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I recently started on two projects that I'm really excited about! It's been awhile since I've actually had the motivation (or time) to code after work.
First is a static site generator built in Rust for Gemini, HTML, Gopher and Nex. It's called PodBay. Currently it can take an input Markdown file and generate HTML+Gemini files, next up is the ability to parse an entire directory. Eventually I see it handling Atom/RSS feeds, pinging aggregators like Antenna on Gemini, optimizing images and supporting "front matter" to customize output.
The second project I'm not going to reveal a whole lot about just yet. It's a website with a super simple, early 2000s look built on raw PHP and MySQL. It's a revitalization of one of my favorite sites back in the day. I've got a name, but it would give it away, so I'll announce it later! Will probably launch a V0.1 soon.
I honestly really enjoy the raw PHP+MySQL stack, it's so easy to just try stuff out. No frameworks or dependencies, just code and data. When my projects grow sometimes I'll add Slim PHP and Twig, but it's still so easy to manage and build upon. The added complexity of things like Laravel and React/Vue/Svelte typically kill my motivation. not because they are difficult, but because there's a lot of extra steps before I get to see results. I've spent 2 hours on my mystery project, and already have a prototype.
As for Rust, I feel learning it has made me a better developer, and I love how easy it is to start and build a project. I'll be honest, it still confuses me with lifetimes and borrows, but I'm slowly getting it.
I'll post links to the repos soon, right now I'm self-hosting them on Gitea and I need to find a way to expose them to the internet.
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