20 random bookmarks

2025-09-04

133.

Beacon API

developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Beacon_API

The Beacon API is used to send an asynchronous and non-blocking request to a web server. The request does not expect a response. Unlike requests made using XMLHttpRequest or the Fetch API, the browser guarantees to initiate beacon requests before the page is unloaded and to run them to completion.

2025-06-26

124.

The plan-execute pattern

mmapped.blog/posts/29-plan-execute.html

I feel uneasy about design patterns.
On the one hand, my university class on design patterns revived my interest in programming.
On the other hand, I find most patterns in the Gang of Four book to be irrelevant to my daily work;
they solve problems that a choice of programming language or paradigm creates.

My litmus test of a good design pattern is its cross-disciplinary applicability.
I’m more likely to accept an idea that pops up in fields beyond software engineering.
And the most convincing patterns are the ones that help me in everyday life.

This article describes a universal pattern that billions of people rely on daily, but software engineers rarely discuss—the plan-execute pattern.

123.

Box combinators

mmapped.blog/posts/41-box-combinators.html

In functional programming,
combinator libraries refer to a design style that emphasizes bottom-up program construction.
Such libraries define a few core data types
and provide constructors—functions that create initial objects—and combinators—functions that build larger objects from smaller pieces.

Combinators enable the programmer to use intuitive visual and spatial reasoning
that’s vastly more powerful than linear language processing.
As a result, solving problems with combinators feels like playing with lego pieces.

2025-05-30

115.

The PGP Problem

www.latacora.com/blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem

Why do people keep telling me to use PGP? The answer is that they shouldn’t be telling you that, because PGP is bad and needs to go away.

2025-02-04

100.

Running a Debian Sid on Ubuntu

blogops.mixinet.net/posts/incus

2025-01-17

98.

Earthstar

earthstar-project.org

Storage for private, distributed, offline-first applications. Earthstar is a specification and JavaScript library for building connected applications owned and run by their users.

2025-01-09

97.

if got, want: A Simple Way to Write Better Go Tests

mtlynch.io/if-got-want-improve-go-tests

2024-10-24

85.

Rust Prism

registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/rust-prism

2024-10-10

82.

'Do' More With 'Run'

maxgreenwald.me/blog/do-more-with-run

I recently wrote about Async Pool, one of my favorite JavaScript / TypeScript helpers, and today I want to share an even simpler yet extremely useful utility

2024-10-04

80.

Snappy UI Optimization with useDeferredValue

www.joshwcomeau.com/react/use-deferred-value

useDeferredValue is one of the most underrated React hooks. It allows us to dramatically improve the performance of our applications in certain contexts. I recently used it to solve a gnarly performance problem on this blog, and in this tutorial, I'll show you how! ⚡

2024-09-19

77.

Blogging in Djot instead of Markdown

www.jonashietala.se/blog/2024/02/02/blogging_in_djot_instead_of_markdown

2024-08-15

67.

Writing a C Compiler

nostarch.com/writing-c-compiler

A fun, hands-on guide to writing your own compiler for a real-world programming language.

2024-06-21

49.

On testing Go code using the standard library | Henrique Vicente

henvic.dev/posts/testing-go

Most programming language ecosystems provide assert functions in their testing libraries but not Go's. Go's standard testing package follows a more direct and to-the-point approach.

2024-06-17

35.

OpenBSD, the computer appliance maker's secret weapon

hiandrewquinn.github.io/til-site/posts/openbsd-the-computer-appliance-maker-s-secret-weapon

Between our ESP32 prokaryotic organisms and our 24/7 Internet-enabled megafauna servers, there exists a vast and loosely-defined ecosystem of things the B2B world likes to call computer appliances. Picture a bespoke Pi 4 packaged up neatly with some Python scripts, a little fancy plastic embossing, and maybe a well-guarded id_ed25519.pub in case you end up in hot water during the (long - very long, stable cash flow for generations long) maintenance contract, and you’re in the ballpark.

2024-06-13

24.

Category Theory in Context

math.jhu.edu/~eriehl/context.pdf
21.

Building Go programs with Nix Flakes

xeiaso.net//blog/nix-flakes-go-programs
20.

My personal C coding style as of late 2023

nullprogram.com/blog/2023/10/08
16.

Avoid Linux locking up in low memory situations using earlyoom

dataswamp.org/~solene/2022-09-28-earlyoom.html

This article presents the program earlyoom to prevent a Linux system to lock up in low memory situations.

2024-06-11

10.

Self-serve dashboards

briefer.cloud/blog/posts/self-serve-bi-myth

Sales pitches are the only place where “self-serve dashboards" work. In the real world, it's a different story.

Why "business" people don't use metabase/power-bi.

8.

gamja: Simple IRC web client

sr.ht/~emersion/gamja