Let's Get Started

posted:

2018-10-24

Today is Chinese Programmer's Day [1], and it feels like the perfect occasion to launch this website. I created this space to share some of the interesting things I've worked on. Hopefully, one day I'll look back and enjoy what I have written here.

So, how was this website built? The idea has been in my mind for quite a while. At first, I experimented with using Bottle for the backend, Vue for the frontend, and SQLite as the database - with all of the data encrypted. But eventually, I lost interest. Frontend development just isn't my thing - For me, functionality is what matters most to me; the look and theme come later.

By chance, I came across a project called "bashblog" - a simple Bash script that generates a static blog. Unlike my original idea, it doesn't use a database at all, and relies on just a small amount of JavaScript and CSS. That really inspired me - since the main function of a blog is simply to present content to readers, there's no need for complex tech stacks; A static website, by contrast, is straightforward, lightweight, and much easier to create and maintain.

When it came to writing content for the blog, I decided to use Vimwiki, a Vim plugin for personal documentation - since I'm a regular Vim user and have been using it for note-taking for quite a while. It feels natural and familiar. I did consider Markdown, but its many variants [2] and potential incompatibilities made it less appealing.