Considering Blazor for a Portfolio or Blog Site Hosted on GitHub Pages: Is It a Suitable Choice for Front-End Novices?
For those new to front-end development, selecting the right framework for a personal project can be challenging, especially when aiming to showcase your skills effectively. Recently, I’ve been exploring Blazor, a framework within the .NET ecosystem, as a potential option for building a portfolio or blog website hosted on GitHub Pages.
Understanding the Suitability of Blazor for Static Sites
Blazor allows developers to create interactive web applications using C# and .NET. While it excels in building dynamic, full-featured web applications, its applicability to static sites—such as portfolios or blogs hosted on GitHub Pages—raises some questions. Given that GitHub Pages primarily serves static content, deploying a Blazor WebAssembly app requires generating the static assets (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly binaries). However, the deployment process might be more involved compared to traditional static site generators like Jekyll or Hugo.
Deployment Considerations and Workflow
One common concern is the deployment process. Typically, creating a Blazor WebAssembly app involves building the project locally to produce the static assets, then pushing these to the repository. Automating this process with GitHub Actions is possible but may require custom scripting to ensure the latest build is generated and deployed correctly. This approach, while slightly unconventional, can provide valuable experience in build automation and deployment workflows—an attractive learning opportunity for full-stack development transition.
Is Blazor Overkill for a Static Portfolio?
While Blazor offers rich interactivity and is ideal for complex web applications, it might be considered overkill for straightforward static sites. The overhead of including WebAssembly and its associated assets can increase load times and complexity, especially for simple portfolios or blogs. If the primary goal is to showcase your C# skills and experiment with Blazor, it can be a worthwhile endeavor. However, for a leaner, more traditional static site, other frameworks might be more appropriate.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
If you’re comfortable with C# and eager to learn more about modern web app development, using Blazor for your portfolio can be an insightful experience. Just be aware of the deployment intricacies and weigh whether the added complexity aligns with your project goals. Automating your build process via GitHub Actions, even if manually triggered at first, can help streamline updates and Deployment.
In summary, Blazor can certainly be used for static sites hosted on GitHub
