My Personal Blog Is Finally Live: A Developer's Journey

Is My Personal Blog Finally Live?

After two years of writing on platforms like Dev.to and Medium, I decided to create my own blog. While those platforms served me well, having full control over my content and design felt like the next logical step. This project allowed me to rebuild my personal site, joacod.com, from scratch with a fresh look and feel.

Why Should You Build Your Own Blog?

Building your own blog offers several key benefits:

• Full Control: You gain complete autonomy over every aspect of your site.
• Customization: Tailoring the user experience is essential for maintaining engagement.
• Performance: Speed and efficiency are crucial in today's digital landscape.

Creating my blog was a rewarding experience. I enjoyed experimenting with new technologies and design frameworks throughout the process.

How Do You Choose the Right Technology Stack?

When selecting my tech stack, I aimed for something fast, static, and free from vendor lock-in. I chose Astro as my framework for several reasons:

• Static Site Generation (SSG): Astro excels at delivering a fast, static site, which is vital for performance and SEO.
• Versatility: It’s not tied to any specific frontend technology like React, Vue, or Svelte, allowing for future extensions.
• Personal Preference: I've been a fan of Astro for years. Its flexibility and power make it an excellent choice for my blog.

In addition to Astro, I used plain HTML, Tailwind CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. This combination keeps the site lightweight and fast.

What Is My Deployment Strategy?

I decided to deploy my site on Cloudflare for several reasons:

• Security: It adds an extra layer of protection against potential threats.
• Performance: Cloudflare enhances loading speeds through its global network.
• Flexibility: There are multiple deployment options available if I want to transition in the future.

Launching the blog taught me valuable lessons about deployment and web security, making it a worthwhile endeavor.

How Am I Embracing AI in My Workflow?

As we enter 2026, leveraging AI tools is crucial for developers. I frequently test different AI models to enhance my coding efficiency. My current favorites include:

• Claude Code + Opus 4.6 (Anthropic)
• OpenCode + GPT-5.3-Codex (OpenAI)

I recently switched to using OpenCode paired with GPT-5.3-Codex. OpenCode stands out as an open-source project that performs exceptionally well. It allows users to connect to various models and is easy to set up.

While Codex requires more detailed input than Opus, the results are worth the effort. If you understand coding principles and provide clear instructions, it can produce remarkable outcomes.

What Are My Future Plans for the Blog?

Having the opportunity to customize my blog is thrilling. I plan to:

• Add New Features: Integrate functionalities that enhance user experience.
• Fix Issues: Continuously improve the site based on user feedback.
• Write Regularly: Share insights, tutorials, and updates about the tech world.

This blog will serve as my primary source of content, while I will still publish articles on Dev.to and Medium as secondary channels.

Conclusion: Why You Should Consider Building Your Own Blog

Launching my personal blog has been a rewarding journey. It’s gratifying to see your work come to life. I encourage fellow developers to consider building their own platforms. The control, customization, and learning opportunities are invaluable. If you have any suggestions or feedback, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for joining me on this adventure, and see you on the web!