Remember when Flash was going to be the eternal future of the web? I do.
I also remember when NoSQL databases were going to kill SQL in 2012. And when SOAP was the “professional” standard before we all fled to REST.
I have been in this circus for over 20 years. I have seen tech corpses piled in the ditches of projects that cost millions. And they all had one thing in common: they were built chasing hype.
If you go on Twitter today, you will see a horde of developers screaming that if you aren’t using the library that came out last Tuesday, you are a dinosaur.
Ignore them.
Those people aren’t thinking about your revenue. They are thinking about their entertainment.
Boring Technology Pays the Bills
There is a concept in engineering called the “Lindy Effect”: the future life expectancy of a technology is proportional to its current age.
If a database has been working for 30 years (like PostgreSQL), it probably has another 30 left. If a JavaScript framework was born six months ago, it will most likely be dead and buried by the time you want to update your site two years from now.
At Ionastec, I am agnostic but demanding.
I use what the project asks for, provided it is robust. If your application needs to handle thousands of real-time connections, I will use Node.js. If we need a solid structure for e-commerce or management, I will use PHP (which powers 70% of the web).
And on the frontend, I don’t reinvent the wheel: I use modern standards like Vue.js or React, but always in their stable versions.
Why? Because using mature tools means that:
- Errors are known: No nasty surprises on a Friday afternoon.
- It is maintainable: I adhere to standards. If I leave the project tomorrow, any other engineer will be able to understand the code without going crazy.
- It works: Period.
The Dirty Secret of “Resume Driven Development”
Let’s speak clearly about something no one tells you.
Many programmers choose the technology for your project based on their own selfishness. They don’t choose what your business needs; they choose what they want to learn to put on their resume and ask for a raise at their next job.
In the industry, we call this, with quite a bit of sarcasm, Resume Driven Development.
You put up the money. You take the risk. And they get the experience of playing with experimental tools. When the project blows up because the alpha 0.4 library stopped being supported, they are already at another company, and you are left with a Frankenstein that no one wants to touch.
That doesn’t happen with me.
I refuse to use your budget as an R&D grant. If I use a technology, it’s because it’s battle-tested, proven, and I know exactly how it will behave under pressure.
Craftsmanship is Durability
A good carpenter doesn’t throw away their tools every year to buy new ones. They care for them, know them, and know how to get the most out of them.
I do the same.
My trusted tools are industry standards. I don’t tie you to strange platforms or experiments. I build on concrete foundations, not on straw.
My goal isn’t for your site to look cool today. My goal is for it to still be generating revenue in five years without you having to call me to fix something that broke on its own.
If you are looking for thrills, go to a casino. If you want software that works, welcome to the boring side.