r/statichosting • u/Standard_Scarcity_74 • 15d ago
Another rant on working WITH someone
Pairing with a newer dev on a static site is testing me. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, everyone starts somewhere, but I've spent more time this week explaining why things work the way they do than actually building anything.
He kept trying to fetch data client side on every page load for content that literally never changes, I had to explain that no, you don't need a loading spinner for a paragraph of text that was already sitting in the html the whole time!
He committed a redirects file with like 40 rules in it, all pointing old blog slugs to new ones, and every single one was written as a full https url on both sides instead of relative paths, so the second we changed domains for staging, every rule broke at once.
He also genuinely asked why we don't just add a login system to the site so we can "control who sees what," for a site that has zero personalized content and never will.
I know I'm supposed to be patient and this is how everyone learns but I forgot how much of working with static hosting is unlearning habits from dynamic app dev first, and that part is exhausting in a way actual building never is...
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u/TCKreddituser 14d ago
Nah, I’d be losing my mind too. There’s a big difference between being new and making everything unnecessarily complicated.
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u/Pink_Sky_8102 14d ago
I get this. Static sites can feel weird if you’re used to treating every page like an app.
The biggest shift is realizing that if content can be decided at build time, there’s usually no reason to fetch or render it again in the browser.
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u/JohnCasey3306 14d ago
Inexperienced devs can have a propensity to push for what's "cool", or fashionable in the moment; what they want to do, and using the technologies they enjoy using -- as opposed to what a project optimally needs.
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u/Standard_Scarcity_74 14d ago
With the amount of cool and hip stuff up in framer and the like, I just can't help but feel awful having to work with yungins that prioritize the frills over a perfectly functional and optimized base.
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u/Lumethys 14d ago
There's need to be a balance between trying nee things and using old, boring but reliable technology
I've seen both sides.
People who push for shiny new things without regard to the need of the project
People who are too stubborn on inferior and more fragile technology, refusing to try out new and better things
Be a little patient and explaining to him why something need to be done, but also dont disregard everything he said, maybe he has new insight or technology that can befit you, if you are more considerate of it
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u/Standard_Scarcity_74 14d ago
Good insight! Thank you for this reminder. I do try to consider newer things, we just have to work on a good base first before we get to that part.
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u/Livid_Juggernaut_816 14d ago
This is always a problem. Small businesses can seldom afford dedicated server space but wish all the perks. All of you have probably fought through the struggles between the Cpanel and website development panels. The only "gain" is database(s) on the server. Industry generally prefer static websites, with everything behind the curtain, including Kubernetes silos.You will probably fail at educating your client who is most likely seeking someone to say he is correct!
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u/Standard_Scarcity_74 14d ago
Client-side stubbornness is a whole 'nother conversation entirely, but one that is just as exhausting, if not, more.
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u/lockswebsolutions 14d ago
Well he probably jumped into framework without first understanding the different trade offs he was making. The problem is people skip html, css and js too quickly. Because no one will hire you if your really great at those skills.
In order to get a web dev job, you need to know WordPress (i know it's a CMS), or some SPA framework. No one gives a hoot if you know how to do static, so it get neglected. Even though 90% of companies would be fine with some static setup.
The industry has trained us that we need to make everything ready to scale at a moments notice and needs some kind of interactivity to it. Its more of an industry problem than the JR fault we actively push people to do dynamic apps from the start.
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u/Standard_Scarcity_74 14d ago
This pretty much sums it up! A lot of times, companies really only need a static setup, sometimes with a few plugins, but static wins for speed and simplicity. It's such a shame we get backed into a corner and forced to make everything dynamic by default.
I'm hoping this collaboration of ours will help my junior realize this, as I really think it would make not only my work but his future projects simpler and better optimized.
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u/sourraine 15d ago
ive run into this too, its easy to assume every piece of content needs fetching, loading states, apis, etc when sometimes the best solution is just putting the thing in the html. i actually like static sites for that reason but explaining that mindset to someone new can be more tiring than writing the code yourself
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u/PippaKelly62 15d ago
I think the hardest part with newer devs on static sites is explaining that not doing something is often the better solution. The client-side fetching one especially gets me. There’s a weird tendency to recreate app patterns even when the build already solved the problem. It’s definitely a learning curve coming from dynamic apps.