April 2025 – Hot New Web Dev

Welcome to Hot Web Dev April 2025, featuring the latest technology, web development news and articles. This month features the latest Ubuntu version and its support for additional technology. Unfortunately, more WordPress malware has been discovered again. Are you building an API? If so, the tool of the month is right up your street.

It’s All About Ubuntu

Ubuntu 25.04, codenamed “Plucky Puffin,” is now available for download. This release includes improvements to the installer and GNOME 48 desktop environment and support for newer hardware and graphics drivers. Ubuntu 25.04 is supported until January 2026, with upgrades available to Ubuntu 25.10 in October.

Ubuntu 25.04 includes a refined Flutter-based OS installer, making dual-boot setups with Windows easier. It also features notification grouping in GNOME 48, a new Wellbeing panel for screen time tracking, and HDR support, though the latter is not enabled by default and has limitations. Other improvements include battery health preservation, centred windows, and faster file loading in Nautilus.

Ubuntu 24.04 developer images are now available for the OrangePi RV2 RISC-V single-board computer. The OrangePi RV2 is a low-cost SBC powered by the KY-X1 octa-core SoC, supporting RVA22 and vector extensions, and is available in configurations with eMMC storage ranging from 16GB to 128 GB.

Source

OMG Ubuntu

WordPress Malware

Malware has been discovered for those of you who have WordPress sites. This new WordPress malware disguises itself as a legitimate plugin. Discovered by Wordfence, a security plugin for the platform, the malware named “WP-antimalware-bot.php” allows attackers persistent access to infected websites, injects malicious code and serves remote advertisements to visitors. As always, be wary of installing plugins you don’t know about, and in particular, do not download them from the internet without researching first.

Source

Info Security Magazine

Learning Resources

Wanna be a software engineer? This podcast discusses effective learning for software engineers, emphasising the importance of applying knowledge through challenging projects and embracing frustration as a sign of valuable learning. It highlights the value of timeless concepts over framework-specific details and suggests mixing theory with practice in small chunks.

Moving on to Domain-Driven Design (DDD), which prioritises the business domain over technical considerations, promoting collaboration between engineers and domain experts. It offers clarity and a flexible model for complex systems, especially in evolving domains with multiple teams.

If you like a good read, I recommend you check out this comprehensive list of articles, summarised in one blog post. Whatever your topic, there is bound to be something you will enjoy.

Coding Resources

This article provides seven practical tips to harden a Node.js API, including using environment variables, validating input, rate limiting endpoints, using HTTPS, implementing Helmet for secure HTTP headers, sanitising data, and using strong authentication and authorisation. These measures help protect against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, brute force attacks, and data leaks.

Developers must proactively protect personal data as users trust them to handle it responsibly. Safeguarding data is not just good practice, it is a responsibility.

WOW Tool Of The Month

The tool of the month for April is software that rivals Postman, a popular API testing tool. Bruno is an open-source API client that is offline-first, Git friendly and designed for simplicity, efficiency and freedom for developers. Collections are stored locally and version-controlled using Git. The aim is to solve the issues of collaboration and data privacy in API clients and provide developers with a better experience. Everything is stored locally on your computer with little need to connect to the cloud or any data syncing.

Must Read Resources From April 2025

• The Hidden Cost of AI Coding
• Mastering tsconfig.json: The Ultimate Guide to Configuring TypeScript Projects
• 5 Best Node.js Practices to Develop Scalable and Robust Applications
• Building An Offline-Friendly Image Upload System
• How to write error messages that actually help users rather than frustrate them