Anyone else remember the good old days? Back in 2001, armed with VB6, classic ASP, and SQL 7.5, we meticulously crafted applications. Manuals were our Stack Overflow, UI standards were gospel, and a six-month design phase was just the process. Deployments involved a prayer and hoping someone in ops dropped the right files on the right servers. We were building, iterating, and sometimes even making things better.
Then a shift happened. The "how" started eclipsing the "what." Solving the tech problem became paramount, often at the expense of the business problem. "Faster and better" became the mantra, and the hole we dug got deep.
The DevOps Deluge and the Agile Avalanche
The silo between development and operations birthed DevOps. Suddenly, servers were code, YAML and pipelines dictated deployments, and human error transformed into system errors. We freed up ops' time, only to fill it with coding tasks.
Meanwhile, the business side, tired of stale, months-long requirement documents, demanded "agility." Waterfall was declared dead, processes were ripped up, and suddenly, every developer was a card-tracking, PI-planning, sprint-shipping expert. Hour-long stand-ups became a real, soul-crushing thing. Some embraced the new ways, flocking to conferences to learn and grow. Others just saw yet more process and a "DevOps team" become a third, often muddied, entity. Either way, we learned new skills, new concepts, and constantly chased the ever-moving target of "staying ahead."
The Tech Tsunami: From DVDs to JavaScript Frameworks
Remember when Netflix mailed you DVDs and Amazon just sold books? When companies used technology instead of being tech companies? That bubble grew, and then it exploded. Think of the sheer volume of JavaScript frameworks, libraries, and tools that have emerged. We built TypeScript on top of it because the language itself was a monster. New languages demanded new IDEs, new tools, and entirely new "stacks" that look more like heaps.
The MVP mindset, coupled with agile processes, unleashed a torrent of new tech. Leading to the cry: "We need more technologists!" Suddenly, years of computer science education were traded for six-month bootcamps in outdated JS frameworks and a certificate that declared you a coder. The irony is palpable: we now have so much tech designed to make our other tech "better," often creating more problems than it solves.
This relentless pursuit of "better" has spread teams thin, creating new silos and increased complexity. The original goal of building solutions has been overshadowed by the sheer weight of managing the tech itself.
The AI Lifeline: A Chance to Reset?
We've been here before. Each technological revolution brings displacement and disruption. From the Luddites to the rise of automation in factories, new tools change the landscape of work.
Now, AI is here. It promises to reduce the mess, to untangle the spaghetti of our self-made complexity. It offers a glimmer of hope that we can finally focus on solving business problems again, rather than getting lost in the labyrinth of our own making. Perhaps AI can be the system that helps us rebuild, not just a new tool to add to the already overwhelming pile.
The tech bubble is enormous, and the overwhelmed developer is a product of its relentless expansion. It's time to question whether we're building a sustainable future or simply digging ourselves deeper. The hope is that AI can be the shovel that fills in the hole, allowing us to finally see the sunlight again.
What do you think? Are you an overwhelmed developer, or have you found your oasis in the tech desert? Share your thoughts
Top comments (1)
We needed this ♥️