The 7 Most Popular DEV Posts from the Past Week
Tags: top7
Published: 2017-07-10 16:18:42

---
title: "The 7 Most Popular DEV Posts from the Past Week"
published: true
description: A round up of the most-read and most-loved contributions from the community this past week.
tags: icymi
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/xsr1z6iqv0pd7p3s6ns3.png
---

_Every Monday we round up some of the last week's top posts, comments, and tweets. If you have any feedback, please leave a comment._ â¤ï¸

# how-to https
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/aWxbEGCqkiZFK/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Everyone knows that _https_ always comes along when you copy a link...but what does it actually mean and how does it work? Rui Figueiredo explains how asymmetric key encryption makes the whole thing possible:

{% link https://dev.to/ruidfigueiredo/briefish-explanation-of-how-https-works %}

Pay attention, because there's very little on the web left that https doesn't touch:

{% tweet 815941108253552641 %}

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# Worst Decision Ever
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/RBeddeaQ5Xo0E/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Jose Gonzalez relates a story from his early career as a bootcamp TA, where he created an HTML/CSS tutorial that in retrospect, he thinks he should have published online. The conclusion: put your thoughts into a blog! (Preferably on dev.to ðŸ˜‰)

{% link https://dev.to/josegonz321/my-worst-career-decision-ever-made %}

Dev.to's own Andy Zhao, who also TA-ed at a bootcamp, agreed that it took some guts to write up his first post, but that he was glad he did it.

{% devcomment c7j %}

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# I'm on a New Level
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7TKF4h8d8MRwq9u8/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Personal growth as a developer doesn't always feel continuous: you reach a certain level of expertise and then have to find ways to improve your skills or else risk stagnation. Kim Arnett lists eight ways to keep...developing:

{% link https://dev.to/kimberlypilbeam/how-to-level-up-your-dev-game %}

The article received tons of comments from users who appreciated the motivation:

{% devcomment ced %}

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# Shellin' Out
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/3oKIPCZwjS22LEcjsI/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Being more efficient from the command line is something that all devs can appreciate, which is probably why Bhaskar Karambelkar's write-up on bash shell tricks was so popular:

{% link https://dev.to/bhaskar_vk/bash-shell-tricks %}

If you think you're exempt from getting better at bashing, think again:

{% tweet 820436921918881793 %} 

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# In Abstract Terms
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/3o72EZl65joVQaXpNS/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Abstraction is one of those core computer science concepts that most developers have a decent grasp of but might have trouble putting into their own words. Enter Eric Normand, who summarizes the idea:

{% link https://dev.to/ericnormand/what-is-an-abstraction %}

Some commenters had their own favorite definitions as well:

{% devcomment cb0 %}


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# Go fetch!
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/klPeFHrWqzPDW/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Phil Nash, one of dev.to's top contributors, shared his exploration with the background fetch API:

>The background fetch API allows a developer to perform and control fetches to large files or lists of files outside the context of a single page. This can increase the likelihood of successful uploads and downloads and allow the service worker to cache the results too.

Keep reading!

{% link https://dev.to/philnash/experimenting-with-the-background-fetch-api %}

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# Lucky Number Seven
<img src = "https://media.giphy.com/media/j0lP8tDuGXndS/giphy.gif" width = "700">

Becoming a better developer â€” or a better anything really â€” is about maintaining good habits. BinarForge lists seven useful habits for programmers


{% link https://dev.to/binarforge/seven-useful-programming-habits %}

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_That's it for our weekly wrapup! Keep an eye on Dev.to this week for daily content and discussions...and if you miss anything, we'll be sure to recap it next Monday!_