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I mean, with modern CSS you can build good experiences very well. Responsive is not easy but also not impossible.

I'm working on a self-tracking app and an Astro Web Starter Template! :)

The app is very customizable, local-first and is built to adapt to what you want. Goal is to combine habit tracking, health logging and journaling into one fast and easy to use interfact.

Have been working on it for almost years now and it's making great progress.

Doing closed user testing right now and will release an open beta soon: https://dailyselftrack.com/

My Astro Web Starter is built for building well-designed, performant and accessible websites. It contains everything a high-quality website needs (In my opinion). I built it so I have one good base on which to start my web projects on. Using basic HTML and CSS that can scale, without bloat.

There's a lot more on it which you can see here: https://starter.bryanhogan.com/


I think there are many reasons why React Native would be unappealing, my experience with it wasn't that positive.

I don't see a reason to use it over web stacks plus CapacitorJS (Or Tauri) or directly native for very large teams.


> We are making this choice because we cannot be confident that SpaceX will use our technology within our terms of service, based on our experience with Elon Musk's companies violating contracts.

I'm surprised how clear they are about this.

Related:

Can highly recommend Zed as an alternative, it's better than VSCode with the Codex extension as managing multiple chats is much nicer in Zed.

Zed: https://zed.dev/


I really liked my modern Bachelor's called Code & Context, it focussed on creating potential founders.

It combined coding, design and entrepreneurship. I felt like the idea behind this major was being able to go from idea / problem to finished product sold by a company.

The three main fields are very related:

- Coding: How to actually code and build the solution.

- Design: How to identify problems and design solutions around them. So it's actually multiple different fields of design, e.g. including product design and UX and UI design.

- Entrepreneurship: How to actually build and sustain a company around that.

There were many opportunities to work on your own projects. Increasingly so actually by intention (2 weeks to 8 weeks in later semesters). It's also close to many entrepreneurship programs for potential funding for ideas, but also networking and guidance.

I wrote a blog post about it: https://bryanhogan.com/blog/what-is-coco

Their website (in German): https://coco.study/

The university's page on it (in German): https://www.th-koeln.de/studium/code--context-bachelor_62103...


Hi Bryan, thanks for digging up that gem! As prof, I‘ve been thinking a lot about how to modernize our Information Systems Bachelor‘s here in Berlin, Germany. Clearly, the old model has become obsolete in the Age of AI. In my own (tech heavy) courses I‘m increasingly weaving product into the curriculum - eg, how to empathize with users, and how to collaborate in a dev team. I‘d love to pick your brain on your experiences in your Bachelor‘s!


Yes, I would love to talk! Please send me a message: bryan @ bryanhogan dot com


I've been using Zed mostly with Codex session windows and its great. It is much easier to handle multiple sessions than in the Codex VSCode app and the interface is quite good.


I'm building the easiest way to start your own high-quality blog: https://github.com/BryanHogan/astro-starter-template

Astro is a framework that uses no JavaScript by default. I also use just HTML and CSS, so no bloated additional frameworks or styling libraries.

All blog content is written as Markdown or .mdx files, so it's easy to write and move to any other tool if you wish to do so.

You can host it for free using any major provider since it's just a static website (e.g., GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, etc.).

Making it similar to my own website which is on: https://bryanhogan.com/

(Repo: https://github.com/BryanHogan/bryanhogan )


I built something for a similar goal, make it easy for someone to start their blog. But instead it's a static website, clone the repo, adjust the config.ts, write the posts in markdown, host anywhere: https://starter.bryanhogan.com/


> The simplest way to build a high-quality website.

The build (generation) step should be able to execute on/inside the browser runtime (using standardized APIs, not hardcoded against proprietary APIs that the NodeJS people invented).

See also <https://crussell.ichi.city/pager.app.htm>


That would mean using a completely different architecture, and I think there many benefits to using Astro. I like your underlying goal of fewer environment-specific dependencies, but the ones used here were carefully selected because they do provide a benefit.


I'm responding to a specific claim that you put at the top of the page the linked to.

> the [dependencies] used here were carefully selected because they do provide a benefit.

You're moving the goalposts.


I don't think that's moving the goalposts. The goal isn't to minimize dependencies or avoid Node APIs. It's to make it easy to build a high-quality website with a good, simple developer / creator experience.

The thing you linked doesn't meet the bar I'm aiming for, either for the resulting site or for the experience of building it. Astro helps me achieve those goals as part of this project, which is why I consider it a beneficial dependency.


You moved the goalposts from "The simplest way to build a high-quality website" to "there are benefits to using Astro".

> The thing you linked doesn't meet the bar I'm aiming for, either for the resulting site or for the experience of building it.

And now you're applying a standard that was never claimed to have been met.

There's a way this back-and-forth could have gone, which is right after I emphasize that "The simplest way to build a high-quality site" doesn't belong at the top of the page because it doesn't reflect what you're actually doing, then you say, "Oh yeah, I see what you mean. I went ahead and changed it to something that's more accurate and (a little less hyperbolic). I'm not trying to fundamentally throw out the experience that people who are already familiar with building sites with conventional NodeJS-based frameworks like Astro are used to. Just trying to make it a little easier."

Instead we got this.



This is the one use-case where !important makes the most sense, as it's a utility class they you only use if you want it. The other solution would be to make other CSS less specific, e.g. using `where` in the markdown.css file, but that would be more messy.


I agree that React gets overused for many websites, but I'm not sure about this project over something like Astro.

I built an Astro Starter that uses just CSS in a scalable way for simple websites. Content is written in Markdown / MDX files. Design tokens are set in var.css. Other stuff is defined in one config.ts file.

Global styling is set though a few CSS files (Global, Reset, Var, Util, Markdown), components are scoped in styling but utilise the tokens.

Link: https://starter.bryanhogan.com/

GitHub repository: https://starter.bryanhogan.com/


I also don't recommend TailwindCSS.

I instead recommend using HTML + CSS in a way that scales. Plus using a framework that supports scoped components helps.

I'm writing a web developer guide on using HTML + CSS and JS only when you need it: https://webdev.bryanhogan.com/

I'm also using the described approach in building a Astro starter template: https://starter.bryanhogan.com/


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