loading . . . ## Magazine Review: DOCTYPE
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/11/magazine-review-doctype/
> D'yer remember the eighties? The eighties, eh? Remember 'em? With the Acorn Archimedes an' that? What were we like? Remember them mags what y'got? The computer mags? Wirral the source code? Remember typin' it all in be hand? If yer semicolon were outta place y'd gerra syntax error! And you try telling that to the young people of today, will they believe yer?
For those of you born this century, it might be hard to believe but - yes - the way we distributed source code back in the day was on paper. Computer magazines would be full of news, reviews, letters (like the comments section of a website), classified ads (like eBay), and code listings - like this:
> YORE COMPUTER 🕹
>
> @yorecomputer
>
> 1986:
>
> Your Sinclair Magazine Issue 09, page 50
>
> archive.org/stream/your-si… pic.x.com/b3jgdn12kk
>
> * * *
>
> ❤️ 3💬 4🔁 010:48 - Thu 06 September 2018
That's how I learned to code. Laboriously type in a few hundred lines of dense code, check it furiously for mistakes, get frustrated at a syntax error on line 115, scream "eureka!" when I got it running, and then investigated its inner workings.
A few months ago, Internet funster Matt Round announced that he was bringing back type-in mags. But, this time, for the web!
Would that work? In an era of vibe-coding, templates, and batteries-included frameworks, who on Earth would buy a magazine like this?
Well - _you_ , I hope. Because it is now on sale and features a project written by me!
For a very reasonable £7.99, you get **ten** different games, projects, and demos to type in. That's a mere 79p per website! Cheaper than a C64 cassette I reckon.
The artwork by HappyToast is lush, the layout is gorgeous, and the programs are fun. Some of them you'll understand straight away, others you won't quite get until the very last character.
Could you cheat by scanning it, running OCR over the code, and then running it? Sure. But you can also hire someone to kiss your partner if you can't be bothered to put the effort in. Where's the fun in that?
Here's a sneak preview of mine:
I'd love your feedback on my project and I'd be delighted if you turned it into something awesome.
Copy-typing code - especially Max Goodhart's incredible "Quine" project - is a meditative and unusual experience. I propped up the magazine on my laptop and was _delighted_ that I only made five typos the first time through.
Is this really how we lived? Yes! Is this something we should go back to? Well, that's a harder question to answer.
I hope you enjoy playing with what I and others have created. I bet you'll learn something new. Please remix mine and show it to your friends. If you haven't got a friend, one of the projects is a primitive Markov chain - so you can build your own digital pal.
You can buy DOCTYPE magazine now. It will make the perfect Christmas gift for all the nerds in your life.
#html #review #webdev #websites https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/11/magazine-review-doctype/
