Setting Up My Development Environment & Deployment Pipeline
Table of Contents
Setting Up My Development Environment & Deployment Pipeline
Part 3 of my “First Complete Project” series. ← Part 2: Planning with Jira
With planning complete, my next epic was creating a professional development environment and deployment pipeline. This involved choosing domain registrars, hosting providers, and setting up GitHub → Netlify automation.
Domain Registration Decision
I compared multiple providers:
| Provider | First Year | Renewal | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynadot | €6.99 | €4.99 | Winner - Cheapest long-term |
| Alfahosting | €27 | - | Expensive domain |
| Hetzner | €24 | - | WebHosting Bundle |
Choice: Dynadot for the best price/performance.
Hosting Platform Comparison
| Platform | Cost | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netlify | Free | Git integration, auto-deploy | Static only |
| Hetzner | €1.90/mo | Full server control | Manual setup |
| Alfahosting | €9.99+SSL | Friend’s shared hosting | SSL extra cost |
React Router Challenge: Netlify serves static files only. React Router v7 needed server-side routing, so I switched to standard React Router (client-side only, perfect for static hosting) and no Cons because i have no Backend.
Winner: Netlify - Free, automatic, no compromises for my use case.
Deployment Pipeline
Local -> GitHub -> Netlify (Automated)
- develop branch: work on
- main branch: Live branch
- Push to main → GitHub builds server files
- Netlify auto-deploys on main push
Key Takeaways
- Cost matters - Free Netlify + cheap domain = €7 total first year
- Automation saves time - Git push → live site in 2 minutes
- Static hosting fits - Perfect for React + portfolio sites
→ Next: Designing with Penpot
Continue reading the “First Complete Project” series.