Building Modern Websites with Astro

Astro has quickly become one of my favorite tools for building modern, performant websites. Here’s why.

The Islands Architecture

Astro’s approach to JavaScript is refreshingly pragmatic. Instead of shipping a full JavaScript framework to the browser by default, Astro uses an “islands architecture” where you can selectively hydrate interactive components.

This means:

• Faster page loads: Only essential JavaScript is sent to the browser
• Better performance: Less JavaScript means better Core Web Vitals scores
• Developer flexibility: Use React, Vue, Svelte, or any framework where you need interactivity

Content Collections

One of Astro’s standout features is Content Collections, which provides type-safe content management with built-in validation. You can define schemas for your content and get full TypeScript support throughout your codebase.

const blogCollection = defineCollection({
  type: 'content',
  schema: z.object({
    title: z.string(),
    description: z.string(),
    pubDate: z.coerce.date(),
    tags: z.array(z.string()),
  }),
});

Perfect for Content Sites

Astro excels at content-focused websites like blogs, documentation sites, and marketing pages. The built-in support for MDX means you can enhance your content with interactive components when needed, while keeping most of your site static and fast.

Conclusion

If you’re building a content-heavy site and want excellent performance out of the box, Astro is definitely worth considering. The developer experience is fantastic, and the performance benefits are real.