Bye-bye Weeds! Digital Gardening with Astro, SolidJS and MDX.

A presentation at JSDayIE in September 2023 in Dublin, Ireland by Kathleen McMahon

Bye-bye Weeds! Digital gardening with Astro, SolidJS, & MDX — Kathleen McMahon Senior Design Systems Engineer — JSDay IE — Bye-bye Weeds! Digital gardening with Astro, SolidJS, & MDX — Kathleen McMahon Senior Design Systems Engineer — JSDay IE
● Welcome everyone! I’m Kathleen McMahon and I’m here today to talk about a Bye-bye Weeds! Digital Gardening with Astro, SolidJS and MDX.
● Before we begin, let’s get some details out of the way.

JSDay IE — Thank you organizers — JSDay IE — Thank you organizers
First, I want to give a huge thank you to Irene and Remo, the speakers, the event production crew, the volunteers, and everyone that worked so hard to create an excellent event!

https://noti.st/resource11 — https://noti.st/resource11
My presentation will be posted on Notist, that’s https://noti.st/resource11, after my talk. I’ll also post the full URL on Twitter sometime after my presentation

@resource11 Twitter | Instagram | GitHub — @resource11 Twitter | Instagram | GitHub
● You can follow me at. Resource11 on Twitter, GitHub, and Instagram.
● Let’s back up so I can introduce myself a bit better…

Kathleen McMahon | Engineer • Designer • Speaker — Kathleen McMahon | Engineer • Designer • Speaker
So I’m an engineer and a designer and I like to speak about things…

Cyclocross! [image] various pictures of me racing cyclocross — Cyclocross! [image] various pictures of me racing cyclocross
I’m an occasional cyclocross racer,

image: Me on a cyclocross bike, in Spam, Ninja Turtle, Nerds candy box, Medusa costumes — image: Me on a cyclocross bike, in Spam, Ninja Turtle, Nerds candy box, Medusa costumes
In costume of course.

image: a wide-screen view of the colorful lamps and lighting strips adorning my home office desk and bookcases — image: a wide-screen view of the colorful lamps and lighting strips adorning my home office desk and bookcases
Lover of lights

image: A wide-planked boardwalk — with soft sand and sea grass surrounding its weathered wooden railing — leads toward the calm ocean during a cloudy afternoon low tide — image: A wide-planked boardwalk — with soft sand and sea grass surrounding its weathered wooden railing — leads toward the calm ocean during a cloudy afternoon low tide
Beach goer.

image: A montage of sand dollars of various sizes and colors, next to a tiny and medium sand dollar in the palm of my hand. — image: A montage of sand dollars of various sizes and colors, next to a tiny and medium sand dollar in the palm of my hand.
Sand dollar collector

image: Thor, resting on the windowsill of my kitchen window, enjoying the warm summer breeze and sunshine on his soft beige fur and dreamy blue eyes. — image: Thor, resting on the windowsill of my kitchen window, enjoying the warm summer breeze and sunshine on his soft beige fur and dreamy blue eyes.
Lover of my cats Thor

image: Otis — my silky black haus panther — nestled between my purple bed pillows, gazing at me with calm golden eyes. — image: Otis — my silky black haus panther — nestled between my purple bed pillows, gazing at me with calm golden eyes.
…and Otis.

image: A gathering of green aventurine, sodalite, rose quarts towers, and quarts diamond on the kitchen table — image: A gathering of green aventurine, sodalite, rose quarts towers, and quarts diamond on the kitchen table
I’m a crystal collector

image: Otis, the black wonder cat, steps into the frame of my crystal collection — image: Otis, the black wonder cat, steps into the frame of my crystal collection
And I photograph them, but Otis…

image: Otis' paws walk through my crystal arrangement on the kitchen table — image: Otis' paws walk through my crystal arrangement on the kitchen table
…interferes often

image: grouping of citrine, amethyst, and celestite glowing in the sun-washed windowsill — image: grouping of citrine, amethyst, and celestite glowing in the sun-washed windowsill
…with opinions…

image: Otis — sassy black cat — sits exactly on top of all my windowsill crystals, seeking attention. — image: Otis — sassy black cat — sits exactly on top of all my windowsill crystals, seeking attention.
…about my attention. Thanks, Otis

image: In pure art director fashion, Thor sits distinctly on one windowsill sand dollar. Ready to provide his ultimate design judgement. — image: In pure art director fashion, Thor sits distinctly on one windowsill sand dollar. Ready to provide his ultimate design judgement.
Thor does the same…

image: Thor looks up from the windowsill to the camera with a very satisfied look. His blue eyes gaze hypnotically my way as his pink nose points upward, whiskers pridefully twitching. — image: Thor looks up from the windowsill to the camera with a very satisfied look. His blue eyes gaze hypnotically my way as his pink nose points upward, whiskers pridefully twitching.
He’s very satisfied with himself.

image: Otis looking very cute as he lays upside down on my bed, gazing at me. — image: Otis looking very cute as he lays upside down on my bed, gazing at me.
Who could resist them?

Northwestern Mutual — Northwestern Mutual
I am also a senior Design Systems engineer at Northwestern Mutual.

Design Systems are ALWAYS the hotness [image]: Person in inflatable dinosaur costume flips into a raft floating on a pond and claps with glee. — Design Systems are ALWAYS the hotness [image]: Person in inflatable dinosaur costume flips into a raft floating on a pond and claps with glee.
And I love Design Systems! it’s exciting work! Especially if you like…

image: Woman attempting to arrange 10 squirming kittens in a straight line, with varied success — image: Woman attempting to arrange 10 squirming kittens in a straight line, with varied success
…herding kittens. Always fun, with many moving parts. Part of Design System work includes trying out different software stacks and choosing the best tool for your system, like Gatsby.

Image: Gatsby and MDX logo

Image: KathleenMcMahon.dev homepage — Image: KathleenMcMahon.dev homepage
kathleenmcmahon.dev back in 2020…

A digital what? — A digital what?
So… what is a digital garden?

What is a digital garden? [image]: Small potted plant next to a rake with caption, My blog is a digital garden, not a blog — What is a digital garden? [image]: Small potted plant next to a rake with caption, My blog is a digital garden, not a blog
This blog post by Joel Hooks, and this phrase makes sense to me: “What makes a garden is interesting. It’s personal. Things are organized and orderly, but with a touch of chaos around the edges.”

Image: Gatsby and MDX logo

image: ALL THE THINGS Hyperbole and a Half — image: ALL THE THINGS Hyperbole and a Half
All the things! All the latest software, but at the same time…

Perfection is the enemy of done — Perfection is the enemy of done
I struggle with making progress over seeking perfection, and if I’m not careful, lean towards making…

image: A Lexus with a big red bow juxtaposed next to a tiny floofy beige kitten with a red bow — image: A Lexus with a big red bow juxtaposed next to a tiny floofy beige kitten with a red bow
● “Big Lexus bows” vs. “Tiny kitten bows”. Wow can I hyper-focus on the details, make that perfectly crafted piece of software before shipping. That’s heck on velocity, though.
● The digital garden format keeps me in the kitten bow mindset. This way, progress happens, and blog posts get written. New things get shipped.

There be weeds [image]: Two fluffy dandelion weeds in a green field — There be weeds [image]: Two fluffy dandelion weeds in a green field
● Fast forward a few years and… a few talk listing and package updates later… I noticed that my Digital Garden got… weedy. And Gatsby had versioned up to 5.3, while my site was on 2.3
● I considering an upgrade and asked an industry colleague familiar with Gatsby how painful this upgrade would be. Of course I already knew the answer. 3 major versions. Ouch. But! After asking, and hearing the expected — yes it’ll be a pain — the advice leaned towards the obvious.
● “If it’s using JavaScript, it requires regular maintenance” (OK…) which turned into a suggestion to use Squarespace, since it didn’t require maintenance.
[image]: UnSplash — masaaki-komori—0M1TKzvr3Y-unsplash

JavaScript is hard — JavaScript is hard
And that kinda sounded like JavaScript’s hard… and maybe you’re out of your league…

JavaScript is hard …maybe you should build a Squarespace site? — JavaScript is hard …maybe you should build a Squarespace site?
“…maybe you should create a Squarespace site?”

image: Judy Hopps from Zootopia, shakes her head in disgust — image: Judy Hopps from Zootopia, shakes her head in disgust
Did you just say something was hard? Hello… spite driven development. By golly I would upgrade this app three versions up. Squarespace my butt.

10 hours later…

image: Judy Hopps from Zootopia, shakes her head in disgust — image: Judy Hopps from Zootopia, shakes her head in disgust
Still shaking my head about that Squarespace suggestion.

image: Shrimp and lime jello mold, plated with apple slices — image: Shrimp and lime jello mold, plated with apple slices
● Ten hours later, I come up for air and after fixing all the new GraphQL changes and wrestling with the Gatsby image API, I’m questioning life choices.
● Just like combining jello with shellfish. Not a great decision.

"if you want a static site, why are you using a whole JavaScript framework to render it?" — "if you want a static site, why are you using a whole JavaScript framework to render it?"
I thought “I have a four-page static site. why am I using a JavaScript framework to render four static pages in a blog, and…

Why use JSX to create HTML when you could just… use HTML? — Why use JSX to create HTML when you could just… use HTML?
● why am I using JSX to create HTML when I could write HTML?”
● Granted, I work on Design Systems. I love creating component APIs, so I’m the last person to say just throw it all out, but there are times where you need a four-page site without throwing all this JavaScript at it just to render something that’s small, lean, performant, and just doesn’t need to be a SPA, it needs to be a multi-page app.

I don't need a suite of combine machines. [image]: Large agricultural harvesting machines in a vast golden field — I don't need a suite of combine machines. [image]: Large agricultural harvesting machines in a vast golden field
And the Gatsby of 2020 isn’t the same as it is today. That hot static site generator everyone wanted to use has evolved into this suite of industrial farming equipment.
[image] UnSplash — darla-hueske-SD18qQeXEg8

A hoe and rake will do. [image] Small rake, pronged fork and clippers in a modest garden — A hoe and rake will do. [image] Small rake, pronged fork and clippers in a modest garden
I don’t need a combine machine when a hoe and rake will do for my needs.
[image] UnSplash — diana-light-342WASC0aSQ

Weed out the Complexity [image]: Gloved hand digging weeds out of a garden — Weed out the Complexity [image]: Gloved hand digging weeds out of a garden
● It was time to weed out the complexity, and choose a new framework
● One that will compile right down to HTML CSS and only serve the minimal amount of JavaScript if I need it.
[image] UnSplash — ales-krivec-6UtxyuTdpQU

image: Astro.build homepage — image: Astro.build homepage
So I looked around — and because there’s a bunch out there and… oh hai Astro… let’s take a look at you.

Why Astro? — Why Astro?
● Why did I choose Astro?
● SolidJS Support
● I can try out different UI frameworks in Astro without going all in
● I can bring in components from my other app and convert them one at a time without have to completely convert every component over at a time (some here are React, some are Solid, I’m using pragmas)
● Content focused - fetch from a CMS or work locally with type-safe Markdown or MDX (which is the reason I want it)
● Content collections
● Type safety

Why Astro? [image] Astro documentation page — Why Astro? [image] Astro documentation page
● Why did I choose Astro?
● Astro was designed for building content-rich websites. And I zeroed in on blogs, portfolios… I don’t need a logged-in dashboard, or complex native app interactions that NextJS would give me, so this seems like a safe bet.

MDX support — MDX support
MDX support. I can add my MDX pages and move on.

PostCSS support — PostCSS support
It supports PostCSS by default, so my current CSS setup will port over without much fuss.

Astro Islands — Astro Islands
Astro Islands. These are interactive UI components on the page that render in isolation using partial/selective hydration

Convert some components or all components — Convert some components or all components
So I can import my React components from my Gatsby project. I can choose to convert them to Astro components over time, or leave them as React components.

I can try out different UI frameworks in Astro — I can try out different UI frameworks in Astro
● I can try out different frameworks, like SolidJS, Vue without having to fully commit to a framework.
● And share state between them.

MPA Architecture — MPA Architecture
That’s pretty cool. Astro also uses MPA and server-side rendering vs a client-side Single-page app, so it’s performant.

Leaner configs — Leaner configs
And the configs are much leaner. Check this out.

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😀 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😀 astro.config.mjs 😀
Here the Gatsby’s config on the left versus Astros config on the right

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😶 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😶 astro.config.mjs 😀
So you know Gatsby has all these PostCSS configs site metadata and everything else

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 🤔 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 🤔 astro.config.mjs 😀
In the Astro config we have the site deploy url, markdown, integegrations, image and build and image configs. All in a small list….

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😐 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😐 astro.config.mjs 😀
I mean literally that’s the config and the Gatsby config keeps going…

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😬 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😬 astro.config.mjs 😀
…and going…

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😳 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-config.js 😳 astro.config.mjs 😀
And. Going.

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-node.js 🫣 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-node.js 🫣 astro.config.mjs 😀
Here’s the Gatsby.node file for creating nodes because I didn’t want to have my blog posts under the source folder, so I could be really fancy and smart.

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-node.js 🙄 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-node.js 🙄 astro.config.mjs 😀
● Look and me go… and add unnecessary complexity!
● I had to create all these nodes and do GraphQL queries to make the absolute paths to create the posts. YAY

image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-browser.js 🙃 astro.config.mjs 😀 — image: side-by-side comparison — gatsby-browser.js 🙃 astro.config.mjs 😀
…and a Gatsby browser file with this WrapRoot element so I could wrap styled components and pass them into MDX all at once for usage

Till the soil [image] Person digging with a spade into the soil — Till the soil [image] Person digging with a spade into the soil
Once I ported my components over to an Astro project there were some differences
[image] UnSplash — jonathan-kemper-f6RoUmj4iiM

From React children to Astro slots

image: side-by-side comparison — layout.js Layout.astro — image: side-by-side comparison — layout.js Layout.astro
● Here the Gatsby’s layout page on the left versus Astros layout page on the right
● In the layout.js file, we’re importing React components and a CSS modules file
● In the Layout.astro file, the components are now astro components, and we’re using a CSS file and the Astro pageTitle prop.

image: side-by-side comparison — layout.js Layout.astro — image: side-by-side comparison — layout.js Layout.astro
And in the Gatsby layout we use the children prop, where in the Astro layout we now use slot

Add mulch [image]: Hands holding soil — Add mulch [image]: Hands holding soil
Now that the layout is set, time to mulch some content.
[image] UnSplash —gabriel-jimenez-jin4W1HqgL

From GraphQL to Content Collections — From GraphQL to Content Collections
● First, ditch those GraphQL queries, and add in Astro’s Content Collections
● Content collections are the best way to manage and author content in any Astro project. Collections help to organize your documents, validate your frontmatter, and provide automatic TypeScript type-safety for all of your content.

image: Astro config.ts — image: Astro config.ts
● Content Collections Added in: astro@2.0.0
● Organize your documents, validate your frontmatter, and provide automatic TypeScript type-safety for all of your content.

Dynamically generating routes

image: […slug].astro file — image: […slug].astro file
● By creating this […slug].astro file and use the getCollection function from astro:content and getStaticPaths functions to parse your data and pop it in your pages/posts folder.
● No more finagling post files. no more create pages nonsense

Type-safe Markdown & MDX! — Type-safe Markdown & MDX!
The other great thing about content collections is Type safety in your MDX with Zod

Zod say what? — Zod say what?
So what is Zod anyway?

Plant new starters [image] hand planting starters in soil — Plant new starters [image] hand planting starters in soil
Now that your content is defined and validated, time to plant new starters. We need to pull in some Images.

Images — Images
Let’s use the new Images API

image:assets — image:assets
New Image assets was released as stable in Astro 3.0 replaces the original @astrojs/image integration

image: <Image /> example file — image: <Image /> example file
This API the allows you to import any any image from the src/assets folder, and if when you pop it in the source and add the required alt attribute… yay a11y!…

image: <img /> example file — image: <img /> example file
Astro generates this optimized images with the following attributes in the DOM for you

What I’ve learned

Big Lexus bows vs. Tiny kitten bows — Big Lexus bows vs. Tiny kitten bows
Naturally there was tension between Big Lexus bows and kitten bows as I migrated my site to Astro and I often felt like I was doing…

Schemas are tricky and dynamic imports

CSS load order is no joke. — CSS load order is no joke.
● _[…slug].css files load first because
● Markdown layout files load first because
● Base.css files load because
● We’re so clever with our main.css file yo and ● Now we’re overwriting something in our base styles
● Because we’re every-layout clever https://every-layout.dev/layouts/stack/
● Also, astro files don’t like css modules

ViewTransitions are Tricky …and buggy

Clean up your files, or Netlify will break your build — Clean up your files, or Netlify will break your build
Netlify will pick up any stray YAML files during your build and if they don’t follow your schema… uh oh

Demo

Everything Everywhere at Once [image]: woman screaming — Everything Everywhere at Once [image]: woman screaming
Everything Everywhere at once… whew it was a challenge.

‘scuse me? Where’s the SolidJS, yo? — ‘scuse me? Where’s the SolidJS, yo?
There wasn’t a need… yet. The only candidate so far is the Formik form

What didn’t port over (yet)

Card — Card
Complex card

Custom MDX components — Custom MDX components
react-live doesn’t play well with custom components… yet

aria-current SEO Card (into an actual component) custom CodeBlock with react-live/ DisplayBox — aria-current SEO Card (into an actual component) custom CodeBlock with react-live/ DisplayBox
● aria-current
● SEO Card (into an actual component)
● custom CodeBlock with react-live/DisplayBox

JSDayIE Thank you.

@resource11 Twitter | Instagram | GitHub

Kathleen McMahon
@resource11

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Has your once-thriving digital garden become overgrown with weeds? Has your framework of choice changed from a suite of landscaping tools to a warehouse of industrial farming equipment? What if you’re three versions behind? Do you upgrade and continue with complexity, or choose a new stack that meets your static site needs?

This talk will teach you to weed out site complexity with Astro, SolidJS, and MDX. Pair this with accessibility best practices, and breathe new life into your digital garden.

Video

Resources

The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.

Buzz and feedback

Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.

We are delighted to announce that @resource11 will join us as one of our 2023 Speakers 🎉 She will show us everything about @astrodotbuild @solid_js & @mdx_js #javascript pic.twitter.com/a0UnfnnsdU
— JSConfIE 🇮🇪 — Formerly JSDayIE ☘️ (@JSConfIE) August 19, 2023
It’s a lovely day for #JSDayIE2023 again! pic.twitter.com/MatMMRPEab
— Kathleen McMahon @ ReactAlicante 🇪🇸 (@resource11) September 26, 2023
Astro? Solid? MDX? Yes to all! @resource11 is talking about the digital garden at #jsdayie2023 pic.twitter.com/tShI3oSNCM
— JSConfIE 🇮🇪 — Formerly JSDayIE ☘️ (@JSConfIE) September 26, 2023
Astro won the battle for @resource11 migrating from Gatsby, sorting the weeds from the config where ...slugs are good except when they add a css trail, go a11y wins at #jsdayie2023 pic.twitter.com/KtCan1dqqP
— Duncan Healy (@organicdelight) September 26, 2023
Thanks for inviting me back, @JSDayIE, y’all produce an amazing conference. #JSDayIE2023 at the was the sequel we needed! pic.twitter.com/evAcaenVuq
— Kathleen McMahon @ ReactAlicante 🇪🇸 (@resource11) September 28, 2023