Create 2024 2025 blog post

blog/2025-01-01-a-look-back-at-2024-&-a-bold-step-into-2025/index.md

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+---
+title: >-
+  A look back at 2024 & a bold step into 2025!
+author: Elrick Ryan
+description: >
+  2024 was a year of breakthroughs, impact, and bold strides at Frontside. From structured concurrency with Effection v4 Alpha to revolutionizing testing with Interactors and Data-Driven Test Framework, to improving our Simulation Platform creating the Foundation Simulator. As we step into 2025, we're doubling down on empowering engineering teams and organizations to take bold steps and build with confidence. Here’s a look back at what we accomplished—and a glimpse into what’s next
+tags: [ "Vision 2025"]
+image: happy-new-year-2025-frontside.webp
+---
+
+Looking back at 2024, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished at
+Frontside. This year wasn’t just about building tools—it was about breaking
+barriers. We didn’t just launch features, ship code and tools, or solve
+technical challenges. We partnered with teams to tackle their hardest problems,
+guiding them to **take bold steps with confidence**—and watched as they turned
+those steps into real impact across their organizations.
+
+We took on some of the toughest product, engineering, testing and developer
+experience challenges across industries, pushed the boundaries of what’s
+possible, and, along the way, built tools and methodologies that are now helping
+teams innovate fearlessly with fewer obstacles.
+
+But what excites me isn’t just what we built—it’s the **WHY** behind everything.
+Every project we took on wasn’t just about shipping code; it was about **digging
+deep** to uncover and fix root causes and remove barriers—not just surface-level
+issues. We worked alongside our clients to tackle these challenges head-on, from
+technical and architectural roadblocks to developer, product, and user
+experience challenges. More importantly, we empowered our client champions to
+**own these solutions**, ensuring lasting impact across their entire
+organization.
+
+In 2025, we’re doubling down and continuing to be a **force multiplier** for
+engineering, executive, design system, testing, platform & infrastructure,
+developer experience, and product teams—helping them move faster, innovate
+fearlessly, and take bold steps with confidence.
+
+## **2024 look back**
+
+Rather than just listing milestones, I want to reflect on what these
+accomplishments meant—the challenges teams overcame, and how the breakthroughs
+helped engineering teams ship with confidence.
+
+---
+
+### **🚀 Effection v4 Alpha: Advancing Structured Concurrency in Javascript**
+
+_"When we started building Effection, our goal was simple: bring structured
+concurrency to javascript and make managing async workflows predictable,
+reliable, and effortless. Developers shouldn’t have to fight their tools to
+write stable, scalable async code."_
+
+Effection, our structured concurrency library, simplifies asynchronous code,
+enhances resource management, and streamlines complex workflows. In 2024,
+**Effection v4 Alpha** delivered critical advancements to improve the library.
+
+**Key Achievements:**
+
+✅ **Seamless Debugging** – Effection preserves uninterrupted Stack traces that
+feel just like a normal JavaScript call stack... with no extra tooling required.
+In this regard, Effection now stands out among structured concurrency libraries
+for JavaScript.
+
+✅ **LIFO Task Scheduling** – Deterministic execution with shared priorities.
+
+✅ **Smaller & Faster** – Despite new features being added, the gzipped bundle
+size reduced to **3KB** for maximum performance.
+
+✅ **A New Performance Standard** – Surpassed RxJS in performance benchmarks.
+
+Our clients rely on Effection to reduce complexity in asynchronous code and
+resource management and keep mission-critical asynchronous code execution
+running performantly and easily maintainable. From testing infrastructures to
+high-performance applications, Effection provides the foundation teams need to
+leverage the power of Structured Concurrency in Javascript environments.
+
+_"Effection isn't just powering workflows—it’s the invisible force behind some
+of our most powerful tools, from our Data-Driven Test Framework to Foundation
+Simulator and StarFX. It even enabled our breakthrough **Agent Interactor
+Pattern**. It’s our not-so-secret weapon."_
+
+---
+
+### **🛠️ Interactors: Expanding Testing Horizons with Playwright & Tauri**
+
+_"Testing shouldn’t be fragile, tedious, or dependent on brittle selectors—it
+should be intuitive, resilient, and an integral part of how teams build Design
+Systems and Test software. That’s why Interactors exist."_
+
+In 2024, Interactors continued to prove its value in real-world projects—it was
+integrated with Playwright, Integrated into Tauri as part of a proof of concept
+(POC) for a client, and leveraged in our Data-Driven Test Framework.
+
+**It helped teams:**
+
+✅ **Make design system changes without breaking downstream tests.**
+
+✅ **Test components across multiple platforms (web, mobile, desktop).**
+
+✅ **Write user-centric tests without relying on brittle selectors."**
+
+One of the biggest wins? **Engineering teams slashed maintenance time by
+removing fragile test selectors and accelerating release cycles and Tests while
+maintaining confidence in their UI components and Tests**. Interactors aren’t
+just about testing—they’re about creating **a seamless development experience
+where teams can build without fear of regressions**.
+
+Looking ahead to 2025, we’re excited to deepen its capabilities with **a
+dedicated CLI** and **enhanced support for Tauri** on the horizon.
+
+---
+
+### **🎭 Simulation: Decoupling frontend and backend development**
+
+_"When backend changes create bottlenecks, it doesn’t just slow down progress—it
+**stalls innovation**. That’s why we leaned hard into Simulation this year."_
+
+Our **Simulation Tooling** became the backbone for frontend independence,
+allowing teams to:
+
+✅ **Keep engineering momentum, even when backend services weren’t ready.**
+
+✅ **Bypass backend delays and ship prototypes on time.**
+
+✅ **Use simulation as a bridge for cross-team alignment.**
+
+Our **Simulators**:
+
+✅ **Foundation Simulator** – Reduced overhead for creating new simulators by
+providing a standardized setup. Now, we can continuously push improvements and
+core features to all simulators from a single repository.
+
+✅ **Github Simulator—New features!** Now supports **all REST endpoints** and
+**OAuth workflows**, making GitHub Simulation more complete and adaptable.
+
+**Real World Impact: Keeping Momentum with Simulation**
+
+One of our clients, working on a high-stakes internal product launch, leveraged
+Simulation to **prevent development from stalling** and kept frontend teams
+moving forward despite backend changes and under development. Instead of being
+blocked by backend delays and constant API changes, they simulated critical
+systems and APIs—allowing frontend teams to continue prototyping, building,
+testing, and shipping while backend development evolved in parallel.
+
+_"One of the most exciting things we saw this year was how Simulation became a
+**core strategy** for teams, not just a workaround. In 2025, we’re doubling down
+on making this even easier and more accessible."_
+
+---
+
+### **🧪 Revolutionizing Testing: A Data-Driven Approach**
+
+_"We asked: what if tests were treated as **data** instead of just scripts? The
+result was a Data-Driven Testing Framework—and it’s already changing how teams
+think about testing."_
+
+Our test advancements include:
+
+✅ **Instant insights** – Query test metadata without running suites.
+
+✅ **Data-driven testing** – No more guessing what’s covered.
+
+✅ **Snapshot reliability** – Ensure environments are in a known state before
+execution.
+
+✅ **Better debugging** – Visual test plan trees for clearer execution paths.
+
+By treating tests as data, teams gained **real-time insights into coverage,
+dependencies, and execution paths—without running the test suite**. This
+approach helped teams visualize their test suites for **faster feedback, testing
+strategy and debugging cycles**.
+
+_"2024 was about proving this concept—2025 is about **scaling it**."_
+
+---
+
+### **🌎 Partnering with the Linux Foundation to Elevate Developer Experience**
+
+_"We’ve always believed that sharing knowledge is as important as building great
+tools. That’s why we were honored to serve as the **Super SME** for the Linux
+Foundation’s Backstage Certification."_
+
+This year, we:
+
+✅ **Designed a real-world certification program content.**
+
+✅ **Helped shape the next generation of Backstage experts.**
+
+✅ **Empowered teams to take their Developer Experience to the next level.**
+
+_"This partnership reflects one of our core beliefs: **investing in the
+community strengthens the whole industry.**"_
+
+---
+
+## **🔮 What’s Next in 2025?**
+
+As much as we accomplished in 2024, **we’re just getting started.**
+
+Here’s what’s coming next:
+
+🎯 **Effection v4 Full Release** – Bringing structured concurrency to more
+teams.
+
+🎯 **Interactor CLI Launch** – Making testing workflows even smoother.
+
+🎯 **New Case Studies** – Showcasing the real-world impact of our tools.
+
+🎯 **Website Redesign** – A better way to explore Frontside.
+
+🎯 **Tauri Collaboration** – Extending Interactors into new frontiers.
+
+🎯 **Expanded Simulation Tooling** – Strengthening our suite of simulation
+solutions to help teams decouple development from backend dependencies
+
+🎯 **Enhancements to GitHub Simulator** - Improving documentation, refining
+ergonomics, and enhancing developer experience (DX).
+
+🎯 **Advanced Training & Resources -** We believe **knowledge-sharing amplifies
+impact**. Our workshops don’t just teach concepts—they help teams adopt best
+practices, drive change, and build lasting expertise.
+
+1. **Re-run Backstage Workshop** – Continuing to help teams master Backstage
+   plugin development.
+2. **Up and Running with Backstage Training** – Expanding on our Backstage
+   Plugin Workshop will help more teams get started with Backstage.
+3. **Testing and Simulation Training** – Covering best practices and
+   methodologies to enhance testing and simulation strategies.
+4. **Structured Concurrency Effection Workshop** – Deep diving into Effection
+   and structured concurrency principles for better async workflows.
+
+---
+
+At Frontside, we’re not just writing code—we’re **eliminating roadblocks** so
+teams can move and **build with confidence**.
+
+Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
+
+## 💡 **Let’s make 2025 extraordinary—together: Build with confidence and have an Impact**
+
+Are you facing challenges scaling your architecture, product, testing,
+simulation, or developer experience? Are you ready to make bold changes that
+drive real impact across your teams and organization?
+
+If you want a true partner—one who helps you build impactful solutions, create
+champions within your teams, and ensure your organization owns its success—let’s
+talk.
+
+🚫 No more over-the-fence solutions. We work alongside you to create lasting
+impact.

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