HOW WE DEVELOPED THIS WEBSITE

About 4 min read

A website can be developed in many different ways, using many different technologies. Some of them are done using pre-existing Wordpress templates, some of them are designed from the ground up, and some of them are even outsourced. For us at Beyond, it was important to use the best technologies that are currently out there. So there was no other choice for us than to do it ourselves.

THE TECH STACK

All websites have something in common: they contain HTML and CSS code. They are not programming languages by themselves, but rather a technical way to express what content should be on the screen and how it should look like. Originally all websites were like this. But with time, characteristics like interactivity and dynamic content became very important. That's when JavaScript came to the picture. First with Web 2.0, and then with more complex concepts like web apps and even browser games. To simplify the way programmers would have to deal with the development of such challenging ideas, we needed something more. Tools like JQuery, React, Angular, Vue, Sass, Tailwind and many more appeared. There are many of them available at the moment and some of them try to accomplish the same goals, so we are left to decide either or in many cases. When it comes to our website, this is the tech stack that we chose:

THE STRUGGLE

Before the creation of this website, we knew how to use React to create web applications. Unfortunately, without any further support, the way these websites are created make it very difficult for search engines like Google or DuckDuckGo to find them and index them (also known as SEO) so people can find them. This is why we considered adding Next.js to the mixture. However, we had no idea about how to use it. So, as it happens often in the world of software development, we had to learn something new. And it was a little bit of a struggle that lasted around two/three weeks. But after that, something clicked in our minds and we finally understood how all the pieces worked together. Finally it all made sense. So, as it happens often in the world of software development, we could finally move forward, feeling empowered and immensely motivated. And so, we did it. We finished the website.

In the world of software development no one ever knows everything, tools are always evolving, and we, as developers, are always adapting and growing. Time and technologies pass by, but we remain, acknowledging time and again that there is nothing we cannot learn, that there is nothing we cannot solve. As developers, we can accomplish anything.

BOTTOM LINE

This time it was the moment for us to learn Next.js, but before it was TypeScript and Firebase. And much before that, technologies like React, React Native, JavaScript, Dart, Flutter, Java, Spring, Kotlin, C#, and many, many more. Step by step we adapt and incorporate these fantastic tools to the technologies that we can use. And with time, they will all be included in the education that we want to offer to everybody. Because the best thing about learning is being able to share it with others.

Even though we have been developers for longer than thirty-five years, we were presented with the challenge of learning something unfamiliar, something new. But how is this different from any other field or profession in life?

The difference for us now is that regardless of what we'll have to learn next, we know we can do it. We know we can do this. And we know you can do this too. The real question is…

...DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

...or just continue reading a bit more about us.

PS: +1 to the small number of websites that don't use PHP :D