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Why I Chose Next.js for My Portfolio

2 min read
next.jstypescriptweb

When I decided to rebuild my personal site, I had one simple goal: something I actually want to maintain.

The Requirements

Before picking a stack, I wrote down what I actually needed:

  1. Static pages — no database, no CMS complexity
  2. A blog — with proper syntax highlighting and readable typography
  3. A projects section — easy to update
  4. Fast and deployable — zero-config hosting

That list basically wrote the stack for me.

Why Next.js

Next.js with the App Router gives me everything in one package: static generation, file-based routing, image optimization, font loading, and zero-config deployment to Vercel.

I don't need a separate static site generator. I don't need to configure webpack from scratch. It just works.

Why MDX

MDX lets me write content in Markdown while having the option to drop in React components when needed. For a developer blog, this is ideal.

// Reading MDX files from the filesystem
import matter from 'gray-matter'
import fs from 'fs'

const raw = fs.readFileSync('content/posts/hello-world.mdx', 'utf8')
const { data, content } = matter(raw)
// data = { title, date, excerpt, tags }
// content = the raw MDX body

Frontmatter for metadata. Markdown for content. React when I need it.

What I Left Out

I deliberately chose not to include:

  • A headless CMS (Contentful, Sanity) — overkill for a personal site
  • A component library (shadcn, MUI) — I want to understand every CSS class
  • A database — everything is just files committed to git

The simplest tool that does the job is usually the right tool.

The Result

This site. Clean, fast, maintainable. No unnecessary dependencies. Easy to update by writing a Markdown file and pushing to main.

Hopefully it stays that way.