Minimalist websites
If you have visited my website before, you may remember that it had a bit more design and color.
I wrote the first version of this website back in late 2017 with the initial intention of creating a portfolio to showcase the projects I’ve worked on.
It was built using Vue.js as a Single Page Application. I later upgraded it to Vue.js version 3 and integrated Tailwind CSS, and it started to look great. It also had a lot of information about the technologies I’m familiar with, the technologies I’m planning to learn, and my work experience.
However, a couple of things started to feel a bit off.
First, it didn’t function with Javascript disabled, which is expected, because Vue.js is a framework that relies on Javascript to work. If you are familiar with modern web development, this may not sound unusual. After all, most modern websites are built with one of these frameworks/libraries, such as React and Angular. But I realized that my website didn’t really need any Javascript. It didn’t have any interaction, just some static pages and contact information. So I considered re-writing it without the need of Javascript.
And second, the desing. As mentioned previously, my initial goal was to have a portfolio, so I added a lot of CSS to it to make it more appealing. But I noticed that it wasn’t really my style for a personal website.
These things that I’m mentioning here were more noticeable when I started to see other websites of people that inspire me. I realized that a personal website doesn’t necessarily have to be a portfolio, so I turned it into something a bit more personal.
I then discovered Hugo, and here we are! A very minimalist website, in plain HTML and CSS, far easier to maintain and deploy.
I’m not trying to suggest that every website should avoid Javascript and be as simple as this one. I won’t judge you for using something like React, Angular or Vue. I have nothing against them, and I think they are very powerful and useful tools in their specific use cases. This is just my personal preference for this specific use case, and the approach I chose to build my website.