How Learning React and Strapi Might Have Reignited My Passion for Creating
Recently, I decided to update my web presence and portfolio by using React and Strapi. I had no idea what those things were until I asked GPT how I could create my own database-backed site so that I didn't have to settle for a website creator. I've long had the ability to write HTML and CSS and at least copy and paste Javascript, though the latter was first learned during the days when jQuery was still a thing.
Over the course of three weeks, I created this site that you are reading this post on. I was astonished at how much GPT taught me in such a short time. The last time I tried to create a DB-backed site/app, it took me a year to learn what I did in a few weeks. I was hooked. Moreover, the React framework made much more sense to me than Ruby on Rails. While I'm thankful to that community for giving me a baseline for learning, React and an API just work better with my brain. Because of this obsession and understanding, I quickly added other features to my site. First, the ability to create a post "type" allowed me to log my workouts and other fitness activities and display them differently than normal posts. Second, I was able to start using React to do math and give me summaries of these fitness activities. Lastly, I was able to create a new content type in Strapi where I could aggregate records and display them in a chart using reCharts.
Over the last two weeks, I've found the [fitness](/fitness) section of my site to be really motivating and insightful, and I woke up this morning wondering what this might look like as a stand-alone web app. In theory, I already know how to record and display the data necessary, but I would have to understand how to use React and Strapi to create a site where other users could sign up and get the same benefit. Between dropping off kids, working out, making dinner, and picking up kids, I was able to spin up a new local app and let users create an account, log in, log out, and access a settings page. Again, 10 years ago, this would have taken me months, and today I did it between activities in hours.
I'm still early here, but the spark might have just returned. I've always wanted to create, but I've always needed the help of others more skilled at coding than me. This might just be the time when I can create the thing by myself. We'll see. It's early. In my mind's eye, I have a vision of a platform that allows users to sign up, log their workouts, log fitness tests, and get insight about where they need to focus. I have no idea if it's a good idea or bad. I have no idea if the benefit I'm getting is one that others want. But I do have an idea again and feel confident (kinda) that I might be able to bring it to life faster and better than I have in the past.
