Welcome to this week's Top 7, where the DEV editorial team handpicks their favorite posts from the previous week.
Congrats to all the authors that made it onto the list 👏
@sylwia-lask argues that jQuery is far from dead, suggesting its continued existence is due to economic reality, not technical excellence. They point out that huge platforms like WordPress rely on it, making the cost of removal far higher than the cost of keeping the legacy code.
@elvissautet shares a personal realization about forgetting native CSS syntax, using this experience to reflect on Tailwind CSS's massive adoption. He offers practical advice to peers, urging developers not to confuse the utility-first framework (the tool) with the foundational language (the platform).
@adamthedeveloper explores the complexity of the tech stack, arguing that the true "Full-Stack Developer" who masters every layer is a myth. They conclude that a great generalist is a developer who can Google with speed and understand core fundamentals across the entire system.
@sagiadinos makes the case that calling Large Language Models (LLMs) "AI" is misleading marketing that leads to unrealistic expectations and wasted resources. They offer a grounded perspective, explaining that LLMs are powerful pattern-matching calculators that simulate intelligence, not conscious entities.
@junothreadborne describes the unique emotional tax on developers who maintain high code standards in an environment of comfortable indifference. He encourages peers to continue showing visible care for "invisible" work (like tackling tech debt and writing thoughtful code reviews) as an act of integrity.
@alexiskroberson shares their personal journey from a DevOps role to a Developer Advocate, which perfectly married their technical background with a passion for communication and teaching. They explore how the age of AI is reshaping DevRel, emphasizing that the role requires a focus on AI education and enablement.
@lovestaco provides a hands-on guide to solving a common concurrency challenge in Go when dealing with a single-writer database like SQLite. They walk through implementing a producer-consumer pattern using goroutines and buffered channels to maximize parallel CPU work while linearizing database writes.
And that's a wrap for this week's Top 7 roundup! 🎬 We hope you enjoyed this eclectic mix of insights, stories, and tips from our talented authors. Keep coding, keep learning, and stay tuned to DEV for more captivating content and make sure you’re opted in to our Weekly Newsletter 📩 for all the best articles, discussions, and updates.
Top comments (8)
The post about jQuery was a great read. It sparks an interesting and funny discussion.
You’re right, Cesar! This one’s a masterpiece — and the comparison with COBOL is spot on!
Thanks so much! 🙌
I think my favorite part was how it somehow turned into a full-on debate about PHP. I didn’t see that plot twist coming 😂
Well, this is a pleasant surprise haha.
Huge thanks to everyone who read and shared the post! I’ve seen a lot of thoughtful takes — many in agreement, some in spirited opposition — and honestly, I love that.
I’m always happy to spark a discussion, debate, or even a good educated argument that hits a few nerves if it pushes the conversation forward, lol.
Congrats to everyone! Each article is excellent and deserves its place in this ranking!
Thanks for publishing @sylwia-lask, @adamthedeveloper, @sagiadinos, @elvissautet, @junothreadborne, @alexiskroberson, @lovestaco!!
I’m genuinely honored and so grateful for everyone who read, commented, debated, or just dropped a ❤️ here.
Every single post in this week’s list is worth reading - I’m honestly in amazing company. 🙌
Huge thanks to the DEV team and community for the constant support and great discussions.
And of course - long live legacy code, because without it, none of us would have jobs 😅
Really appreciate being included in this week’s top 7. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read it, and congrats to all the other writers who made the list.