Ramblings

Learning the Fundamentals
Now that I'm entering my last year of university, I really want to take the time to learn the fundamentals of software engineering. For me, this includes: programming languages, operating systems, and hardware.

But what does this exactly entail?

For programming languages I will build my own programming language. I will begin with building an interpreted language following the book crafting interpreters. After completing this book, I will do more research into building my own compiler. Whether that be for my own language, or a compiler for an older version of C.

For operating systems I will build my own simple operating system. A long time ago when I was watching jdh and he has an amazing video where he builds his own operating system to play Tetris.

For hardware I will make my own CPU. Same story from the operating systems, jdh built his own cpu to play pong, which I found really interesting.

What is the point?

The reason I am taking on these challenges is #1 they sound really fun, but a more professional answer would be that it covers the fundamentals of programming. I am a man of fundamentals, and a strong believer that doing this will make a better overall developer. Also, since I am in my last year of university, this is my last real chance to spend as much time learning whatever I want before taking on more personal responsibilities.

How much to Vibe Code?
I used to be a massive AI hater and tried to avoid it like the plague, but after seeing its use at my internship, and by people like Rene Rebe, I got a little more interested.
It is a fine line to walk, it's a struggle between not losing your skills while also getting the benefits of AI.
The question then becomes one of abstraction.
How much of the problem are you willing to be black-boxed into the LLM vs. how much do you need to know?
I recently was playing around building a vibe-coded freeways solver, and while it was quick and easy, I sat at the high level guiding decisions.
I think AI was prefect for building the level-labeler, since its a simple task that mostly relies on knowledge of a UI library rather than deep design decisions / algorithms.
But, when I started using it to build the solver, I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the direction it was going, as I lacked expertise. It felt more like I was following it blindly, trusting what is says, rather than guiding it as my assistant.
This is obviously and mistake as it puts me at mercy of its knowledge.
That is when AI becomes a serious danger.
I still need to play around to find something I am comfortable with, and will keep this thread updated with progress.
-- 8/10/26 at 2:07am

Art in Science
Creativity is deep-rooted in science. Solving unsolved problems isn't easy; if it were, our civilization would be much further along. The question then becomes, "What skills are required to solve unsolved problems?

While there is a lot that goes into it, as I explore more, I realize the importance of creativity. It takes an imaginative mind to come up with truly novel work required to solve problems even the best minds haven't been able to tackle.

As I explore the more creative side of myself through books, drawing, painting, music, and writing, I discover countless similarities in the process of creation.
-- 6/27/26 at 7:08pm

Welcome Rambling
Welcome to the first rambling.

I've been meaning to do this for a while but never got around to it I guess. I will keep posting here regularly since articles take a while to write.

Upon setting this page up I'm realizing that the rendering engine needs some upgrades like dynamic linking to headers, custom article css pages, and some other bonus features like edit history etc.. I think the only thing I need to be careful for is not over complicating everything but I think its fine.

Well anyways, welcome to the first rambling and more will come =)
-- 6/24/26 at 1:39am