Blog posts index page 3

A Clojure Jekyll adventure: Getting my feet wet with Liquid

Midjourney prompt: Lower legs with pants rolled up, standing in shallow water of a big lake in a fantasy national park. Close up on legs frog view --no people, animals. Using image from last blog post as style reference.

The Liquid templating language is essential for Jekyll and its themes. While a Clojure implementation exists in the form of a library named Wet 💧, ironically, the library is missing most functionality categorized as Tags > Template in the Liquid documentation.

Though we’ll touch on “writing code” in this next part of my adventure, it perfectly illustrates how problem-solving is more about thinking than just writing code.

This is the second part of the series: “A Clojure Jekyll adventure”, exploring how Clojure fares from a “Jekyll perspective”. You can find the previous part here: How my Jekyll blog became a Clojure adventure.

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Reflecting on static types

Midjourney prompt: Stone and air faceoff in simple Chinese style. Midjourney edit prompt (upon small region): Flying bird in simple Chinese style.

Every time I heard people praise static types, I wondered why I didn’t share their enthusiasm. After careful reflection, I realized that static types don’t significantly influence how I approach or solve problems. I also didn’t experience fewer bugs, easier debugging, or greater team productivity when using them.

As software grows and challenges our ability to reason about it, we seek ways to regain clarity and confidence when making changes. I believe static types provide a sense of security as they are intended to help us manage complexity.

However, I think this sense of security can lead to complacency, causing developers to overlook more effective solutions.

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Read code to get better at writing code

Midjourney prompt: A young and content boy sitting crosslegged reading a book. A simple solid teal color background. There are a few stacks of books in all colors and sizes around him. The style is Pixar.

Plus 30 years ago, probably around seventh grade, I remember my teacher asking the classroom: How do you get better a writing essays and short stories?

She answered the question herself, and because it took me by surprise, I still remember it today. I had heard grown-ups with their wise words: If you want to be good at X, you have to practice X. X being anything from football to piano to cooking. My younger self had assumed that the best way to get better at writing would be:
To write.

But it wasn’t.

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Stumble upon in late May 2024

Midjourney prompt: A sheep is standing away from its flock on a grass field with trees in the far background. A small bird is sitting on the sheep's back. The style is of John Carson.

Summer or something resembling it has come to Denmark, and the winter blues is losing its grip. Grass fields with flocks of sheep have been a common sight along the motorway for a couple of months now. But the other day, I saw something that I don’t expect to see again any time soon. A fairly big bird sitting comfortably on the back of a sheep, and neither seemed to make a big deal about it. It put a big grin on my face. If I had a bad day, I no longer remember. Apparently, my stumblings aren’t confined to the digital world. Though with my limited “getting outside”, I guess that is where it mostly happens, as the following can testify to.

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