This post was proudly written while enjoying some good fried chicken.
When I first started out in development, I was always on the lookout for the next big thing—new frameworks, shiny tools, cutting-edge libraries. It felt exciting. Every week, there was something new to learn, something promising to explore.
But here’s the thing I learned along the way: just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s right for the job.
It’s easy to fall into the habit of stacking one technology on top of another, like you’re building a collection. At first, it feels productive. But over time, that pile can turn into clutter—slowing you down, making your code harder to maintain, and adding complexity your team doesn’t need.
Trends come and go. Frameworks rise and fall. What really matters is understanding the fundamentals and being able to choose the right tool for the problem—not just the most popular one.
So if you’re new to this world, my advice is this: stay curious, but don’t chase trends blindly. Take the time to understand how things work under the hood. Learn the principles that don’t change even when the tools do. And when you pick up a new library or framework, ask yourself: Is this solving a real problem, or am I just excited because it’s new?
Mastering that mindset will take you much further than any trending tech ever could.