# Learning Through Creative Limitation

_Published: July 18, 2021_

I was talking to a friend recently about hobby coding and ways to
code creatively.  In the course of that conversation, I was able to
put a name to one of my favorite tactics: creative limitation.

A quick internet search seems to associate the term with Phil
Hansen and more traditional art, but I think it applies nicely to
coding too.  For example, with this site, I've chosen to restrict
the tech stack to the OpenBSD base system. It wasn't the initial
goal (which was to learn mdoc(7)), but I quickly realized that
restricting to base would give me a better chance to learn base.

Overall, I'd call it a success.  The [Jam Tuesday](/jam-tuesday)
setlist project gave me a chance to learn some
[sh(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/sh.1) and
[sed(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/sed.1), and my [blog](.)
was a [chance to learn mdoc(7)](/blog/my-old-man.html),
and the site's build system helped me brush up on BSD
[make(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/make.1).

I'd encourage you to try it -- set an arbitrary restriction and see
where it takes you!  Here's a few ideas to get you started:

- Write your own X window manager in as few lines of code as you can
- Write a version control system with
  [sh(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/sh.1),
  [diff(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/diff.1), and
  [patch(1)](https://man.openbsd.org/sh.1)
- Write a blogging engine updated via email
- Write your own templating language (and parser)

The goal, for me, is to choose a challenging project that helps me
understand a technology I use daily but may take for granted
(windowing systems, VCS, email, parsers, etc).

Restricting size helps understand what the core definition of a
technology is.  Building clones can help teach edge cases and
design decisions one might otherwise overlook.  And in all cases,
it's a good chance to learn a new language!

[Back to blog](/blog)