Web growth is enjoyable once more

I bear in mind when PHP 4 was a factor. jQuery was new and glossy. Sites had been constructed with tables, not divs. Dreamweaver felt like a life hack. Designs had been sliced in Photoshop. Databases lived in phpMyAdmin.

It in all probability didn’t really feel prefer it on the time, however wanting again, these had been less complicated days. The whole idea of the event cycle might slot in my head. There was complexity in constructing net functions, however it was all manageable. If you had an thought, you can in all probability construct it.

As a solo developer, you can handle every thing. From thought to execution. Or at the least, it felt that manner.

I’m in all probability romanticizing the previous, however you get the thought.

Complexity outgrew my skill to comply with#

Today, it’s arduous to do net growth proper.

On the frontend, you have got construct pipelines, bundlers, CSS frameworks with their very own toolchains, progressive net apps, Core Web Vitals, search engine optimisation, format shifts, srcset/responsive pictures… I bear in mind when the largest problem was IE6 compatibility.

On the backend, there are design patterns, unit exams, code protection, APIs, efficiency issues, dependency administration, infrastructure, monitoring, log tracing, observability…

Each space of experience has grown up – in all probability for the higher – however it additionally calls for deeper area data. I selected to focus on backend and server infrastructure. I needed to step again from frontend work as a result of I couldn’t sustain with its tooling whereas creating my backend abilities.

As a solo developer, it’s now loads more durable to handle every thing.

Leveling the taking part in discipline#

AI has entered the chat.

They’re removed from excellent, however claude and codex gave me the leverage I desperately wanted. They’ve introduced me again to ranges of productiveness I haven’t felt in years. I really feel like I can handle the complete stack once more – with confidence.

I can go from thought to execution in days.

Suddenly, the complexity of every area issues loads much less.

Pattern recognition#

Oh no, you’re vibe coding – wager it’s all slop and code noise!

Over the previous 20 years, I’ve labored with loads of gifted individuals: backend builders, frontend builders, entrepreneurs, leaders, and extra. I can lean on these experiences, fall again on how they did issues, and implement their strategies with AI.

I can reliably reproduce their coding requirements, tone of voice, techniques, and processes. Starting a brand new undertaking as soon as felt insurmountable. Now, it feels sensible once more.

When AI generates code, I do know when it’s good and when it’s not. I’ve seen the great and the unhealthy, and I can iterate from there. Even with refinement and back-and-forth prompting, I’m simply 10x extra productive with AI than with out it.

The aim hasn’t modified: construct high quality software program that meets fashionable requirements. The goalpost remains to be far out. But now I’ve a rocket-powered soccer ball – and I can lastly attain it once more.

Room for creativity#

There’s psychological area for creativity in constructing software program once more.

My head isn’t continuously filled with construct pipelines, testability issues, code patterns, unfixed bugs… I’m assured I can cowl that with assist from AI. It nonetheless must be executed, however it’s executed a lot sooner – and it now not feels overwhelming.

That leaves room to experiment with UI and UX, to attempt concepts and throw them away. To add small quality-of-life enhancements I couldn’t justify earlier than, as a result of there was all the time one thing extra pressing.

It’s additionally not the typing of code that I actually get pleasure from, neither is it the syntax or construction or boilerplate that’s required to construct something. It’s the very fact you get to construct one thing out of nothing, writing code was simply how you bought there. And with right now’s tooling, that saves a ton of time.

AI actually has made net growth enjoyable once more.