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Tom

@contextfree.bsky.social
183 followers 145 following 174 posts

I make videos about computer programming at youtube.com/@contextfree - he/him - God is good. Black lives matter.

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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If I ever get my OS done, one key feature is NO UPDATE NOTIFICATIONS EVER. You presumably could still manually visit the site for updates if you want. And even though I like wifi auto backup, maybe it's better just to have no wifi, so you know your system is what you touch to it.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Occurred to me that optimizing locals into global space for recursionless functions might be the same thing as optimizing memory layout for stackless coroutines. I don't think I want to do either at the moment though.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Maybe compiler support memory can overlap the end of the global data buffer so I can allocate zero-init globals/arrays in that space to reuse it at runtime. Means there's a smaller global space for non-zero values. Or maybe "include file as byte array" can also be slotted in the reused space.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Because I'd apparently rather do hard hobby projects than get views, here's a video on making a compiler for the RP2350 microcontroller. youtu.be/Pme2J63HxxU
youtu.be
Starting my own compiler and operating system for RP2350
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I wish new Commodore would release a C256 at 256 MHz, 256 MB ram, and full raster 256 color graphics. In the size of a normal sized keyboard instead of huge sized. Could use the same cpu instruction set. And overall similar user experience would be fine, too. Could include C64 compatibility.
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Reposted by Tom
Henrique Olifiers @olifiers.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
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Gleam Programming Language @gleam.run · 19/08/2026
Did you know? @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social has added #Gleamlang to it's CS course!
Graphic with "Did you know... Berkeley University is now using Gleam for one of its Computer Science courses?" and a smiling pink star holding an envelope with a light bulb
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Starting to feel like modern computers (and phones) are just appliances I have to use and that tiny spec or retro computers the actual things I choose to engage with.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Considering trying out a text mode for 640x360 text editing, which would give 106x40 chars on my current font design vs 53x20 chars on my already working 320x180 raster. (Main issue for raster size is RAM usage.)
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Spending some time with the Fruit Jam makes me think of computers as physical devices rather than just varied specs for accessing common software/internet/system experiences. Well, at least a computer like the Fruit Jam *can* feel like its own thing.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Quick rp2350 speed summary from *simple* loops: Lua's about 3-4x slower than unoptimized C. MicroPython's more like 30x slower. MicroPython viper can get ints to like 50% slower than unoptimized C but can't handle floats. Unoptimized C on rp2350 is about the same speed as Python interpreter on rpi4.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Posted a new video on talking to Odin Language Server in Odin. Display is in Raylib, and most of my dev for it has been on Raspberry Pi 4. youtu.be/YE3RkXPWnrY
youtu.be
Coding a text editor in Odin and Raylib on Raspberry Pi 4 that talks to Odin Language Server
YouTube video by Context Free
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Reposted by Tom
Chimney Sweepers Local 420 @bobbby.online · 21/07/2026
This is a pretty cool experiment from a friend of mine. Some features of the language: - WASM/JS backends - lots of types, everywhere - time travel debugger - tree walking interpreter - Perceus RC over GC - it is fast - ocaml built - algebraic types It feels like Elixir/Erlang and OCaml
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
320x240 can't scale integer fully to either dimension of the most common 1080p monitor resolution, which is sad. 320x180 scales perfectly on both axes, though. Also to 720p (which 240 also does).
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Inline skated over 6 1/2 miles on Saturday. And today I managed to get up and down the bridge over the train tracks (turning around at the top) without killing myself or anyone else. I'm still feeling very sloppy, but maybe making some progress.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
PICO-8 might be *too* restrictive sometimes for my taste, but I'm glad it teaches code size part of the budget. Especially for hobby things, using whatever tech, I'm try to think that if something will end up as too much code (or takes me too much time to work through), maybe I need a simpler plan.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm getting tired of UIs that cram interactivity into every nook and cranny. Sometimes I feel like there's no safe place to rest my cursor.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Years ago, I enjoyed reading VSCode release notes. Now it's just AI stuff I don't care about at all. And I mostly wish they'd stop making other changes, too, unless they're making things faster or fixing bugs.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
By the time they stop making Raspberry Pi 400 (as early as 2028?), I hope RAM prices have come down or else they start selling an RPi 500 with half the RAM. Maybe an RPi 50 or something???
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
New video: Benchmarking LuaJIT vs Odin speed on Raspberry Pi and Intel, plus Python and Rust! youtu.be/4MdLs3kAp84
youtu.be
Benchmarking LuaJIT vs Odin speed on Raspberry Pi and Intel, plus Python and Rust!
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Dev platform I'm trying out: - 4gb RPi4 (effectively RPi 400) - No web browsers but still network access - No games - Lua/Love2D - LMMS and Audacity - LibreSprite and others - VSCodium and Lua Language Server - Terminal, Git, etc. Really not half bad. Losing web browsers is a super power for focus.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
New video! How to capture the spirit of old computing without faking old systems. youtu.be/ilNtp0s9uTY
youtu.be
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Reposted by Tom
Kenney @kenney.nl · 25/05/2026
I made Godot sad, sorry all
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
I think any home robots *shouldn't* have wireless networking. Data transfer should require a physical connection on the robot's body where it can't actually reach on its own.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The Trump administration is closing the office responsible for investigating misconduct and abuse in the immigration detention system, per an email obtained by HuffPost
huffpost.com
Trump Admin Closes Office That Investigates Abuse In Immigration Detention System
The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman is in the process of removing all its public signage and ending its inspections, according to an internal email.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
New video! Interview with @mvsamuel.bsky.social and Shaw Summa about @temper.bsky.social, which is also my day job. youtu.be/2rWvUnGJhyk
youtu.be
Cross-language *libraries* with Temper: Interview with Mike Samuel, Shaw Summa, and Tom Palmer
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Keyboards are such awesome tech that we easily take for granted. Nice that we could inherit the idea from earlier mechanical typewriter tech.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
People often complain that current AI is just statistical predictions rather than real thinking. Thing is that more logical forms of AI have also been tried and haven't done as well, because the world is a messy place.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
New video! Closure capture in JS, Kotlin, Java, Python, Go, Temper, Rust, C++, & Odin youtu.be/FfkDXmcslAM
youtu.be
Closure capture in JS, Kotlin, Java, Python, Go, Temper, Rust, C++, & Odin
YouTube video by Context Free
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Reposted by Tom
Freya Holmér @freya.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
okay - approximately how unhinged is this workaround for not being able to call default interface member implementations without a cast in C#?
C# code that reads:
public interface IThing {
	internal int _Number => 1; // hidden default impl.
	public int Number { get; } // *public* accessor
}
public interface IThingA : IThing {
	int IThing._Number => 4; // override
}
public class BThing : IThingA {
	// public accessor emitted from source generator:
	public int Number => ( (IThing)this )._Number;
}
public class CThing : IThingA {
	public int Number => 8; // override
}
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
For example, in Python: >>> { ... 0: "0", ... 0.0: "0.0", ... -0.0: "-0.0", ... False: "False", ... } ... {0: 'False'}
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
2025 in programming languages! youtu.be/CzFiPcuMnWM
youtu.be
Programming Languages in 2025!
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
This has been my day job for the past few years. Super excited to share it!
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
New video on my tile map editor and file formats. youtu.be/q2-a7Gztw2g
youtu.be
Easy tile maps inspired by PICO-8!
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
New video, new project. I'm so distractable. youtu.be/x3tOCLvSQT8
youtu.be
Prototype like PICO-8 but then scale up - Starting a new project again!
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
Started a new side project in Go. First time I've tried using the language seriously. Some things I like and some things I don't. And vaguely related, thinking that wide low res map grid screens should be 240x128.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
Suddenly remembering the days before multilevel undo/redo was mostly everywhere.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
80 years today since nuclear weapons have been targeted at people. Hoping to see 90 and 100 years and many more in the future.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Are there are any memory safe, reference counting languages that have a tiny implementation and compile directly to wasm? I'd like to think I know a good answer to this, but I'm unsure.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
Very small PICO-8 game I made for the GMTK Jam. tjpalmer.itch.io/escape-loop
tjpalmer.itch.io
Escape Loop by Tom
Play in your browser
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Reposted by Tom
Travis Street @travisstreet.com · 01/08/2025
I'm the bear
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
New video! Compiling GDScript to and running on WebAssembly youtu.be/hmyxqrzgL28
youtu.be
Faster GDScript in Godot? Compiling and running as WebAssembly
YouTube video by Context Free
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Reposted by Tom
Тsфdiиg @tsoding.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
It's interesting how Recreational Programming scratches the same itch as Gaming. You are basically playing Factorio on your CPU.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Just published a new video on error generics. youtu.be/OcyijYJq18s
youtu.be
Error polymorphism in Java, C#, Koka, Rust, & Zig
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Recently thought about how "native" in Java and "foreign" as in FFI are both used in Java to refer to the same idea. I guess Java sees itself as the foreigner when using the "native" term.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Happy Easter! And here's a view from my hike yesterday.
View down from a steep mountain with a saguaro cactus in the foreground and others further away. Also the city of Tucson in the far background.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Just published a new video on panics, errors, and exceptions. youtu.be/TQOLosBgX20
youtu.be
Panicking and Error - Java, C#, Go, Rust, & Gleam
YouTube video by Context Free
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Less than 9 minutes left of video recording to edit for the next video. Maybe can release by Friday if I manage to fit time in. If not then likely early next week. Languages: Java, C#, Rust, C, Gleam.
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Tom @contextfree.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Some languages with VSCode extensions that I've noticed auto format on save by default: - Gleam - Go - Zig I love the confidence of reliability and speed that this presupposes and encourages. I haven't yet been burned by them, but I also don't use any of them daily.
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Rodrigo 🇵🇸 @codecaster.es · 27/03/2025
Do you want to use Gleam in a Mix project? Maybe write some complex domain logic in a type-safe language in a Phoenix project? Try this elixirforum.com/t/request-fo... #myelixirstatus @elixir-lang.org @gleam.run
elixirforum.com
Request for testers: Gleam support in Mix
Hi! I have a PR on the elixir repo that adds support for gleam in Mix. There you’ll find the instructions to test the feature before it’s released. It will allow you to add gleam path dependencies i...
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