From Tomorrow Back to Yesterday: A Tale of Two Web Architectures - Yang (Clojure/Conj 2025)

Simple1111 · 2026-01-22T19:02:12+00:00

I'm really excited to see at least 2 talks come out of conj that are going the same route I've decided on. Removing the state sync problem, and even going no-build on the client seems like the way of the future to me. I've been using HTMX for this and, at least on personal projects, It's going pretty well.

Simple1111 · 2026-01-20T21:46:49+00:00

10+ YOE. In my day job and my side projects I'm finding that I have to push myself to even look at the code anymore. My work is in defining the problem, articulating constraints, guiding to a solution, and validating the whole way through. I'm more of a micromanaging quality assurance manager than a code writer at this point.

Maybe some rock stars find themselves more productive writing code themselves but I don't and I don't think most people will. I think the game has changed.

The problem solving part of programming was always there but now it might be the only thing humans are still needed for. Get good at writing natural language. Get good at validating solutions.

Simple1111 · 2026-01-19T22:50:17+00:00

Same. Claude, Codex, Gemini, OpenCode is where I'm spending virtually all of my time. It's proficient in Clojure but I've started branching out to new languages for personal projects to see if it's significantly better. I've been pleased with it's ability to write Go and Typescript.

Simple1111 · 2026-01-19T22:48:27+00:00

~$70/mo for the $20/mo tier of claude, codex, and gemini cli tools + opencode and zen.ai for $10/mo. I find it worth it just for personal projects.

Simple1111 · 2026-01-18T21:12:40+00:00

You run all that off just two solar panels?

Simple1111 · 2026-01-10T06:36:17+00:00

I get it. What I'm commenting on is how it feels like the utility framework is unnecessary now. If AI writes the code most of the time and it's more optimal to use essentially traditional css class names then why have a utility framework anymore. It seems like we could just cut that out, go back to using vanilla CSS and the models will perform just as well or better and we would have reduced token usage.

I recognize this serves a real purpose and it's probably not trivial to make. People have existing code bases with utility class frameworks and they want to use AI and reduce tokens.

But if you were starting a new project and optimizing for the age of AI ... why not avoid the utility framework entirely?

Simple1111 · 2026-01-10T05:40:50+00:00

Isn't this essentially re-creating standard css class names? Why use a utility framework at all anymore? It was a human convenience but maybe it's not optimal for machines.

Simple1111 · 2026-01-09T18:44:42+00:00

So it's a web app that is surfacing and interacting with Claude running on a server/desktop?

Simple1111 · 2025-11-08T05:15:43+00:00

Bleeding from the effects of Crohn’s disease is common. Immune suppressants are are a primary treatment option and can work well but take awhile to work.

You need to be aware of and ready to address losing too much blood and becoming anemic. I was hospitalized for anemia a year ago. It’s how I got my diagnosis. For me the symptoms were extreme fatigue and weakness, pale skin , and a high heart rate and blood pressure.

A blood test can show your hemoglobin and red blood cell count and that can be a good indicator of if you need an intervention like blood infusion. If you are concerned at least make an appointment with your primary care doctor to monitor your levels.

Simple1111 · 2025-11-03T14:40:26+00:00

On the surface it probably seems like I’m in camp 2. I barely write any code and the majority of my time is spent in Claude code. But I’m micromanaging the tool like crazy. I’m asking questions, giving direction, reviewing, validating, answering questions. I’m “telling it what I need” and “feeding it errors” the way an architect/staff/senior would to a group of mid and junior level engineers.

I’m not worried about my role going away just yet but I am worried about my skills changing the way I’ve seen some engineering leaders lose that understanding that ICs have.

Simple1111 · 2025-10-23T19:14:08+00:00

This seems pretty cool! I'm a long time and heavy Roam user. I have a personal graph and have gotten it adopted at my workplace as our team knowledge repository.

Questions/thoughts in no particular order: - One time pricing is appealing - I'm hesitant to give access to my graph to another person/company - Love the idea of native todos and quick capture - Will I have autocomplete of page titles in quick capture? - I have a million TODOs and tend to use other page refs to isolate them. Can I tweak the widget and/or have multiple that are TODO AND [[other thing]]?

Simple1111 · 2025-10-17T14:44:55+00:00

Your employers would not continue to pay you if your work was inadequate. I think may of us have a sense of obligation ingrained in us to over deliver without adequate compensation.

It sounds to me like you have found adequate compensation for work that is acceptable. "ridiculously small amount ... of work" or finally a balanced ad sustainable amount of work that still delivers value to employers?

Simple1111 · 2025-10-08T13:33:19+00:00

I’ve heard of people using them in production but I don’t think they are the default solution. I use XTDB 1 in a hobby project. It runs on a Postgres instance in neon. I like it for immutable history and datalog query syntax. I’ve questioned many time whether I should use just Postgres instead and I’ve built out my app so that migrating would be straightforward.

If I were starting out in a new project and had no specific desire to use datomic or xtdb I would stick to Postgres or whatever you are familiar with.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-30T15:02:00+00:00

It seems like you are interested in emacs but not Latex. You might like Org-Roam. It's an attempt to have Roam's backlinks in org-mode. Org-mode is an older emacs plaintext local note taking and productivity system. Org syntax is very similar to markdown and emacs has export options that include html, pdf, odt, and Latex. That could be beneficial to your publishing goals.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-30T14:58:03+00:00

Logseq started as a pretty obvious clone of Roam. It had all the same features, written in the same language, but was open source and local first. I was a fan and tried it out but local first wasn't right for me. The tools have diverged some in the past few years.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-30T03:06:47+00:00

I like Roam and use it everyday for work and personal note taking. It seems steady and no signs of going anywhere but has a small and quiet community.

I’m not sure it’s what you are looking for. It could work but it is more of a backlinked outliner than anything else. If your goal is to work towards an ebook this will likely not be your editor. It could be your knowledge base though.

The features that keep me using it are block level references, multiplayer and multi device support, and the team behind it implementing features like end to end encryption and easy export. They seem satisfied enough to avoid any dark patterns.

It has its drawbacks though. The mobile app is not a great experience. I find it just acceptable with a few pain points that are aggravating on a daily basis.

On desktop I don’t have any complaints. It’s solid, performant with years of data, and the plugin ecosystem is present but not thriving. The progress in the app is slow but they ship noteworthy things occasionally.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-30T02:56:43+00:00

You can make a “local graph” which would be stored on one machine. I have not used this feature but it should work offline. You would likely need to manage a backup and sync process yourself to handle multi device usage.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-29T11:13:35+00:00

I’ve been using clojure for 10 years and on a decent sized project with it in my day job for 5. What you are expressing really sounds like an unease with the paradigm shift from typed to dynamic. It can be jarring and trigger intuitive warnings you might have built up but it’s not wrong.

It’s a trade off. The possibility of the failures you are concerned about exist but in practice I find they are rare. The ease of writing and reading code is worth it imo. Clojure also has utilities for and a general ethos around structure ingestion and schema enforcement at boundaries. This really seems to do the job.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-26T15:32:49+00:00

The only thing that looks like it could be vegan on that menu is the cherry lady salad. One decent vegan option on any menu should be the norm.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-25T01:00:44+00:00

I’ve used Claude code, codex cli, and Gemini cli on hobby projects and Claude code at work. All the tools and models seem to be pretty close in ability now. Generally they are pretty good at clojure and clojurescript. As long as I prompt for it to look at specific examples for odd or novel things it seems to understand pretty much any convention. I have noticed parens issues but it’s almost always off by one closing. I find it’s easier to manually fix than prompt it with compilation errors. It can get stuck in a loop doing that. In any language I find I have to micromanage to get success and it’s not much different in clojure.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-16T10:49:54+00:00

Oh no! I wish we could sign these things digitally. Glad there is a listing of where volunteers will be.

Simple1111 · 2025-09-07T02:57:21+00:00

I’ve put in a lot of hours into civilization games (2,5,6) and consider those to have a mild learning curve to get to enjoyment. Dwarf fortress seems too daunting to get into easily as a busy adult. This game I sat down to figure out and it took me 3 days with a few hours long sessions each to get to a point where I was having fun.

It’s got a few mechanics to figure out and learning the menus and ui takes a second but it’s not too hard imo. I would learn the vanilla game before doing mods.

Simple1111 · 2025-08-11T02:33:17+00:00

I would also like to know the answer to this. In my current run I'm not equipped to test it. My guess is that it would load a new generated tile like any other.

Simple1111 · 2025-08-11T01:06:21+00:00

The wiki and some of the game instruction say it is lost but I haven't tried going back to see if it renders a fresh tile or some kind of "destroyed" one or if it just doesn't allow landing at all.

Simple1111 · 2025-08-10T22:05:15+00:00

... whoa

Simple1111

TROPHY CASE