The Restless Part of the Journey
For the last ten days I’ve been laid up with a back injury (I am doing much better btw). While I rested, I did what I always do. I researched. A lot. I kept bumping into a familiar feeling in my programming journey. Restlessness. I am always learning, always testing ideas, always trying new tools. Sometimes I find things I love. Sometimes I find limits. I dig into everything from frontend choices to backend patterns, server specs, memory, and the future of a project before it even exists.
Right now I am working on a few important builds. My biggest question is not only what works today, but what I can maintain and keep improving for years. In the past I shipped simple apps, then later wished I had chosen a different framework or language. I have a window right now to make some big decisions. I want to choose well. Am I overthinking it? Maybe. But it matters.
What I’m Exploring
I have been bouncing between Laravel, Rails, Elixir, Next, and a few things in between. Each has strengths and trade-offs.
- Laravel is fast, flexible, and familiar.
- Rails is solid, fun, and quick to build with. I enjoy the structure and the way a Rails app comes together.
- Elixir feels different in a good way. The functional style reminds me of my JavaScript years, but it has the clarity of Ruby. Some features I expect from PHP or Rails are missing, yet Elixir solves problems in creative ways. I have not shipped a full Elixir app yet, but I will.
- React produced the nicest looking UI. Laravel was the easiest to get moving. Rails gave the best blend of speed, UI, and structure. Django felt slow and clunky for me, likely because I am new to it.
The Missionary Platform
One of my most important projects is a platform to support missionaries and build a supportive and vibrant prayer network. It needs to be reliable, fast, affordable, and simple to run. I am currently building it in Rails because it gives me a lot of battle-tested features and a clear path to quality. I am also considering whether parts of it should be written in Elixir. If that happens, do I rebuild the whole thing later? I do not know yet.
What I’m Learning About Myself
As a developer who loves to create, I reach for challenges that are interesting and useful. I often fall back to what I know, then jump into the unknown again. I do not try to be restless, but I am curious. I want to know what it feels like to use new languages, frameworks, tools, and the servers that run it all. That curiosity is part of my story.
These are the stepping stones. This is the journey. It is the DevChase.