The latest articles on DEV Community by Cholaraja R P (@cholaraja_rp_504201d0916). https://dev.to/cholaraja_rp_504201d0916 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4119671%2Fab5f6f49-733b-4c92-b7b8-c63e7e610d13.png https://dev.to/cholaraja_rp_504201d0916 en Cholaraja R P Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:51:42 +0000 https://dev.to/cholaraja_rp_504201d0916/i-am-an-android-developer-this-is-my-first-web-project-cruxdev-5bbn https://dev.to/cholaraja_rp_504201d0916/i-am-an-android-developer-this-is-my-first-web-project-cruxdev-5bbn <p>Up until recently, my background was strictly in native Android development. I spent my days working with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Gradle builds, and Android lifecycle quirks. </p> <p>Whenever I was building and debugging mobile apps, I constantly ran into situations where I needed quick utility tools:</p> <ul> <li>Decoding an auth JWT from an API response to see why a user session failed</li> <li>Formatting large, messy JSON responses from backend endpoints</li> <li>Testing regex patterns for form validation</li> <li>Converting image assets and inspecting colors</li> </ul> <p>My usual workflow was to just Google whatever tool I needed. But pasting real API responses and auth tokens into random third-party websites always felt risky. Most of those sites are full of ads, run slowly, and send your inputs to a remote server.</p> <p>I wanted to learn modern web development, so instead of building another generic to-do list, I decided to build something I would actually use: <a href="https://cruxdev.tech" rel="noopener noreferrer">CruxDev</a>.</p> <h3> What I Built </h3> <p>CruxDev is a collection of over 300 developer tools that run entirely in the browser. </p> <p>Coming from Android, where offline-first architecture is second nature, I applied the same philosophy here:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Zero Server Processing</strong>: Every single tool (JSON formatter, JWT decoder, regex tester, token calculator) processes everything locally using JavaScript Web Workers and WebAssembly. No user input is ever sent over the network.</li> <li> <strong>Works Offline</strong>: I configured it as a Progressive Web App (PWA), so it can be installed on desktop or mobile and used without an internet connection.</li> <li> <strong>No Ads</strong>: Just clean tools that load instantly and do their job without tracking.</li> </ul> <h3> The Learning Curve (Android to Web) </h3> <p>Transitioning from Android to building a large web app with React, TypeScript, and Vite was an eye-opening experience:</p> <ul> <li>Managing state and bundle sizes in a single page app felt very different from Android activities and viewmodels.</li> <li>Ensuring the browser UI does not freeze when formatting a massive 10MB JSON file meant learning how to offload heavy calculations into Web Workers.</li> <li>Getting the layout responsive across different screen sizes gave me a new respect for CSS.</li> </ul> <h3> I Would Appreciate Your Feedback </h3> <p>Since this is my first real web application, I know there is plenty of room for improvement. </p> <p>The site is live here: <a href="https://cruxdev.tech" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://cruxdev.tech</a></p> <p>If you are an experienced web developer, I would love your honest feedback:</p> <ol> <li>How does the site feel in terms of load speed and responsiveness?</li> <li>Are there any UI or navigation patterns that feel awkward?</li> <li>What developer tools do you use daily that you would like to see added?</li> </ol> <p>Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!</p> webdev beginners showdev productivity