I’ve been working in the software industry for about 8 years. Along the way, I realized how important it is to have a strong professional presence online (after all, if you build websites, how come you don’t have one yourself? 😅). That thought pushed me to create my personal website — not just to showcase my skills, but also to let the world know who I am.
A New Start is Born
I started by building my first version with plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript because I wanted to prove my creativity and core web development skills. With some design background, I sketched a mockup first, then challenged myself to bring it to life without libraries or frameworks.
And yes, I did it. Launching that version was incredibly fulfilling — it gave me confidence in my ability to deliver.
I Can Do It Better
Later, as my experience grew, I felt ready to build something more advanced. Around that time, I learned React, got deeper into the community (which was at its peak), and discovered the JAMstack wave.
Excited by this new approach, I jumped into version 2 of my site. This time, I went all in: Gatsby, Contentful, Tailwind, and more. The result was impressive — fast, smooth, feature-rich, with a blog, search bar, and sleek design. It was my most complete project at the time, and I felt proud. But years passed...
The Cost of a Flashy Website
Now, in 2025, my career has shifted. I still love building software, but I’ve expanded into Cloud and AI. Naturally, my online presence had to reflect this. So I went back to the old repo to make a few text updates.
I thought it would take minutes. Oh boy, I was wrong.
Hours went into fixing compatibility issues because the project ran on Node 14 (no longer supported). Once solved, new bugs appeared, and the site felt sluggish. I wasted almost an entire Sunday, frustrated, trying to change just a few lines of text. Rebuilding everything from scratch didn’t feel appealing at all.
Reflection
After processing the frustration (and laughing at myself), I asked: Do I really need all the flashy stuff? The answer was clear — no.
All I needed was a simple site where people could know who I am and what I’m doing. So, instead of overloading it, I stripped it down.
For the third time, I rebuilt my personal website (the one that you're looking at right now 😉) — but now with the opposite mindset. I avoided unnecessary complexity, chose a simple static site generator, and kept the project minimal. The result? No more dependency nightmares, and the site perfectly fits my needs.
Final Thoughts
This whole journey reminded me of three key lessons:
- Use only the tools your project truly needs. Why on earth did I have a search bar?
- Don’t overengineer. Flashy patterns and endless packages rarely add real value.
- Keep things simple. Just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should. Every line of code is a liability, so think twice.
I hope you found something useful in my story. If so, consider subscribing — I’ll be sharing more experiences and projects soon. Until next time!
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