Here we go again! 🚀👋

Hello! 👋

Delighted to see that my first article has piqued your curiosity. After a few months of reducing my online presence following the birth of my second daughter Louise, I'm back!

So, I take this opportunity to launch my portfolio here on lauthieb.dev which will also host my very first blog.

If you don't know me, I'm Laurent Thiebault, married, and dad to two adorable little girls, Clémence & Louise. A big enthusiast of Open Source, web development, design, music, and productivity, it was only natural for me to launch a portfolio bringing all of this together in one place! To learn more about me, I invite you to read this page.

In this article, I'll tell you about the genesis of this project and the reasons behind this launch. Then, I'll give you a little tour of the features (the technical aspect is for a future article 👀).

Why did I create this portfolio?

General desire ❤️

Oh, this desire dates back a very long time... And how many times have I procrastinated it? There have been a few attempts that never really went all the way. Yes, because keeping a portfolio up to date is not a simple task.

But now, I am motivated and eager to take control of this portfolio, which aims to provide you with lots of tips, advice, and best practices on topics that I am passionate about, such as web development, design, tools, and methods that help us be more productive.

Thirst for sharing 📣

Another reason is that I love sharing my knowledge. It is essential for me to ensure that our learning time is profitable through transmission. It is particularly through these various sharing experiences that the web has evolved into what we know today.

Together, with our different levels of knowledge, diverse cultures, and exchanges, we build solutions that are increasingly modern, efficient, and accessible to the widest possible audience. I am very happy to now have a place to share with you as much as I can, based on what I have acquired through my readings and experience.

Technical challenge 💪

And then... there was this technical challenge! For months, I have been intensely reading many articles about modern web, different rendering modes, new tools facilitating deployment, and database management.

The problem? I remained at the stage of reading articles or the "Hello World" tutorial, and it did little to help me progress because I stuck to simple examples, without any challenges, and that does not reflect the real life of a developer. So, it was difficult for me to get an idea.

So, this week, I rolled up my sleeves to (re)learn Next.JS, the different rendering modes (CSR, SSR, SSG, ISR) especially thanks to their very comprehensive tutorial available here. Then, I embarked on the construction of this portfolio, and I had a lot of fun doing it on different evenings! Today, it's the opening of my first version, there will be other iterations, of course.

I am very happy about it, and I look forward to learning many other technologies with you through this website, which can serve as a sandbox for me because all the articles are written in MDX, a format that supports Markdown with integrated React components.

Self-reflection 🧐

Finally, one last reason was to build this portfolio to benefit from critiques of my work and the content I produce. That's why I've set up a commenting system with Giscus under each blog article. If you want to suggest ideas or react in general to the portfolio, feel free to start a discussion here.

It is highly likely that at times I make mistakes, and I really hope that you can help me by mentioning it in the comments so that I can reconsider how I conceive, learn, and popularize.

There is nothing like the confrontation of one's knowledge, constructive exchanges to grow. Thanks in advance for your help!

What will you find in my portfolio?

My blog

First (and by the way, you are here), this portfolio will host my blog articles. It will be provided gradually over time with articles that will cover topics around web development, design, tech, tools, productivity, and more!

It's hard to imagine in advance what I will share here. I will try to fight impostor syndrome by publishing regularly, and my content will adapt based on your reactions and what you want to see here!

My projects

This portfolio is also the place where I will share the different projects I work on or contribute to in Open Source.

What a beautiful adventure!

My talks

In this section, you can find talks that I have given alone or in collaboration with talented individuals in various places (conferences, meetups, BBL, etc.). Thanks to all the organizers who allowed us to bring our knowledge to these events, delighted to contribute and open to doing more!

My tools

Ah! This section is likely to be one of my favorites. For now, provided reasonably compared to the tools I use daily, it will grow over time, with discoveries and experience.

Always with the goal of sharing as much as possible with you, and if necessary, the tools I use in my work daily to allow me to be more productive.

My references (talks, podcasts, books)

The section filled with ❤️. Here, I share talks, podcasts, and books that have positively marked me. Each of the references in this section has contributed to my progress.

Thanks to all the people mentioned in it for what you have brought me with your knowledge and the way you transmit it.

Bonus 🎁

Turn on the sound 🔊

By the way, when you change the theme or open the advanced search, a little sound plays! Well, okay, it doesn't serve much, I admit. 👀

Quick search 🔍

Well known to various documentation sites and many tools, advanced search allows you to quickly find an answer to our questions. So, I wanted to implement one on my portfolio.

To trigger it, nothing could be simpler, press ⌘ + K or Ctrl + K on any page of the website. There is also a dedicated button for this at the top right if you want to trigger it without the help of the keyboard.

Light mode / Dark mode 🌔

The portfolio displays in the default theme of your operating system, however, if you want to manually switch from light mode to dark mode (or vice versa), feel free to click on the dedicated button in the top right!

Internationalization 🇬🇧🇫🇷

My portfolio is designed to provide a bilingual experience, supporting both English and French based on your browser's default language. Additionally, you can switch between languages by clicking on the top right corner.

And there you go, welcome! 🎉

I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading me; I'll see you very soon for my next article! Feel free to spread the word. 💌

Laurent