Top all-time · #7292
Diego Crespo
Personal blog · deusinmachina.net · on HN as Decabytesprogrammingaiculture
Diego Crespo writes Deus In Machina, a personal blog at deusinmachina.net about programming, ai and culture. Since 2023, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 61 times, most often “Tracing the Lines: From the Telephone to Unix”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-05-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked in a thread on a C compiler, assembler and runtime for the C64, where a commenter asked for the author's article on old C compilers. No comment judges the writing.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Welcome! I'm all about exploring the intersections of programming, technology, and culture with insights on development trends, language deep dives, and reflections on software evolution in a rapidly changing digital landscape. w
Most-linked posts?
- Tracing the Lines: From the Telephone to Unix2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-08-03
- Compiling History: A brief tour of C compilers2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-01-09
- Simula the Forgotten Programming Language2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-03-02
- Breaking the Snake: How Python went from 2 to 32 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-01-19
- A Look at Crystal, the Programming Language for Humans2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-04-27
- We need more programming languages2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-04-20
What Hacker News says?
It really is amazing that over 50 years later, we are only finally getting languages that are working on replacing C. Most went in the direction of being Big Idea languages that tried to supplant domains like C++ and Java. The language that is probably the closest is Zig, but I hear Odin is pretty good too (the website specifically mentions it as a C alternative) The things I like about C aren't really about the lan…
Comment linking /p/gambit-c-scheme-and-c-a-match-made
on “So you think you know C? (2016)”Submitted Compiling History: A brief tour of C compilers as a story · 105 points
HN discussionIt’s here https://www.deusinmachina.net/p/compiling-history-a-brief-to...
Comment linking /p/compiling-history-a-brief-tour-of
on “C Compiler Assembler and Runtime for C64”Submitted The Story of Nel as a story · 36 points
HN discussion> So I recently took at broad look at some of the old C compilers and wrote an article about it. Do you have a link or reference? Doesn't appear to be on your blog? https://www.deusinmachina.net/t/programming
Comment linking /t/programming
on “C Compiler Assembler and Runtime for C64”Submitted Small Joys When Programming as a story · 7 points
HN discussionI have a couple... 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34507046 I made a port of Xixit to the X16 [video] It's super interesting as someone who never lived through the 80s watching someone programming an 8 bit system. Even more impressive is he is making his own "modern" 8 bit system with off the shelf parts! I'm amazed that people can make complex software in assembly. I feel like my brain can't deal with the l…
Comment linking /p/the-fascinating-development-of-ai-47b
on “Ask HN: What have you created that deserves a second chance on HN?”Submitted Coding without braces: An alternate C Syntax as a story · 6 points
HN discussionI like Lua, but after going all in on Gambit-C^1 for a bit, I'm not sure anything can top its level of integration. Besides compiling to C, it just lets you straight up write C inside of a .scm file. (c-declare #<<c-declare-end #include <stdio.h> c-declare-end) ((c-lambda () void #<<c-lambda-end printf("Hello World!\n"); c-lambda-end)) and then run the corresponding executable gsc -exe embed.scm && ./embed 1. https:…
Comment linking /p/gambit-c-scheme-and-c-a-match-made
on “Why Smart C Coders Love Lua”Submitted AAA Gaming's Disappointing Roadmap and How We Got Here as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI wrote about my techniques for learning in an blog post^1 and a big part of my technique is the hand written notes and the zettelkasten. I like handwritten notes for a few reasons. It allows me to practice my handwriting, specifically cursive. It allows me to take a break from looking at screens. It also helps me remember things by creating that mind body connection. But also, it’s so easy to type almost word for w…
Comment linking /p/the-most-effective-way-i-know-how
on “The importance of handwriting is now better understood”Submitted The First 100k Words: Finding Success on Substack Without a Following as a story · 3 points
HN discussionWriting about topics on my blog^1 has forced me to actually learn topics more thoroughly than I would normally. So instead of learning something only until I have enough knowledge to use it, I actually go all the way so no one calls me out for being an idiot or not understanding what I’m talking about. 1. https://www.deusinmachina.net/
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?”Submitted Simula the Forgotten Programming Language as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Evolution of Pop _OS and the Birth of the Cosmic DE as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The most effective way I know to learn as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Case for PowerShell on macOS and Linux as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Enhancing Emacs Efficiency with Xah Fly Keys as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Learning to Touch Type Again as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Simula the Forgotten Programming Language as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Racket: The Lisp for the Modern Day as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted An Ode to Emacs. The Greatest Operating System as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted OpenOffice: The Zombie Software That Won’t Die as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What is happening in the Pygame community? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Understanding the Power of Bitwise Operators. No Math Needed as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted We need more programming languages as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted We need more programming languages as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted C Strings and my slow descent to madness as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is hand coding becoming obsolete? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Getting work done with PowerShell on Linux as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
