This rebuild was about stripping things back to the essentials. I wanted something that loads fast, looks clean, and stays focused on the content.
Most of this website is boring, and that is intentional. There are no clever transitions competing for attention. Just pages that load quickly, and do what they need to do.
The Stack
This website is built with TanStack Start, a full-stack React framework with file-based routing and server-side rendering. For styling, I use Tailwind CSS v4 and some vanilla CSS.
The site is written in TypeScript and built with Vite. Blog posts are plain markdown files, parsed with gray-matter and rendered using react-markdown.
Why TanStack Start
I chose TanStack Start over other alternatives like Next.js because it gives me more control with less magic. The mental model feels closer to standard React, and I don’t have to work around framework-specific conventions as often.
Data fetching, routing, and server logic feel explicit instead of hidden. It’s easier to understand what runs on the server and what runs on the client, which makes the app simpler to reason about.
For a small portfolio, Next.js can feel heavy. TanStack Start stays lightweight, fast, and flexible without getting in the way.
Alternatively, I could have chosen a more lightweight option like Astro. In fact, my old website was built using Astro. However, after building Padyna with TanStack Start, it felt like home. I really liked TanStack Start’s mental model, including file-based routing, tight integration with TanStack Query, and how everything fits together.
I also wanted to make server-side API calls which would require I spin up an extra server if I were to go with Astro. However, with TanStack Start’s
createServerFnPerformance
The site scores 100 on all Lighthouse metrics. Server-side rendering gives a fast first paint, and optimized font loading keeps things quick.
What’s Next
I plan to write more about building products, solving technical problems and life in general so stay tuned.
Small is beautiful.