31–40 of 112 posts
Tinkering with microcontrollers is probably the most satisfying, because it really challenges you to understand exactly what is going on at all times, right down to the electrical level. Developing for retro hardware can be fun too, for similar reasons.
I’m really glad to hear this. Building hardware for the real world amplified the power of software incredibly. PS…we’re hiring firmware engineers to bring hardware to life.
Early 90s 3D engines. Raycasting, sprite scaling, SNES mode 7, voxels, early flight/space sims.
I see a lot on this lately. Why is that? Just hobby or there is positive economical return?
I like this as well, so my guess is that some people grew with an interest in game development, and they still find it interesting to explore it.
Game algorithms were also "not easy" in the 90s, but since the codebases were overall smaller, they're more approachable then modern ones.
It's nice to have a coding-related outlet that also produces something tangible you can hold in your hand or put on a wall.
I usually end up writing simple native apps to ease silly pain points in my day-to-day life - low cognitive load, high perceived benefit. I try to get raw sockets involved whenever possible. There’s something satisfying about moving bytes around yourself. Kinda like DIY home projects.
For examples: www.shadertoy.com For learning: thebookofshaders.com
Since last year I've been using Pixi.js ( https://pixijs.com/ ) to create an app that puts video meetings into a 2d virtual space ( https://flat.social ). While learning how to build it, I got really (possibly a bit more than necessary) into optimising graphics performance to make sure it runs smoothly even for users who access it on potato laptops. This includes pretty much every aspect of the rendering process - ho…
While on meeting many people are in mute. In that case something of the sort can be done that position/part of people on mute is rendered less frequently.
And people who don't have their camera on are only rendered once
Pen Plotting. For those unaware, pen plotters are basically tabletop robots that you can put a pen into and have it draw whatever you want. There's a friendly online community of people making art with them on twitter (search #plottertwitter) and instagram. It's nice to have a coding-related outlet that also produces something tangible you can hold in your hand or put on a wall.
Neural networks are the famous example of this, of course -- but this can be extended to all of scientific computing. ODE/SDE solvers, root-finding algorithms, LQP, molecular dynamics, ...
These days I'm doing all my work in JAX. (E.g. see Equinox or Diffrax: https://github.com/patrick-kidger/equinox, https://github.com/patrick-kidger/diffrax). A lot of modern work is now based around hybridising such techniques with neural networks.
I'd really encourage anyone interested to learn how JAX works under-the-hood as well. (Look up "autodidax") Lots of clever/novel ideas in its design.
Trying to make a program that a 93 year old grandmother could extend herself.