Throughout my 20+ years in software development, building complex systems and ecommerce websites for banks, high street brands, and government clients, I’ve learned a crucial lesson: Don’t go chasing the latest shiny programming langugage.
There’s always something faster, something better, something newer… But if we jumped on every new language or framework, we’d be trapped in a constant learning curve hell.
In my view, it’s simple: If your team produces high-quality work with your current technology stack, there’s no compelling reason to change. Clients care about results and in my experience they were rarely interested in what it was built with as long as it fitted the spec perfectly and worked!
You will produce a better product with a programming language you know intimately than with a “faster” or “trendier” language you’re still struggling to understand.
As you get older, you realise that expertise trumps novelty. consistency beats constant reinvention. Nobody has time for that! Build quality, don’t build cool!
So, if you work with developers or are one, do you prefer to use what you know and keep it stable, or build shiny and modern?
I’d love to hear your views on this. You can comment on my LinkedIn
I’m Craig Pickles, a web designer, developer, technical SEO and social media specialist.