Building a Personal Blog as a Backend Developer: My Experience with CSS and Static Site Generators

Transitioning from a seasoned .NET backend developer to creating a public-facing website was certainly an eye-opening experience. My expertise lies in developing complex server-side systems that often go unnoticed by end users, so venturing into frontend and design presented a new set of challenges.

Motivated to craft a straightforward platform for sharing my insights and showcasing reusable libraries I’ve developed, I opted for a minimalist approach. After evaluating options, I selected 11ty (also known as Eleventy) due to its renowned speed and simplicity, which aligned perfectly with my goals.

Throughout this journey, I gained invaluable knowledge—ranging from front-end performance optimization to mastering CSS styling techniques. It’s been a refreshing break from my usual focus on memory management, garbage collection, and debugging intricate multithreaded issues.

Today, I’m excited to share my project: the ByteAether Blog. I’ve included Lighthouse benchmarking results to give insights into its performance. I hope you find the content engaging and perhaps inspiration for your own projects!