I kept the previous design (archived here,) it turns out, for a whole eight years. I modified it slightly over that time, changing the words, the links, and the colors. Its main conceit (the text getting increasingly obscured with time) never changed, and while cute, is not very helpful to the visitor. I decided to change it to be simpler and nicer. My website in general has always reflected my contrary attitude somewhat, but I guess the front page should just do its job of introducing who I am and link to some relevant places, to anyone nice enough to want to know. Yes, I am aware of how obvious the previous statement is.

The new page is a completely static HTML+CSS design optimized for mobile devices. My original plan was to give it a tiny bit of interactivity in the form of language selection, which I wanted to make my first Elm miniproject. But I ended up going to the Valdivia International Film Festival and had to hurry it up a bit, since I wanted something presentable in case anyone would take my card. (I might write about the festival later.)

Elm is a rather new language that compiles down into javascript, and which I’ve been learning recently. It’s been a pleasant and enlightening experience. I first considered learning the specific configuration of React plus whatever frameworks are needed to be able to develop for the web in a “fully” functional programming environment. But the overhead of learning all of that to, in the end, just having a sham of a functional environment, made me turn my attention to Elm, which was a language I’d been eyeing for some time. Basically, using just javascript, very little of any complexity can be made for the web, thus needing a bunch of libraries/frameworks of dubious compatibility and ease of use, laid on top of the shaky foundation that is the javascript standards. On the other hand, Elm has been made from the ground up to address the current landscape of the web, with a purely functional design. An easy tradeoff for me: I’d much rather learn a well-designed new functional language than be forced to hold my breath while navigating javascript’s murky waters.