Web Development for Fun and Enjoyment
A couple of weeks ago, I came to the realisation that building for the web is not only what I’m good at; it’s what brings me joy. This may seem like a strange realisation, given that I design software for a living. However, my roles over the last few years have, for the most part, moved away from hands-on development as part of my day-to-day work.
I wanted to change this, so over the last few weeks I’ve picked up some half-completed projects and started some new ones.
Firstly, I designed and built three new static pages for the Hanani web framework, including a new project landing page. As a long-time Ruby fan, this was an especially fun project to be involved with.
I’ve also started rebuilding my wife’s website. It’s been several years since we launched the current site, and while the design has held up, we thought a brand and content refresh were needed.
The current site is built using Ruby on Rails. At the time, this was the tool I was most familiar with and the one that provided the outcome we needed. I’m rebuilding the new site using Next JS, both because it seems a better fit for the project and also to improve my Next JS knowledge.
You may have also noticed that this site has had a little refresh. I took some time this week to clean up the design and the code. There are more improvements to make, but I’m enjoying the direction this look and feel has taken—especially the aspects that make use of Utopia and fluid responsive design.
These are small projects, but they mark a shift in my thinking and a better understanding of what makes me happy. I’d forgotten not only how much I enjoy building for the web, but how much I enjoy building for the joy of building.