5 Alien Articles of the Week Worth Reading 👽📖
Tags: beginners, webdev, productivity, css
Published: 2019-02-13 20:13:36

---
title: 5 Alien Articles of the Week Worth Reading 👽📖
published: true
description: 
tags: beginners, webdev, productivity, css
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jrq0szvayz93qpzxynvq.png
series: alien articles
---
Hello to all of you! I've been doing a lot of reading lately so I thought why not share the knowledge. Here are my favorite bits from the last week...ish. These are the articles posted outside Dev.to, hence the moniker "alien". 👽

# 1. It's not me, Google, it's you - from GA to Fathom
For those of us who're tired of Google monetizing the hell out of people's data. If you want to keep track of the analytics without using GA, check out this article by Jeff Geerling. It talks about Fathom, which is gaining popularity very quickly. We all know that Google sells our data and our site's user data to third-party businesses, and many of us are starting to realize how bad this can be in the long run. This is where Fathom comes in. With Fathom, you don't have to agree to share any data with those third-party apps, because every user tracking data will be stored in your own website only.

[![Alt text of image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/kl0fqddojq9jvo89jxs8.png)](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2019/its-not-me-google-its-you-ga-fathom)

# 2. 5 Tasks You Didn't Know Could be Done with Pure HTML and CSS
This article by August R. Garcia shows us just how powerful pure HTML & CSS can be when used right. It's a short read, but many of us might be unaware of these things, so it's definitely worth checking out. It also talks a little bit about how CSS frameworks can add unnecessary bloat and complexity, which you can read more about [here](https://dev.to/teamxenox/do-we-really-need-a-css-framework-4ma6). Now go ahead and be an HTML ninja! 

[![Alt text of image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/4yf7qcv4g9gk7som316t.png)](https://www.256kilobytes.com/content/show/4399/get-these-dependencies-off-my-lawn-5-tasks-you-didnt-know-could-be-done-with-pure-html-and-css)

# 3. Performance vs Readability
In the world of software development, team changes takes place constantly. People come and people go, but the code stays, so it becomes super important to maintain both the readability and performance of our code. But there are times when we have to sacrifice one for the other. This article by Riccardo Polacci can guide you on when and what to prioritize, depending on the needs of your project.

[![Alt text of image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/z1kswd90hxx2x3hnlvlm.png)](https://medium.com/@riccardopolacci/performance-vs-readability-2e9332730790)

# 4. How to create a beating heart with pure CSS for your Valentine
So Valentine's Day is just around the corner and you want to do something special for your Valentine. Why not put your coding skills to good use? Check out this article by Dimitris Kiriakakis. He uses his CSS skills to create a beautiful beating heart.


[![Alt text of image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/fkmf54m7sluy4u0sbxct.png)](https://medium.freecodecamp.org/how-to-create-a-beating-heart-with-pure-css-for-your-valentine-2aeb05e2d36e)

# 5. A not-to-do list for beginner programmers.
As beginner programmers, most of us are prone to making silly mistakes during our learning process, some more so than others. This can sometimes lead to frustration and delay in mastering new skills, which can be easily avoided. I've made my fair share of rookie mistakes, which is why I can appreciate this article by Srivats1212 on Reddit, covering easily avoidable beginner mistakes. I'm sure you will too.

[![Alt text of image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/k468qd0fskupw1pujq9o.png)](https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/aoyzj4/a_nottodo_list_for_beginner_programmers/)

# Let me know what you think!
What are your thoughts on the above mentioned articles? And what all have you guys been reading? Tell me in the comments please! I would also love to know what are your favorite dev blogs. Good day! ❤

![](https://media.giphy.com/media/3FpqQaBwCRIKQ/giphy.gif)