Write some C for your own pleasure and fun on an undead platform, like AmigaOS.
Due to the constrained nature of the undead platform there is no real possibility of decision fatigue, since the ways of solving a problem are few.
Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
31–40 of 219 posts
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#32>> I just want to have some fun writing something without headaches, and that is seemingly less and less easy to achieve today Pick something that sounds refreshing and fun to you. A few recommendations for you: make a game for a fantasy console like pico8, walk through an adafruit embedded project, or get interested in the front end / design part of web development (look through dribbble for inspiration). You don't…
he has an idea for product - he is explicitly asking about the tech stack
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#33The premier cross-platform UI toolkits today are definitely:
- QT in C++
- Electron in JS/TS
But if you want to avoid those then you could try the Rust GUI ecosystem. That gives you a few options:
- gtk-rs which uses GTK but allows you to write in Rust rather than C
- Dioxus which does use CSS layout (renders using Tauri webview under the hood) but allows you to write the code generating that in Rust. And the "backend" code is entirely Rust.
- Iced which is pure Rust with it's layout system. But tbh it's still pretty immature and you'll be writing a lot of widgets yourself.
You could also look at Flutter which works cross-platform and works completely within Dart.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#34At work I program mostly in Python. But if it's for fun, I strongly recommend Pharo. It's a language in the Smalltalk family, forked from Squeak: https://pharo.org/
The whole environment makes the programming experience much better, and it's self-contained, so you don't need to spend a lot of time wrangling dependencies just to get started. Also there's a MOOC for it: https://mooc.pharo.org/
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#35I've really been having fun with go compiled to wasm for the browser.
Ebiten is a nice engine for pixel graphics/game stuff, but there are also more traditional canvas libraries.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#36For UI I do think JS is your best option atm. You don't have to write JS to generate JS, you can use Typescript or go more exotic to things like Rescript. In terms of CSS; you'll need some form of styling in whatever language, there are plenty of abstractions on top of CSS if you want [something not css]. I would suggest having a look at Next.js if a web app would work, React Native (use Expo) if you want mobile, or…
Another option I forgot as it's so far away from my world; .NET, they have Xamarin and I think they just released .NET MAUI. That would be C# or F#.
It's not my jam, but it's def cross platform and used quite a bit afaik.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#37This thread has a lot of language suggestions, but I think you need a fun problem to solve. Pick a toy app and work on it. Learn embedded programming with an Arduino. Write an iPhone app to track when you feed the dog. Make a karaoke app for Android. If you pick a project you'll enjoy, the language won't matter. Use whatever is best for the platform. The fun doesn't come with the language, it comes with seeing your project come to life, or others' reaction to the cool thing you made. Every language sucks and every language is the best depending on who you ask. Don't focus so deeply on that part. Solve cool and fun problems.
I've had a long time dream of getting a broken jukebox and gutting it for a Raspberry Pi, but keeping the external interface in tact. I know next to nothing about hardware engineering, and can't write more than ten lines of Python without needing to Google something, but I finally got a broken juke in need of fixing, a multimeter, and a hard drive full of music ready to go. The fun isn't the Python or learning GPIO, it's that eventually I will have a cool retro jukebox with hardware and software I wrote in my basement.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#38Maybe play around with PICO-8? (https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php)
The highlighted programs are mostly games, but people have made all sorts of fun things like 3D CAD, music synthesis, text editors, etc.
It is certainly a break from complexity. And it is easy to export your program as a webpage.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#39C#/.NET is cross platform. I find it more fun than doing things like php or node. But I also don’t follow the whole “everything needs an interface” crap, or the insane level of abstractions people seem to implement. I’m sorry learning rust tho. Like it a lot.
I'm using C#/.NET7 for a side project. I use .NET6 at work.
For me, the language itself has no bearing on fun. Having something that "just works" in most areas without having to antagonize over 3rd party dependencies allows me to have fun.
I'm sure if I was as familiar with Java or something I'd probably use it for my fun projects instead.
If you want the language itself to be an amusement, then I don't think C# is for you. It is about as boring and straightforward as it gets. I use it because it lets me work on fun problems without getting in the way very much.
Re: Ask HN: I just want to have fun programming again
#40If frontend stuff is fatiguing just use Bootstrap. You barely have to touch CSS with it (beyond using its classes on elements) and it is extremely polished and capable. Sure the stock output is a little corporate and bland but who cares, just get stuff done with it and worry about making it look unique later.
edit: Material design is another good frontend option that lets you stop worrying about fiddling with design and CSS. There isn't as nice of a single framework for it like bootstrap though.