Getting Started with Astro: Building Fast Websites

Getting Started with Astro

Astro is gaining popularity as a static site generator and web framework because of its unique approach to building websites. It focuses on delivering excellent performance by default and allows you to use your favorite UI frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte, etc.) where needed.

Why Astro?

There are several reasons why Astro is becoming a preferred choice for content-focused websites:

  1. Performance First: Astro ships zero JavaScript by default, resulting in extremely fast load times.
  2. Component Islands: Use UI framework components only where needed, without loading entire frameworks.
  3. Seamless Content Integration: Works well with various content sources including Markdown, MDX, and CMSs.
  4. Framework Agnostic: Mix and match components from React, Vue, Svelte, and more in the same project.

Setting Up Your First Astro Project

Getting started with Astro is straightforward:

# Create a new project with npm
npm create astro@latest

# Or with yarn
yarn create astro

# Or with pnpm
pnpm create astro

Once you run the command, you’ll be guided through a setup process where you can choose a template or start from scratch.

Astro Project Structure

A typical Astro project has the following structure:

/
├── public/
│   └── favicon.svg
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   │   └── Card.astro
│   ├── layouts/
│   │   └── Layout.astro
│   └── pages/
│       └── index.astro
└── package.json
  • public/: Static files like images, fonts, etc.
  • src/components/: Reusable Astro components
  • src/layouts/: Layout components for page structure
  • src/pages/: Each file becomes a route in your site

Creating Content with Markdown

One of Astro’s strengths is handling Markdown content. Create a new .md file in the src/pages directory (or in src/content if using content collections), and it will be automatically transformed into an HTML page.

---
title: "My Blog Post"
pubDate: "2025-05-16"
---

# Hello, Astro!

This is a Markdown blog post in Astro.

Next Steps

Once you’re familiar with the basics, you can:

  1. Add integrations like Tailwind CSS, React, or image optimization tools
  2. Set up content collections for better content management
  3. Configure SSR for dynamic content
  4. Deploy to your favorite hosting platform (Vercel, Netlify, etc.)

Conclusion

Astro offers a fresh approach to building websites that prioritizes performance and developer experience. If you’re building content-focused websites like blogs, documentation sites, or marketing pages, Astro is definitely worth considering.