notrab.dev

This website runs on Astro, and like many of my other projects, I've built a custom newsletter system rather than reaching for a bespoke newsletter third-party service. Here's why and how I did it.

Most newsletter services either cost too much for small lists or come with limitations that don't fit how I want to engage with readers. I wanted something lightweight, cost-effective, and completely under my control.

I last wrote PHP professionally over 15 years ago. Back then, CodeIgniter and FuelPHP were my go-to frameworks—well before Laravel became the powerhouse it is today. After years in the Rails ecosystem, then Node, Go, React, and GraphQL, I decided it was time to come back.

And like any self-respecting developer, I built a framework to do it.

My relationship with Go goes back to my time at Moltin, a YC-backed startup where the backend was built entirely in Go and deployed on Kubernetes. I wasn't writing Go full-time then, but being surrounded by developers who discussed goroutines over breakfast rubbed off. In Developer Relations, I needed to write examples and demos in multiple languages, including our Go SDK, so I picked up the basics early on.

Fast-forward a few years, and while on holiday this time last year, I decided to dive deeper. I read two books on Go to properly refresh my knowledge. By then, I was already six months into my role at Turso, where, surprise — the platform stack is built in Go.

I built CartQL to scratch my own itch.

I wanted a shopping cart API that I could use anywhere. On personal projects, side hustles, landing pages — without needing to bring my own inventory system. I wanted to sell things I sourced from other APIs, markdown files, CMSs, existing commerce platforms, even spreadsheets. And I didn’t want to rewire cart logic every time I built something new.

There's something magical about sharing knowledge that transforms both the teacher and the learner. Let's dive into why creating and sharing awesome content is one of the most rewarding things we can do.

I gave a talk at React Advanced London on this very subject. What excites me most about conferences is the potential for every single attendee to walk away inspired and ready to share something meaningful with the world.