Building what lasts

“I wish there’s a framework where I can leave it for 10 years and it still runs.”

And I tweeted that out not just as engagement bait. I truly want it.

I’m weary of modern Javascript frameworks. Too fast changing. Things keep breaking if you don’t maintain it. And I refuse to accept the common refrain that that’s how the industry is. Because there are tech stacks that can last 10 years.

C++, .Net, Django, PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript.

I can deal with the FOMO of not playing with the latest shiny object. What I can’t deal with is other developers making updates and making it my work too to have to update along. Especially developers who are bored, or whose salary depends on him making updates. It’s their to-do list. And they don’t get to tell me when their to-do becomes mine too. I prefer to spend as little time on ‘busy’ work like these, and focus instead on building my product, growing my business.

It’s not just the effort though. It’s also about memory. It’s about being able to drop by an old website, and live through some of those memories you had with it when you were younger. Exactly why sites like Geocities, IRC trigger so much nostalgia. We probably won’t use them now, but it’s nice to revisit.

It’s the same with buildings. In Singapore, we tear down old buildings way too fast. Places and institutions that held precious memories for us growing up, are often demolished to make way for more ‘economic progress’. My primary, secondary schools and junior college are are torn down. I can imagine, when I’m in my 80s, there will be no more building left that I can reminiscence to. And it’s sad. Because that past is now harder to access, if not impossible. That past is a key part of me, my identity, my history, my life story.

Gone. Just like with old websites.

As I grow in my experience as a coder and web developer, I realise I start developing my own taste and preferences when it comes to internet technology.

And while everyone can’t wait to lap up what’s latest, what’s new, what’s shiny, I find myself trying to find solid ground in what lasts, what’s stable, what’s boring.

Not just a decade but a few decades.

Maybe it’s time to learn PHP…

Plain PHP for server-side logic.
Plain SQL (SQLite) for backend database.
Plain HTML, CSS, Javascript for client-side.

That’s it.

Super boring. But super lasting.