Building a World Map with only 500 bytes
- ID
- 2630
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 05 Jul 2026, 7:09 AM
- Fetched
- 05 Jul 2026, 7:33 AM
- Provider
- Simon Willison
- Category
- developer-ai
- Original URL
- https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/4/building-a-world-map-with-only-500-bytes/
- Source URL
- https://simonwillison.net/atom/everything/
Summary
- Score
- 7.0
- Created
- 05 Jul 2026, 7:34 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coders
What happened
Iwo Kadziela, assisted by Codex, generated a credible ASCII world map using just 445 bytes of data by combining deflate compression with a clever JavaScript snippet. The approach uses fetch() with data: URIs and DecompressionStream('deflate-raw') to decompress the payload at runtime.
Why it matters
A neat demonstration of browser-native compression APIs and data URIs that builders can steal for tiny, dependency-free payloads. Useful inspiration for vibe coders and developers experimenting with minimal code golf or offline-first web tricks.
Discussion angle
How far can you push browser-native APIs like DecompressionStream and data URIs to replace small assets or libraries you'd normally bundle?