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ziad.net

Back on the Web

3 min read

I had a personal website and blog years ago that I had built using vanilla HTML and CSS while I was still learning web development. Making new posts was a hassle as I was creating and editing raw HTML files, not to mention that HTML has no concept of components, so more often than not, making small changes required me to edit every single page. This was a good learning experience but I eventually decided to take it down with the intention of rebuilding it later using a static site generator (I eventually settled on Astro).

In the meantime, I also managed to get ziad.net and ziadahmed.com. Having these domains sitting there empty gave me the push I needed to stop procrastinating and finally launch the website. (I was actually planning to wait and launch it alongside my upcoming book, but waiting for it to be finished felt like an unnecessary delay.)

As for what I will be writing, I don’t want to set strict expectations for what this blog will be. I could end up writing about anything from algorithmic problem-solving and spreadsheet mechanics to philosophy or whatever happens to capture my curiosity at the time.

Some Features of This Website

Below are some of the cool features of this website. (This is mostly a reference for myself.)

Enhanced Google Sheets Code Blocks

  • Automatic Syntax Highlighting: Code blocks beginning with ```sheets or ```excel include automatic syntax highlighting that closely mirrors the styling of standard Google Sheets formulas (including the 12-color cyclic palette for cell and range references).

    =IF(
   AND(A2 >= 100, B2 = TRUE),
   "Passed: " & A2,
   IF(B2 = FALSE, "Inactive", "Review: " & A2)
)

  • Comments Support: Google Sheets code blocks support comments that are automatically stripped when the formula is copied to the clipboard. Try it yourself by clicking on the copy button in the code block below and inspecting the clipboard.

    // Calculates total with volume discount
=LET(
    subtotal, SUM(A2:A10),
    rate, 0.1, // 10% wholesale discount
    subtotal * (1 - rate)
)

Mathematical Typesetting (LaTeX\LaTeX)

The website uses KaTeX for rendering mathematical notation. It supports inline math (e.g., O(nlog⁡n)\mathcal{O}(n \log n) or Θ(V+E)\Theta(V + E)), as well as display blocks, such as:

T(n)=aT(nb)+O(nd)  ⟹  T(n)={O(nd)if a<bd,O(ndlog⁡n)if a=bd,O(nlog⁡ba)if a>bd.T(n) = a T\left(\frac{n}{b}\right) + \mathcal{O}(n^d) \implies T(n) = \begin{cases} \mathcal{O}(n^d) & \text{if } a < b^d, \\[6pt] \mathcal{O}(n^d \log n) & \text{if } a = b^d, \\[6pt] \mathcal{O}(n^{\log_b a}) & \text{if } a > b^d. \end{cases}

Minimal Table of Contents

The website also includes a Notion-inspired non-intrusive table of contents along the right edge of the page that only expands on hover. This is only visible on large screens.

That’s all for now. More posts coming soon. Thanks for stopping by! (: