13 Questions for 13 Years as a Developer
Publication Date: 15 January 2026
Author: Michael Edwards
Milestone: 13th Anniversary in Software Engineering (15 Jan 2013 – 15 Jan 2026)
Introduction
On 15 January 2013, I sat down at my desk at Graphite Design in Bromley to begin my career as a web developer. Over the past 13 years, I have built bespoke client sites, custom WordPress themes, WooCommerce platforms, high-traffic national news publishing tools at Metro.co.uk, headless Next.js applications on WordPress VIP for global hotel brands, and AI-assisted editorial tooling at Bauer Media Group.
To mark 13 years in the trenches, I sat down to answer 13 questions on where the technology has gone, how my thinking has evolved, and what actually matters in software engineering.
The 13 Questions
1. The Origin
What was your primary tech stack on 15 January 2013, and how does it compare to what you use today?
In 2013, my day-to-day stack was custom PHP, HTML5/CSS3, jQuery, and early WordPress/WooCommerce builds at Graphite Design. Today, my stack revolves around modern PHP 8+, JavaScript (ES6+), React, Next.js, headless WordPress architectures, custom Gutenberg blocks, REST APIs, WP-CLI, Docker, and AI-assisted engineering workflows. The shift from monolithic server-rendered jQuery templates to component-driven headless architectures and API contracts has been the biggest paradigm shift of my career.
2. The Mindset Shift
How has your definition of "good code" changed from Year 1 to Year 13?
In Year 1, I thought "good code" was clever code—dense abstractions, complex single-line helpers, or shiny design patterns. In Year 13, I know good code is readable, maintainable, self-documenting code that a developer on call at 2:00 AM can understand in 30 seconds. Good code is also easy to delete when requirements change.
3. Hype vs. Reality
What technology over the last 13 years turned out to be completely overhyped, and what lived up to the noise?
Overhyped: Massive full-stack framework rewrites for standard content sites. Monolithic rewrites often burned millions without improving business outcomes.
Lived up to the noise: Gutenberg block-based editing, Docker containerisation, and API-first headless content distribution. Gutenberg transformed editorial workflows from rigid shortcode fields into modular, visual design systems.
4. The Battle Scars
What was your most memorable production outage or architectural mistake, and what did it teach you?
Early in my career, relying too heavily on monolithic third-party plugins for internationalisation and complex data transformations created severe database lockups under unexpected traffic spikes. That experience taught me to build lean, custom PHP translation layers and database queries—a principle I later used at Mintel to replace heavy WooCommerce plugins with a custom i18n layer that dramatically boosted site speed and reliability.
5. The Best Decision
What single technical or career choice gave you the highest return over these 13 years?
Investing deeply in core fundamentals—vanilla PHP, modern JavaScript, data structures, and web accessibility (a11y)—rather than jumping between short-lived JavaScript utility libraries. Mastering the core ecosystem enabled me to seamlessly move between contract roles at Attest, Mintel, Metro.co.uk, Ennismore, and full-time roles at Bauer Media.
6. The Paradigm Change
What is a technical belief you defended fiercely early in your career that you now completely disagree with?
I used to believe every project needed bespoke, ground-up architectures for every UI component. Today, I am a strong advocate for shared, accessible block design systems and standardized WP-CLI tooling that eliminate repetitive groundwork and let engineers focus on high-value features.
7. Tooling
What’s one tool from 2013 you surprisingly miss, and one modern tool you couldn’t live without today?
Miss from 2013: The sheer simplicity of simple FTP deployments and direct file edits for quick prototyping (though CI/CD pipelines are infinitely safer!).
Couldn’t live without: WP-CLI for automating complex database migrations and CLI workflows, along with Docker for deterministic local development environments.
8. The Human Element
What non-technical skill proved to be your biggest force multiplier as a developer?
Clear technical writing and cross-functional communication. Translating complex architectural trade-offs into plain language for product managers, editors, and business stakeholders has resolved more bottlenecks than any algorithm I’ve ever written.
9. The AI Era
How has the rise of AI-assisted engineering changed how you approach problem-solving and daily development?
AI has become an incredible pair-programmer for boilerplate generation, unit testing setup, and rapid prototyping. At Bauer Media, evaluating AI integration led to prototyping OpenAI-powered editorial tools for article quality control and content summarization—complete with brand-specific prompts, human safeguards, and audit logging.
10. Simplicity vs. Complexity
What is your philosophy today on choosing "boring technology" versus trying new frameworks?
Choose boring technology for your core data layer and state management; innovate deliberately on the edges where it directly drives user value. Proven technology like PHP, REST APIs, and React allows you to spend your innovation budget on user experience rather than infrastructure debugging.
11. Sustainability
How have you managed to stay curious and avoid burnout after more than a decade in tech?
By grounding my work in tangible user impact. Whether building screen-reader-friendly news templates at Metro.co.uk or streamlining workflows for magazine editors at Bauer, seeing real people benefit from clean software keeps the craft exciting.
12. Mentorship
What do you see most junior developers struggle with today that hasn’t changed since 2013?
Rushing to write code before fully understanding the underlying domain problem. Spending 20 minutes sketching out data flows and requirements before writing a single function saves hours of refactoring later.
13. The Message Back
If you could send a 1-sentence message back to yourself on your first day in 2013, what would you say?
"Focus on building clean, readable systems and listening to the people using them—the tech stack will evolve, but core problem-solving is forever."