I spent some time during the last week to see how far I can push LLMs to generate some basic application functionality while working on Lazerbunny. I wanted to stick closely to the plan so I started with the timer application, as it is the most simple one. The scope is small, well defined and it would not take much to simply write around 200 lines of code to get it done, so it seemed like a good candidate to let an LLM handle the work.
When building smaller tools I have built many times before I usually just start and iterate for a while, but when starting an open ended project such as Lazerbunny I like to think through the high level components and architecture for a bit. This does not mean I am going full early 2000s architect mode, but I scribble down enough to remember in a month or two what I was planning to do and why. As promised in the first post I’ll walk you through the thought process of the initial design.
I am starting a new series of articles for a project I have been working on for a bit, but only recently have been getting more serious about. I am perpetually a little bit annoyed by the state of software - projects constantly changing, being abandoned or adding features that make no sense for my use case - so I started writing small tools for myself which I use on a daily basis. And it has not only been fun, but also useful. For the rest of the year I will focus on a project I have been thinking about for a few years: Building a useful, personal AI assistant.
I spent some time over the Christmas break to work on refining some tasks like exchanging large amounts of data between our two offices. Both sites already have a proper 3-2-1 backup strategy, now we have got an additional copy. A nice to have I wanted was an option to ditch iCloud Drive. Syncthing is not the best or the easiest replacement, but it is workable and has been reliable for three devices I used it on in the past.
Happy New Year! I hope you and your families will have an amazing 2026. Be healthy, be happy and achieve all the goals you set yourself!