Books and writing

Explaining something clearly is the best test of whether you really understand it. So I write a lot.

JavaScript Electronics (2018)

Beginners guide to building circuits and program electronics with JavaScript, Node.js and Arduino

The book behind a lot of this site. Over 141 pages, it takes web developers with no electronics background from blinking an LED to building a smart talking plant. Along the way: circuits from first principles, Node.js web, REST and WebSocket servers, sensors for temperature, light, motion and soil moisture, SMS and Twitter notifications, live data charts and speech synthesis.

It holds a 5.0 rating on Amazon.

JavaScript Electronics on Amazon

Introduction to JavaScript Electronics (2018)

The short version: 49 pages you can finish in an afternoon. Run JavaScript outside the browser, wire up an Arduino UNO, switch an LED from code, and read real temperature and light sensors. It's the quickest route from "I'm a web developer" to "I just built a circuit."

Introduction to JavaScript Electronics on Amazon

All you need is HTML and CSS (2021)

Building interactive web interfaces with no JavaScript

221 pages pushing the browser's simplest languages as far as they'll go. Animated carousels, image maps with dismissible popups, an analogue and a digital clock, a calorie counter, a shopping basket, accordions three ways, tabs and a fully working star rating component. None of it uses a line of JavaScript.

Beginners learn that they can build far more than they think. Seasoned JavaScript developers get a reminder that the platform already does a lot of what they reach for libraries to do. Lighter pages, fewer bugs, faster sites. It's the same thinking behind Stracciatella.

All you need is HTML and CSS on Amazon · All the book's examples on GitHub

On Medium and YouTube

Most of my experiments get written up on Medium and filmed for the Marshalco TECH YouTube channel: AI voice assistants, fine-tuned models, LLM-driven apps, advanced React, CSS-only components and plenty of hardware. Some of it went properly viral. The ChatGPT-powered HomeKit assistant alone collected around 3,000 claps.

A few good places to start:

• ChatGPT in an iOS Shortcut: the world's smartest HomeKit voice assistant
• I replaced my app's core JavaScript logic with AI
• 18 advanced React techniques every senior dev needs to know
• Build a modern web app without frameworks
• CSS-only interactive, swipeable image carousel

Why it matters if you're hiring me

Writing forces clarity, and clarity is half of consultancy. The way I explain a circuit to a beginner is the way I'll explain an architecture decision to your board. If you'd like that clarity on your project, or a workshop for your team, get in touch.

Follow along

• Mate Marschalko on Medium
• Marshalco TECH on YouTube
• Web on Devices on GitHub