I took time during a holiday to write an Obsidian plugin 4 years ago to scratch a personal itch as it were. I promptly forgot most of the detail, the Obsidian plugin API and ecosystem have naturally changed since then, and Typescript isn't in my day-to-day lingo.
I've been collecting ideas for new plugins since then while dreading the investment needed to get back up to speed on how to implement them.
I took a couple hours over a recent winter holiday with Claude and cranked out two new plugins plus improvements to the 4 year old bit-rotting original. Claude handled much of the accidental complexity of ramping up that would have bogged me down in the past--suggesting appropriate API methods to use, writing idiomatic TS, addressing linter findings, ...
I'm finding that too. I have old stale projects that I'm hesitant to try and fix because I know it will involve hours of frustrating work figuring out how to upgrade core dependencies.
Now I can genuinely point Claude Code at them and say "upgrade this to the latest versions" and it will do most of that tedious work for me.
I can even have it fill in some missing tests and gaps in the documentation at the same time.
Another anecdote: I built my first Android app in less than a dozen hours over the holiday, tailored for a specific need I have. I do have many years of experience with Java, C# and JS (Angular), but have never coded anything for mobile. Gemini helped me figure out how to set up a Kotlin app with a reasonable architecture (Hilt for dependency injection, etc). It also helped me find Material3 components and set up the UI in a way that looks not too bad, especially considering my lack of design skills. The whole project was a real joy to do, and I have a couple of more ideas that I'm going to implement over the coming months.
As a father of three with a busy life, this would've simply been impossible a couple of years ago.
We taken this approach using streamlit to incrementally turn Markdown lists of instructions into mini, self-service web apps. Steps in lists are gradually replaced with widgets, collecting inputs for the automation to do the work instead.
I had the privilege of attending some of Dr. Brooks' lectures. His views on the role of a computer scientist have helped me find meaning and direction in my career. May he rest in peace.
In a word, the computer scientist is a toolsmith--no more, but no less. It is an honorable calling. If we perceive our role aright, we then see more clearly the proper criterion for success: a toolmaker succeeds as, and only as, the users of his tool succeed with his aid. However shining the blade, however jeweled the hilt, however perfect the heft, a sword is tested only by cutting. That swordsmith is successful whose clients die of old age.
Thorn | REMOTE (US-based) | Senior Full Stack Engineer / Senior Software Engineer / Data Engineer | Full-time | https://thorn.org
Thorn is a startup focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn allows you to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. Our staff solves dynamic, quickly evolving problems with our network of partners from tech companies, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. If you can bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy issues, you could be an excellent fit for our team.
Thorn is a startup focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn allows you to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. Our staff solves dynamic, quickly evolving problems with our network of partners from tech companies, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. If you can bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy issues, you could be an excellent fit for our team.
Our CEO took the stage at TED and shared our audacious goal (https://www.ted.com/talks/julie_cordua_how_we_can_eliminate_...) of eliminating child sexual abuse material from the internet.
Thorn is a startup focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn allows you to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. Our staff solves dynamic, quickly evolving problems with our network of partners from tech companies, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. If you can bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy issues, you could be an excellent fit for our team.
Our CEO took the stage at TED and shared our audacious goal (https://www.ted.com/talks/julie_cordua_how_we_can_eliminate_...) of eliminating child sexual abuse material from the internet.
Thorn is a startup focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn gives you the opportunity to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. If you are able to bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy problems, you could be a great fit for our team.
We are looking for a Senior Full-Stack Engineer to join our growing team. Apply here today: https://grnh.se/40bdcf132us
Thorn | REMOTE (US-based) | Support Engineer / Sr. Software Engineer / Sr. Full-Stack Engineer / Sr. Data Scientist / Data Engineer |Full-time | https://thorn.org
Thorn is a startup focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn gives you the opportunity to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. Our staff solves dynamic, quickly evolving problems with our network of partners from tech companies, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. If you are able to bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy problems, you could be a great fit for our team.
Thorn | REMOTE (US-based) | IT Security Engineer / Data Engineer / Sr. Software Engineer / Sr. Full-Stack Engineer / Sr. Data Scientist | Full-time | https://thorn.org
What if we told you writing code could help defend the world’s most vulnerable children? At Thorn, engineers are tackling how to use big data, innovative technologies, and the human spark of creativity to build a world where every child can be safe, curious, and happy. If you’re ready to make a difference with your engineering skills, apply today.
Thorn | REMOTE (US-based) | IT Security Engineer / Data Engineer / Sr. Software Engineer / Sr. Full-Stack Engineer / Sr. Data Scientist | Full-time | https://thorn.org
Thorn is a non-profit focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Working at Thorn gives you the opportunity to apply your skills, expertise, and passions to directly impact the lives of vulnerable and abused children. Our staff solves dynamic, quickly evolving problems with our network of partners from tech companies, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. If you are able to bring clarity to complexity and lightness to heavy problems, you could be a great fit for our team. Without a doubt, you are a passionate technical leader that adeptly navigates between the big picture, details, and team dynamics.
I took time during a holiday to write an Obsidian plugin 4 years ago to scratch a personal itch as it were. I promptly forgot most of the detail, the Obsidian plugin API and ecosystem have naturally changed since then, and Typescript isn't in my day-to-day lingo.
I've been collecting ideas for new plugins since then while dreading the investment needed to get back up to speed on how to implement them.
I took a couple hours over a recent winter holiday with Claude and cranked out two new plugins plus improvements to the 4 year old bit-rotting original. Claude handled much of the accidental complexity of ramping up that would have bogged me down in the past--suggesting appropriate API methods to use, writing idiomatic TS, addressing linter findings, ...