I'm a Java backend dev who can't do frontend. I built a 20-tool site in 3 weeks anyway.

I spent years writing Java APIs and sitting in meetings. Then I realized: a job is renting out your time. A website is yours.

So I learned React. In 3 weeks. Nights and weekends only.

The result: jsonprocess.app — 20+ JSON tools, all in the browser, no server, no ads.

Vue was the easy choice. React was the right one. The ecosystem is bigger, and honestly it feels like functional programming — a language Java people already speak.

The site is a toolbox, not a tool. That's the trick. Every tool is its own SEO landing page, and they all link to each other.

My first-day traffic: 0 visitors. Obviously.

First month: tens of organic visitors a day. Google indexed 15+ pages. The bundle went from 736KB to 379KB with lazy loading, because page speed is SEO.

Revenue: $0. I haven't even turned on ads yet. But the cost to run it is also $0, so I can wait forever.

What I learned:

  1. Start ugly. Ship a weekend version. Perfect is the enemy of launched.
  2. Pick a problem you personally have. I format JSON every day at work.
  3. Content > code. The tools are 80% good enough. The writing is what brings people.
  4. You don't need permission to start. Nobody gives it to you.

I'm a backend guy who learned frontend by building. You can too.

Try the tools → · Follow the journey on X: @nico_built

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