Orta Therox is a technologist and writer exploring the craft of software through games, crosswords, and modern web tooling. At Puzzmo, Orta writes about tech stacks, developer workflows, offline-first apps, and experiments with AI and programming culture.
23 articles from this blog
Explores building a 'no-code' game integration using a JSON-based augmentations system within the Puzzmo API and app infrastructure.
A developer details the challenges of building a server-side React renderer for printing complex crossword puzzles, including custom formatting and SVG rendering.
A technical overview of the Puzzmo platform's 2025 tech stack, covering new features, iOS app development, and backend improvements.
The development story of Circuits Royale, a fast-paced, communal web-based word game powered by LLMs for real-time validation.
A developer's six-week retrospective on using Claude Code for software engineering tasks, highlighting transformative productivity gains and new workflows.
A developer's technical deep-dive into implementing offline support for the Puzzmo iOS app, covering service workers, WKAppBoundDomains, and architectural challenges.
A developer's personal exploration and critique of using AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot and Claude, examining their impact on the craft of programming.
A developer details the journey of building the Puzzmo iOS app, discussing the choice between React Native and native Swift development for a game platform.
Puzzmo's Q1 2025 performance improvements: iOS app infrastructure, website redesign, and API monitoring lead to a faster site and offline support.
A developer shares their experience migrating a project to a monorepo using Turbo, detailing setup, configuration, and the benefits for a small team.
Puzzmo details a new dynamic layout algorithm for its homepage, prioritizing games based on user play history and content variety.
Puzzmo removes its chat feature due to low usage and technical challenges, shifting focus to core UI improvements.
The Puzzmo team shares their 2024 tech stack, including React Native, TypeScript, and Expo, and discusses challenges with cross-platform development.
A technical breakdown of the launch process, systems, and architecture behind the release of the Pile-Up Poker game on the Puzzmo platform.
Puzzmo introduces Feature Flags for testing new features and new, more descriptive URLs for its puzzle games to improve user experience.
Puzzmo explains technical changes to archive old game stats and leaderboards to improve site performance and reduce costs.
The technical changes behind Puzzmo's 'Weird Puzzmo' update, enabling playful puzzle variants and a new extension system.
A technical guide on integrating Shiki syntax highlighting into a Hugo static site via a post-build Node.js script.
Explores the challenges and benefits of schema-first GraphQL development in TypeScript, comparing it to code-first approaches.
A technical guide on implementing per-user discounts for a Shopify store, inspired by Bungie's system, using a custom app and database.
