Blog site with long-form write-ups about anything that comes to mind.
In this week's experiment I'll be diving into the Hilbert curve algorithm following along this video from The Coding Train . What is the Hilbert Curve # According to Wikipedia : [...] a continuous fractal space-filling curve . In simpler terms, it's a mathematical curve that can theoretically fill an entire two-dimensional area by following a precise recursive pattern. Each iteration (called an…
After a short break, this week I’m exploring the Wave Function Collapse algorithm, following this video by The Coding Train . What Is Wave Function Collapse # According to Wikipedia : [...] a family of constraint-solving algorithms commonly used in procedural generation , especially in the video game industry . In simpler terms, it’s a system that generates patterns or terrains based on rules: it…
This week's experiment dives into the marching squares algorithm, following this video from The Coding Train . What are Marching Squares # According to Wikipedia : [...] an algorithm that generates contours for a two-dimensional scalar field (rectangular array of individual numerical values) In simpler terms, it’s a way to turn a field of numbers into shapes. Its 3D cousin, marching cubes , is…
This week starts my first experiment with p5.js . The subject for today is the paper marbling algorithm, based in the implementation explained in this video by The Coding Train . What is the Paper Marbling Algorithm # Paper marbling, as defined by Wikipedia , is: [...] a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone . In this context,…
A few years back I stumbled onto The Coding Train by Daniel Shiffman , and ended up watching a handful of his videos on YouTube . That's where I first came across p5.js , an open-source JavaScript library built on top of Processing . Processing describes itself as: [...] a flexible software sketchbook and a language for learning how to code. I've been developing software for a while, but I've…
It's pretty common in the indie web to have a /guestbook , a little corner where visitors can leave a message for others to read. I'd been meaning to add one for a while, but I wanted something that felt native to the site: no external service pages, and styling that wouldn't clash with the rest of the site. Integrating Chattable # Chattable turned out to be a nice fit. Once you make an account,…
Every app with authentication eventually needs to tackle authorization. In our case, once our product grew from a small experiment into a mid-sized application, it became clear we needed a proper model to keep users from doing things they shouldn't. To make the idea more concrete, let's imagine a simple blog with multiple authors and readers. Here's how I explored different approaches. The naïve…
At our startup, UI testing was minimal. This was fine during MVP, but as the platform grew in size and userbase, so did the need for increased maintainability. A few weeks ago I remembered this talk by Kevin Yank where he describes how Culture Amp uses Storybook for nearly every test case. During this last holiday season, my project manager scheduled a couple of weeks to tackle technical debt, and…
Something that is usually seen in any kind of blog is a way to interact with each post. Usually you can leave comments, but there are also ways to track likes and shares in social media. Some website authors use a ready-to-use service like Disqus , an automated third-party system Netlify functions , or something handmade with a custom database. This website is SSG'd (static-site generated), by…
In the first few versions of my personal site all my Global data was from hand-crafted JSON files I'd update myself from time to time. This was fine for its purpose: I would add new info very rarely and I had complete control over how I wanted the data to be structured. A few weeks back I came across PhotoGabble's bookshelf and Cory Dransfeldt's site , and liked how they showcased their favourite…