https://chinmay-jain-portfolio.vercel.app

In the year 2020, all the industries faced unpredictable changes. The Covid-19 pandemic strongly influenced the way people work, shop, pay, eat, and commute. In 2021, users’ screen time has increased by 31%, reaching 5.3 hours, compared to 2020. Expenses for mobile ads have gained 297 billion US dollars (27% more than in 2020). The sum is supposed to increase to 311 billion US dollars by the end of 2021. Currently, more and more clients are choosing mobile solutions to stay safe.

To satisfy the rising demands of clients, businesses and startups are introducing the newest trends in technology. As far as businesses worldwide realize the significance of having an app for their enterprise, the critical investment concerns custom mobile app design.

This article reveals everything you should know about mobile apps, starting from a short overview of the mobile app industry to all the benefits a mobile app can deliver to businesses.

Hi everyone,

3 years ago I started working in a manufacturing company (rubber industry) as a production optimization specialist — not in an IT role.

At that time, the company mostly relied on Excel + ERP + some SCADA. A lot of data was scattered across spreadsheets, manual reports, and local files.

It started with me improving a few Excel files to create reports for the production director.
Then it escalated into VBA macros + Power Query + SQL (ERP data) that:

• collected data from network locations,

• generated print-ready Excel reports with charts,

• archived historical data,

• tracked trends and built analyses.

Over time, more and more files appeared (planning, finance, cost calculations, standards, reporting, etc.), and I realized maintaining all of that in Excel was becoming a nightmare (versioning, access issues, security, too many files, too much manual work).

So over the last ~2 years, I started building an internal MES-style system (initially “small”, just for ERP data analytics) using .NET + React, while also using AI tools (ChatGPT) heavily to speed up development.

That “small” system grew into multiple modules/backends. I ended up building, among other things:

• authentication, roles, permissions, user management

• ERP integrations (SQL / Oracle)

• PLC data reading via SCADA/OPC + real-time charts

• production planning and reporting

• KPI dashboards (including OEE-type metrics)

• RFID support, mobile app, scanner integrations

• warehouse and cost analytics

• preventive maintenance / maintenance modules

• operator touch panels at machines (PLC + ERP + downtime/reporting integration)

• multiple configurable backends

• GitHub-based CI/CD

• gradual migration away from IIS toward Docker

• Over 120 registered users, who use it on daily basis not counting operators working on touch panels

So my questions are:

1. Can I honestly call myself a full-stack developer with this scope, even if a large part of the coding is done with AI assistance?

2. How does the market view someone who is more focused on delivering end-to-end systems than “hand-writing every line of code”?

3. With this level of responsibility, would you consider negotiating hard / changing companies?

I currently make about €2000 net/month, and I’m wondering whether I’m significantly underpaid relative to the value I’m delivering.

I’d appreciate honest feedback — both technical and career-wise.

Absolutely. Many successful full stack developers don't have a Computer Science degree.

In 2026, companies care far more about what you can build than what degree you hold. If you can create real applications, solve problems, debug issues, and write maintainable code, you'll be competitive.

A practical learning path is simple: HTML, CSS, JavaScript → React → Node.js/Express → Databases → Deployment. The key is building projects at every stage, not just following tutorials.

The first few months can feel overwhelming, but that's normal. Most learners struggle early before the concepts start connecting.

One advantage non CS graduates often have is domain knowledge. A commerce graduate building a finance tool or a healthcare student creating a patient management app can solve real problems better than someone building another generic to do app.

The degree barrier is lower than ever. The skill barrier isn't. Success still comes down to consistent learning, strong projects, and the ability to solve real-world problems.

Honest take

Web dev as we knew it is changing fast and most people are not ready for it.

AI can already do a huge chunk of what junior devs were getting paid to do two years ago. That is just the reality. Sitting around waiting for tickets and pushing code is not a safe place to be anymore.

The people who will be fine are the ones who build something of their own. Does not have to be big, just something real that solves a real problem. Even a small tool that people pay for changes everything about how you see yourself and your skills.

The other option is going really deep in your domain. Not just knowing how to code but understanding the business side, the user side, the system design side. Become the person who sees the full picture not just the person who writes the function.

The middle ground is the dangerous place. Average skills, average output, waiting for someone to give you work. That is the part AI is eating first.

Nobody is saying it clearly enough so I will. Build something meaningful, sell it, or go so deep in your craft that you become hard to replace. Those are the real options right now. Everything else is just hoping things go back to how they were and they are not going back.

This is not meant to be harsh but somebody needs to say it out loud.

The industry does not need more average developers. It never really did but it tolerated them because the demand was high and the supply was low. That window is closing fast and if you are coasting on being just good enough this is your wake up call.

AI can already do mediocre work. It can write average code, fix basic bugs, build simple features, and do it faster and cheaper than a developer who is just getting by. If your entire value is writing code that gets the job done without any deeper thinking you are competing with a tool that never sleeps and never asks for a salary.

The developers who will always have a place are the ones who think deeply, own problems end to end, understand the business behind the code, and bring something to the table that cannot be prompted into existence. That is a real skill and it takes real effort to build.

If you know you have been coasting start pivoting now. Not next year, not when things get uncomfortable, now. Go deeper in one area, build something real, learn the business side of what you are building, get uncomfortable again. That discomfort is the only thing that separates a mediocre developer from a valuable one.

The industry is getting smaller for average and bigger for exceptional. Decide which side you want to be on.

I've tried deploying my web app (Node.js with .ejs files and MongoDB) using Heroku and Render.

Both of them, even on the free tier, are asking for payment methods before allowing deployment.

Are there any platforms that let you deploy without requiring a payment method?

About me: Btech grad in cse (AI&ML) 2024 dec Exp in data analysis

I got a fullstack role through a friend in a startup (remote) The people,staff,senior devs are all very good and supportive . But my main problem is that fullstack is a new field for me so finding it difficult to cope up with the project. I am beginner in this field and I am not able to understand the whole of fullstack and I am understanding it very slowly. Even a senior dev is supporting me during the project but I am not able to understand.

So I have decided to resign and learn the field (fullstack) I want to know whether I am taking the rite decision ....

I started my personal site as a fairly normal developer portfolio.

Over time, it grew into something closer to a small content platform.

I originally kept the writing in MDX, which was convenient when there were only a few posts. Later, I moved it to Sanity because I wanted drafts and content management separated from the repository.

Then I added dedicated series documents, analytics, UTM attribution for different distribution channels, SEO metadata, social previews, related-post logic, and a few other things.

None of this is particularly complicated individually, but eventually I realized I was spending real engineering time on something that could technically have remained a static portfolio.

Some of that work has been useful because the site is also a playground for me. But I'm curious where other full-stack developers draw the line.

Do you deliberately use your personal site to experiment with architecture and tooling, or do you try to keep it intentionally boring?

I'm especially curious about the things you added to your own portfolio that turned out to be genuinely useful, versus the things nobody except you ever noticed.

For context, I also wrote about how I built mine here:

Building a Portfolio

Hello guys! Im 17 and i was interested in programming for many years, so i chose web because it didnt need to be good in maths😅. I learned for few months and for now i know HTML, CSS, JS/learning TS, used first Angular/ now learning React for its popularity. I am trying to move to backend to but i dont know what stack is good there. I was thinking about PostgreSQL and Node.js/Express.js but im not that good in back. So i decided to ask in here. I really want to know if its still a good choice of stack and would like to test my skills in any site/app you know. Any tips and help is appreciated:)

Hi!, I’m a junior sofware developer, I have solid knowledge in development of websites. But, I never charged to do this and I don’t have a idea about this prices. I have some Ecuatorian potential clients, are small business who don’t have a website, mostly make a online menu, no web market, just about us, contacto form and the address, maybe a WhatsApp contacto link, some of this stuff. As I should be paid? I want to have very attractive prices, but I don’t want to give away my work either.

Nurx, Series C Company
Locations: San Francisco (San Francisco Bay Area)
Company Stage: Series C
Company Tech Stack: Ember, Node, Postgresql, TypeScript, Swift, Kotlin, Redis
Job Tech Stack: Ember, Node, Agnostic
Minimum Experience level required: 5+ years
Company Size: ~254
Engineering Team Size: ~36
HQ Address: 1125 Mission Street, 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA, US, 94103
100% remote, In-office part week; Can Accept WFH In Locations:
Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Tennessee

Hit me up if you're interested

Wrapped up my first week today with some more advanced topics via tutorials + W3Schools:

• Views — saving a query as a reusable virtual table

• Indexes — how they speed up lookups, and the trade-off with write performance

• Subqueries — nesting a query inside another, both in WHERE and as derived tables

• ROLLUP — generating subtotal and grand-total rows automatically in aggregated results

Subqueries were the trickiest of the four conceptually — took a bit of re-reading to get comfortable with correlated vs non-correlated subqueries specifically.

One week in: SELECT → JOINs → aggregates → table management → views/indexes/subqueries. Feeling like I have a genuinely solid core SQL foundation now. Planning to spend the next couple of days on a small schema project to tie it all together before moving to Java.

With AI, getting startup ideas and building an MVP feels easier than ever.

But validating the idea, finding people to give honest feedback, and actually executing still seem just as hard.

So, has AI really made it easier to become a founder, or just easier to build?

Hello everyone! 👋

My name is Amr, and I’m 17 years old. I started learning programming about four years ago, and now I’m focusing on becoming a Web Developer.

With the rapid growth of AI, I’m wondering what skills I should focus on to stay relevant and become a better developer.

Do you have any advice for me about the Web Development field, or any skills/technologies you think I should pay special attention to in the age of AI?

I’d really appreciate any advice from experienced developers. 🚀

As an aspiring full-stack web developer planning to study JavaScript + Node.js from (The Odin Project) and (Full Stack Open) - from the University of Helsinki, in a logical progression - I aim to go SOLO after graduating from both curricula - without ever taking up a job - Should I even invest my time and efforts to go down this path as I'm afraid of AGI/ASI making my efforts of learning and mastery of the fundamentals from TOP and FSO go to waste - As there would be no difference between vibe coders and full-stack web developers? Is it possible that people and businesses will build and maintain their own apps/websites, etc., flawlessly? Where the entire SDLC operates on plain English prompt and feedback loop, where the "perfect" AI asks and nudges the user/builder/vibe coder what actually needs to be built and keep optimizing infinitely!

Please, share Insights!

Any suggestions as to where we might look for an older full-stack developer - perhaps at or nearing retirement - who wants to do something that will have an extraordinary social impact? My guess is that they won't be looking much at job postings. We have a timely mission (moving young people away from screens and into challenging real-life activities) and an ingenuous way of approaching it. We've assembled a great team. Finding the right developers is proving to be the last piece of the puzzle.

The idea behind looking for older developers is that: (1) they are more likely to be able to achieve more effective results with fewer hours of effort given their wisdom and experience (given that most of us are part-time); and (2) we're on a shoestring, and they might be more likely to be in a secure financial position for the 6 months or so until we launch.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I am 30 years old and I am considering to start Full Stack. Is it too late to switch the career?

I'm a front end Developer and I'm building my own company from scratch I'm already done with the front end. The back end is the problem I'd need to go back and learn back end before I complete it. I need a back end developer to help me out but I don't have any money to give you. But you'll get some shares in the company