M Bytes
Watch. Read. Apply. One topic every week.
đ§ M Bytes #19: Can you "vibe code" a production-ready app?
by M.academy Hey Reader, M.academy's upcoming Adobe Commerce Developer Professional Cert-Prep course is almost complete! We're in the final stretch, and have made a ton of updates to the course platform as well. This includes making upcoming lesson percentage visible in the progress bar, and better highlighting the current lesson you are on (so you don't get lost): This app is already in production. We haven't really officially announced it yet (and are still working on completing it), but...
đ§ M Bytes #18: Creating a generation of incompetent programmers
by M.academy Hey Reader, I had post go semi-viral on LinkedIn yesterday, and it was all about how we are creating an entire generation of incompetent programmers. As a teacher, I can't help but think all of the ways newb developers are just not gonna make it. And how others â smart enough to get by without the help of AI â are letting their brain atrophy. We need to take back some agency. Own the process. Push back on the AI/LLM and guide it, rather than have it guide us. This goes into a...
đ§ M Bytes #17: The GitHub-to-Magento trick every dev should know
by M.academy Hey Reader, June already. Where the heck did the first half of 2025 go? đ Ever feel like you're running a marathon without shoes? That's been my 2025 so far. I hit 40 ready to conquer the world. Instead, I spent most mornings wondering if I could even get out of bed. Major sciatica, back pain, massive fatigue... it all took over. I was almost ready to lay down and just tap out. But I pushed through: I trained and worked with my AI coach to help me through rough times and refined...
đ§ M Bytes #16: Know how to debug product collections in Magento?
by M.academy Hey Reader, I'm continuing to work through my cert-prep course, but in doing so, realized that some of the planned lessons went against my atomic principle: only one concept per lesson. In the targeted study practice section, which aims to focus on just the topics you need to pass the exam, I previously had 21 lessons written out and finalized. Then I realized I need to break them down even more. I've focused a lot on my linear-learning process (teaching things in a certain order...
đ§ M Bytes #15: Deep-dive into Magento routers, routing, and the response lifecycle
by M.academy Hey Reader, For the past few weeks, I've been heads-down creating a new Adobe Commerce Certified Developer Exam Prep course, and am excited to share a bit of the behind the scenes about my approach. From the start, I never believed you should have to read 300+ page study guides to pass these exams. That process is painfully inefficient, and honestly not how I managed to pass them myself. Instead, I've identified core concepts that consistently appear throughout the exams. The new...
đ§ M Bytes #14: Why Magento around() plugins increase call stack size
by M.academy Hey Reader, I hope you've had a chance to play around with Magento 2.4.8 this last week or so (if not, check out my What's New in Magento video to learn all about it). This week, we're learning all about plugins. If you've been a bit stumped about plugins (also known as "interceptors"), you can check out the new short Magento plugins playlist to dive in. There are also links to some of the new video lessons below đ Keep coding, Mark Shust Teacher / M.academy Say hi đ on LinkedIn...
đ§ M Bytes #13: What's new in Magento 2.4.8 and PHP 8.4
by M.academy Hey Reader, Magento 2.4.8 just dropped Tuesday with a ton of updates! I've broken down all the key features in my latest YouTube video, What's New in Magento 2.4.8. Now's a great time to check it out to stay ahead of the curve. While I'm deep in development on my Adobe Commerce Developer Cert-Prep course, I'm also building something I've wanted for years: M.academy's own custom course platform. The first two parts of it are already complete: â Individual lesson pages (great for...
đ§ M Bytes #12: Extended free preview week for my Magento UI Components course
by M.academy Hey Reader, I was planning on sending out a full M Bytes issue this week, but got a bit overloaded: Making major updates to docker-magento in preparation for Magento 2.4.8, including PHP 8.4 support! (updates will be pushed out before release day) Writing and recording a new video covering everything new in Magento 2.4.8 Getting caught up with everything else before I'm OOO I feel kinda bad about it âšī¸ So, I just unlocked the first two sections of the UI Components in Magento 2...
đ§ M Bytes #11: Some more PHP 8.4 freshness
by M.academy Hey Reader, Everyone seemed to really resonate with some of the previous PHP 8.4 lessons that I created, so I created a few more. These lessons are ultimately building into a larger PHP 8.4 playlist in the works. Additionally, I have some major updates out for the exam portal + cert-prep course that is coming out đ P.S. There's been a lot of hubbub about Adobe Commerce's new SaaS offering â some even calling it "Magento 3" and that it makes "open source a liability". I couldn't...
đ§ M Bytes #10: Magento's dependency injection container
by M.academy Hey Reader, This week, we're heading back to the basics and talking all about Magento's dependency injection container: Object Manager. While you probably know not to use OM directly, ...do you know why? This tripped me up for a while, but it's an absolute must-know for any backend Magento dev. When I interviewed Magento developers for open positions, asking "Explain what Object Manager is and why it works" was always one of my favorite types of interview questions, because 1)...
Watch. Read. Apply. One topic every week.