For a while now, I've been slowing working on a refactor of the codebase of this blog. At one point, I got caught in exciting world of performance and I wanted to make sure I had a super fast pageload. Currently, my CSS is added inline in the HTML and I found myself thinking "no one will be able to read this".

I mentioned in my speaker spotlight interview for Pixel Pioneers how I learned to code over 20 years ago. And in short, I learned to code by downloading pages and using "view source" to examine unminified, readable code. This approach allowed me to understand what was happening and develop my skills.

As web developers, we often feel compelled to showcase our skills by implementing the latest tools and frameworks on our personal websites. To some, it feels like an obligation to stay current and demonstrate you’re up-to-date with the latest shiny things.

And yes, personal websites are the perfect playground for experimentation. They offer a space to explore new technologies that might not yet be suitable for professional projects and a safe space to fail.

Today's heavily optimized websites have largely killed the "view source" learning experience. The code is minified, bundled, and often incomprehensible to beginners trying to understand how things work.

I got the ick from my own small optimisation. My personal website is small and it isn't an urgent service. It's hardly ever visited from a mobile phone. Maybe I shouldn't be using the little time I have to focus on that side of front-end development in this instance?

But deep down, all I want for my personal website is to give back to the web. I want anyone, regardless of skill level, to inspect elements, understand the structure, and learn from readable code. And I am fully aware my code isn’t perfect. It’s old and there’s a lot of room for improvement.

For now, I am happy to carry on with this approach. My imperfect and unpolished code on my personal website isn't the full reflection on my technical abilities or knowledge of web development standards. It’s a constant draft where my handwriting is legible and where I want optimization takes a backseat. It’s where I use the little free time I have to actually write on it and prioritise the experiments I want.

Is it okay to prioritize readability and learning over cutting-edge optimization on personal websites? I believe so. And if we want more people to have a personal website, I think more of us should consider doing the same.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​