larson has created the definitive guide to technical leadership, and it's the perfect read while you're taking a break from writing code.
+
+This book is unique because it breaks down the often mysterious path to Staff Engineer through real stories and practical strategies. Larson interviewed dozens of Staff+ engineers from companies like Stripe, Square, and Slack to understand what this role looks like in practice.
+
+The book is particularly valuable because it:
+
+- Demystifies the different types of Staff Engineer roles (Did you know there are four distinct archetypes?)
+- Provides concrete examples of what Staff Engineers do day-to-day
+- Offers practical guidance on how to operate at this level
+- Shows you how to navigate the transition from Senior to Staff Engineer
+
+Whether you're actively pursuing a Staff Engineer role or just curious about what's beyond Senior Developer, this book gives you a clear map of the terrain ahead. It's one of those rare technical books that's deeply insightful and immediately practical.
+
+If you've got some downtime over the holidays, this could be the perfect investment in your 2025 career growth.
+
+## 🛠️ Something Cool
+
+**[Regex Crossword](https://regexcrossword.com/)**
+
+Did you enjoy last week's SQL Murder Mystery? Here's another nerdy puzzle to keep your brain ticking over the holiday break.
+
+Imagine combining the satisfaction of solving a crossword puzzle with the mind-bending challenge of regular expressions. That's exactly what Regex Crossword delivers. Each puzzle presents you with a grid where the clues are regex patterns, and you need to fill in characters that match all the patterns simultaneously.
+
+Start with tutorials if you're new to regex, or dive straight into progressively harder challenges if you feel confident. Fair warning: what starts as "I'll just try one puzzle" can quickly turn into a hours!
+
+This might be the most productive procrastination you'll do over the holidays. Just don't blame me if you get addicted to solving `^[CHRS]{4}$` type puzzles!
+
+## 🔗 Quick Links
+
+- [Codú TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@codu.co)
+- [Our YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@codu)
+- [Find us on Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/codudotco)
+
+If you have any ideas or feedback, reply to this email.
+
+Thanks, and stay awesome,
+
+Niall
+
+Founder @ [Codú](https://www.codu.co/?ref=newsletter)