The JSON setup still technically works, but maintaining it is starting to feel awkward. At the same time, moving to a database feels like a huge jump for the size of the project.
I can’t tell if I actually need a new setup or if I’m just frustrated with the current one. What made you finally move away from JSON-based storage?
I spent so much time tweaking UI behavior, loading states, and small interactions that I barely worked on the core idea itself. Now the project looks polished, but I’m not even sure if the main feature is useful enough.
I think I got distracted trying to make it feel “complete.”
How do you stop frontend work from taking over the entire project?
I’m still pretty new to web development and didn’t realize my .env file was being tracked by Git. I pushed the repo publicly for a school project and only noticed later that my API keys were visible the whole time.
I removed it and regenerated the keys, but now I’m paranoid about what else I might accidentally expose in future projects. What beginner GitHub mistakes did you make early on that taught you an important lesson?
I’m currently building small projects using GitHub + static hosting (Netlify/Vercel style workflows), mostly frontend with JSON files as mock data. It feels really productive because I can actually deploy things quickly, but I keep seeing advice saying “you must learn backend early.”
Now I’m confused if I’m missing something important or if this is actually a good starting path.
For those who started as students, did you focus on frontend + JSON first or jump straight into backend systems?
I noticed another project that looked extremely similar to mine, and after digging a bit, I realized they forked my repo and stripped out references to the original source. I know open source comes with tradeoffs, but it still felt weird seeing my work reposted like that.
How do you personally deal with situations like this without getting bitter about sharing code publicly?
For a small project, I’ve been using GitHub itself as a kind of CMS—just editing JSON or markdown files directly in the repo. It’s surprisingly convenient, especially for quick updates without needing a backend.
But I’m starting to wonder if this approach holds up as the content grows or if it becomes messy over time. Has anyone here used GitHub like this long-term? Did it scale well or eventually break down?
I have a static site that pulls data from a local JSON file. Everything works perfectly on my local environment. After pushing to GitHub and deploying, the fetch just fails. No clear error, just doesn’t load the data. I suspect it’s something about paths or how static hosts serve files, but I’m not 100% sure.
For those who’ve hit this before, what was the actual issue in your case?
I rely heavily on GitHub for almost everything now. Code, versioning, even as a backup for static projects. It made me wonder if GitHub suddenly had issues or my account got locked for some reason, I’d be scrambling. Do you guys maintain a second backup (like local-only, another provider, etc.), or do you just trust GitHub completely for your projects?
Whenever I start a new project, I always debate whether to clone one of my old repos or just build everything from scratch again. Cloning saves time, but sometimes it feels like I’m dragging old decisions and messy structure into a new project.
For people who build a lot of small sites or tools, do you usually reuse repos or start clean every time? What’s worked better for you long-term?