https://ryanfowler.com/ 2023-06-17T00:00:00Z Ryan Fowler https://ryanfowler.com/ https://ryanfowler.com/blog/hello-world/ 2023-06-17T00:00:00Z 2023-06-17T00:00:00Z

A short note about keeping a personal site small, fast, and easy to own.

<p>Every personal site begins with an empty page and a decision: what belongs here?</p> <p>For this one, the answer is <strong>writing</strong>. It is a place for notes about software, systems, tools, and the lessons that emerge while making things. The site itself follows the same practical spirit. A small Go program turns Markdown into plain HTML and CSS. There is no database, client-side framework, or build service to understand.</p> <h2 id="why-keep-it-simple">Why keep it simple?</h2> <p>Simple systems are easier to change. The whole site can be built with one command, inspected with ordinary tools, and deployed almost anywhere. Every page continues to work without JavaScript.</p> <p>That does not mean the design must feel generic. Constraints can make the important choices clearer: type, space, rhythm, color, and the words themselves.</p> <blockquote> <p>The goal is not to use the fewest possible tools. It is to keep the distance between an idea and a published page short.</p> </blockquote> <p>There will be more here over time. For now: hello, world.</p> https://ryanfowler.com/blog/shape-of-a-useful-tool/ 2023-06-16T00:00:00Z 2023-06-16T00:00:00Z

Good tools reduce the number of decisions required to do good work.

<p>The best tools can be difficult to notice. They fit the work closely enough that the interface recedes and the result stays in view.</p> <p>Software often moves in the other direction. A small need accumulates settings, modes, and extension points. Each choice makes sense in isolation. Together, they ask the user to understand the tool before doing the work.</p> <blockquote> <p>“The best modules are those that provide powerful functionality yet have simple interfaces.”</p> <p><small><cite>— John Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design</cite></small></p> </blockquote> <h2 id="start-with-the-common-path">Start with the common path</h2> <p>A useful tool should make its main task obvious. Good defaults are part of the interface, not an alternative to it. They encode a clear opinion while leaving an escape hatch for the cases that genuinely need one.</p> <p>This static site generator has one common path:</p> <pre><code class="language-sh">go run ./cmd/site build </code></pre> <p>That command validates the articles, renders the pages, minifies the assets, and writes a directory ready to deploy. The implementation can change without making the publishing workflow more complicated.</p> <h2 id="keep-the-seams-visible">Keep the seams visible</h2> <p>Simple does not mean opaque. Plain Markdown goes in. Plain HTML comes out. A writer can inspect either side with tools that will still exist years from now.</p> <p>A useful tool makes routine work quiet and unusual work possible. Finding that balance is less about adding features than deciding which ideas the tool can safely hide.</p>