Whats Old Is New

Intro

I write software for a living. I’ve been writing software for my entire adult life (and into my adolescence too.) I really like writing software, love it probably. The simplicities and the complexities. I think what has been fun for me to dive in to is lower level systems that have been around for a long time. Things like TCP, UDP, sockets, dailers, etc. These are things I and many others learned about in college, but maybe don’t think too much about anymore (unless you have to.)

Old Stuff

I recently took up https://protohackers.com - for the uninitiated, it’s a graduated set of problems that increase in complexity. They start with building a simple network protocol and ramp up in difficulty. You put a server online and have it run against a test suite to pass. It’s fun!

I’ve been using protohackers to further refine my Go knowledge and eventually plan to use it as a basis for learning a new language. My plan is to try implementing it in Rust, or whichever flavored language I’m in to when my motivation strikes me.

The AI Angle

I have to take a moment to discuss the angle of AI here. I promise it’s not a sales pitch. It’s just interesting to think about how AI comes in to augmenting one’s learning of something. Back in the day people also said wikipedia and Google were probably harming your ability to actually learn something. Yet we’ve all found the answer from a hidden comment on the lowest upvoted answer on stackoverflow.

It’s interesting to think about this though. How much AI is worth introducing into a side project, specifically one that is meant for one’s own education? At least for the time being I don’t allow myself to use something like Cursor, but I do allow myself to use a GPT in a browser window to ask it questions. It’s helpful and saves me from having to hunt through out dated blogs or SO comments.

Old Stuff v2

I think what is enjoyable about diving in to these types of problems is that while I learned about them (I guess I’m using the network sockets here as that seems to be the theme) is that re-learning something you deeply studied in the past, I still end up walking away with some different or even deeper level of understanding. I know more now than I did then, I am looking at the problem with a different set of eyes (figuratively and physically).

Catharsis

There is something cathartic about delving in to older or lower level technology. How simple it is, but also how powerful (and complex it can be!) It is truly a humbling experience diving in to something like networking sockets. These have been around for a long time and literally power the internet. Yet are one of the lower level primitives of any system. It’s truly cool stuff and is really fun to learn about.

Outro

End it man! What was this blog trying to accomplish?

I guess overall I’m writing this as I’m grappling with the idea that it’s most definitely worth re-visiting past projects or systems, theories, etc, to just keep that stone sharp. You’ll be surprised with what you walk away with, even if you went in thinking you wouldn’t learn anything.

AI is a part of our lives now and it can definitely play a part in augmented learned. Whether it be to refresh yourself on existing things, or to learn something new.