From 086184f9b93d7aa989e744c99999f101a4f2d554 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chewing_Bever Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:08:34 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Started vlang post --- content/posts/vlang/index.md | 100 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 100 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/vlang/index.md diff --git a/content/posts/vlang/index.md b/content/posts/vlang/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a97696 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/vlang/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,100 @@ +--- +title: "My Experience With V" +date: 2022-06-26 +draft: true +--- + +For the last half a year or so, I've written code nearly exclusively in the V +programming language (excluding college projects). In this time, I've learned a +lot about the language, as well as being an active member of the community. + +I don't recall exactly how I discovered V. being the kind of nerd that has a +list of languages they wanna try, I probably saw it somewhere & added it. +Luckily, V was the one I wanted to try out the most. After visiting +[vlang.io](https://vlang.io/), I joined the Discord server & that's where the +fun began! + +Before I talk about the language itself, I would like to take a moment to +appreciate the community. I felt welcome the moment I joined, and everyone +(especially the V developers) was very helpful with any questions I had. If it +wasn't for their help, [Vieter](https://git.rustybever.be/vieter-v/vieter) +probably wouldn't be as far along as it is today! + +## What's V? + +While I'm not interested in giving a full description of the language, a short +introduction is in order. V is a compiled programming language with a syntax +very similar to Go. The main compiler backend transpiles V to C, providing +interopt with C code without any effort. This also gives the compilation phase +access to all optimisations that C compilers have to offer, resulting in very +fast & optimized binaries. I'd list more things, but then it wouldn't be short +anymore! + +## Developing in V + +Now for the relevant part of this post, the actual developing! + +Developing locally in V is pretty straightforward. Write some code, run `v .`, +blink, see if you made a mistake, repeat. For me, this is a very important +feature of V. Not only does the compiler handle the "build system" for you; +it's also incredibly fast. This is accomplished by using the tcc compiler, a +small & extremely fast C compiler, for development builds. Thanks to this, +compiling my code doesn't take me out of "the flow"; a problem that I've faced +when working with Rust code, as I'm very sensitive to losing focus. + +Building optimized binaries is equally simple; just run `v -prod .`. This will +use either gcc or clang to compile your code using the max optimisation levels. + +Due to the rapidly developing nature of V, it is possible that old code no +longer compiles on a newer compiler. This won't happen once the language is +stabilized, but as of today, changes can occur. I don't actually know how +others handle this, but I personally maintain a mirror of the compiler that I +update regularly. This way, I decide when code might break, meaning I can react +quickly to make sure nothing stays broken for long. This brings me to my CI +setup! + +Because overengineering is fun, I have my own CI server that I use to test & +deploy basically everything I create; V software is no exception! Using Docker +buildx, I create multi-architecture Alpine-based images containing my compiler +fork & any C library dependencies that I use. These images are then used in my +CI to build statically compiled binaries that I can use to create the actual +Docker images! Due to V compiling to C, compiling static binaries is quite +simple; just build using a musl-based OS such as Alpine Linux. + +Enough drooling over my CI, back to V! Yes, when I was writing code in V, I +encountered some bugs in the compiler. While a bit inconvenient at times, they +definitely weren't a showstopper for me. V is still a developing language; I'm +not gonna try to advertise that it isn't. The thing is though, I was able to +report these compiler bugs to the community immediately, many of which being +fixed within 24 hours by one of the V developers! V might still be in +development, but it's definitely already ready for developing projects. My +[vieter](https://git.rustybever.be/vieter-v/vieter) project has nearly 4k SLoC +and still compiles just as quickly as when I started it. The resulting binaries +are rock-solid; my personal Vieter instance has been running for months without +issues. + +## Conclusion? + +It's clear from this post that I've taken a liking to V. The amount of +evolution I've seen in the months that I've been using it is impressive, and +I'm certain that V will reach its goal of being a stable language. I'm fine +tagging along until that day comes :) + +In the context of developing Vieter, I've written a multitude of software +pieces, ranging from a cron daemon to a rewrite of Arch Linux's `repo-add` +command. This variety gives me confidence that V can already be used to develop +varied & complex software. + +Besides developing Vieter, I'd like to enrich the ecosystem with packages that +I think will be useful for everyone. To this end, I've started splitting off +modules of the Vieter codebase & developing them independently. My first goal +will be writing a Docker client +[library](https://git.rustybever.be/vieter-v/docker), as I find this to be very +useful for any language to have (and also I need it myself of course). + +Now, I know using these new and/or developing languages is not for everyone. +Some just prefer sticking to the proven titans of the industry, and that's +fine. However, for those like me that love using these new langs, I really do +recommend checking out V. It's fast, it's of course free and open-source, and +using a language is one of the best ways of helping it move forward. Perhaps +when you join, you'll see a Chewing Bever babbling on ;) From 3568334880ad4b114937bdabdd175027c9defff4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chewing_Bever Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:35:36 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Added weight loss post --- content/posts/losing-weight/index.md | 49 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/losing-weight/index.md diff --git a/content/posts/losing-weight/index.md b/content/posts/losing-weight/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c470d6e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/losing-weight/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "I've lost weight!" +date: 2022-07-10 +--- + +Ever since I started middle school, I've been a bit of a chubby kid. I was +never into sports & honestly I just like food. The fact that my main hobby, +computer stuff, requires me to sit down all the time doesn't help my case +either. + +My health was never really a big concern for me, as I generally felt pretty +good physically. A few months ago however, I finally found the courage to go +donate blood (I absolutely despise needles)! Whenever you want to donate blood +(at least, here in Belgium) they check your blood pressure to make sure you're +allowed to give blood, and that's when I found out that my blood pressure was +apparently way too high. This was a big eye-opener for me, as it was the first +time I was being confronted with a consequence of my weight and just general +lack of self-care. + +Shortly after, I made an appointment with a doctor, who then referred me to a +cardiologist, who then once again told me that my blood pressure is indeed way +too high. Due to my young age however, they were hesitant to prescribe me +medication and instead encouraged me to start exercising more to see if this +helped the problem. + +Suffice to say, my health has notably improved ever since I changed my +lifestyle! I've started running regularly (and have been enjoying it +surprisingely) and lowered my portion size when eating. For the first couple of +weeks, I was constantly hungry, but afterwards my stomach adjusted. Nowadays, +I'm already full after a portion half the size of before! + +This post has been in the back of my mind for a while, but I wanted to wait +until I hit a specific milestone. When I started losing weight, I weighed +around 111kg, but a few days ago I weighed less than a hundred kilos for the +first time in years! My weight definitely ballooned when I started university, +so it felt really good to see that 99.9 on the scale. My blood pressure has +also notably improved, thanks to the weight loss and exercise. + +Of course I'm not going to stop now, but this was a specific goal that I had in +mind to motivate myself to keep going. My friends and family have been +commenting on my weight loss, and it's really nice to hear people say that I +lost weight for a change. I am grateful that this was discovered so soon. Being +only twenty-one, I'm still more than capable of becoming healthier. I'd rather +exercise now than deal with the possible implications from high blood pressure +years down the road. + +As usual, I have no idea how to end these posts; I just wanted to share my +accomplishment, as I'm quite proud of it :) Anyways, if you've gotten this far, +thank for you reading and have a very nice day <3