What I'm learning/coding & life

This month is more of a collection of random thoughts—things I’ve been learning & where I’m working as a digital nomad

Hello fellow nerds,

This month is more of a collection of random thoughts - things I’ve been learning, where I’m working as a digital nomad, and a few ideas I’ve had lately. I’m writing this from Porto, Portugal during a power cut.

Current POV as I write this -

If any of this resonates - or if you have questions - drop a comment on Substack. I try to respond to every single one.

What I’ve Been Learning

I’ve been diving into Postgres and SQL recently. When I started in 2020, I remember reading that SQL was becoming obsolete - some even said it was “dying.” Absolute rubbish. It’s one of the easiest tools to pick up and can instantly make you more valuable to most companies.

With SQL, a handful of queries can take you surprisingly far. Then, as you encounter more complex problems, you’ll naturally pick up advanced use cases—and learn the common pitfalls to avoid.

Where I’ve Been Working Remotely

I’m using remote work as an opportunity to see as much of the world as I can (and tech is the best industry to work remotely, with coding still the number one remote skill). I spent some time working in Iceland last month.

Iceland is one of the most beautiful places in the world, feels like Mars, great internet, solid infrastructure, everyone speaks English. But there’s virtually no digital nomad/remote worker scene, and it’s expensive as hell.

Probably heading to Turkey, Cyprus, and Asia later this year. If you're working from anywhere interesting, let me know.

What I’ve Been Thinking About

I’ve given up trying to keep track of “the best model for coding.” It still blows my mind how easy it is to build a CRUD app today.

But I’ve also been thinking about how tough it must be for beginners to learn deeply in the AI era, when every answer is just a click away.

Lately, I’ve been coding alone for more strategic or system design tasks. But for lower-level stuff or things I already know, I lean on AI. If you outsource your thinking in the name of productivity, it’ll make your job way harder when you hit the mid-level stage.

Best Tech Purchase I’ve Made Recently

I’ve been using the large wooden laptop stand below (there are loads on Amazon), as sometimes I work…in bed.

If you work from home, it’s way too easy to end up hunched over your laptop like a shrimp 🍤 I’ve got loads of these laptop stands, big and small portable ones that fold up (it can be awkward getting a huge one out in a cafe).

Even if you only work from a laptop in cafe hunched over for a few hours, it does add up, and puts a strain on your neck. Get one! and just keep it in your bag, they only cost like $10.

Hack to Learn Tech Concepts

Use prompts to help you learn, not replace your thinking.

As a beginner, a great hack is to start your learning session by telling the LLM that you're a beginner and want to understand things deeply. It’ll usually slow down, explain more clearly, and act like a tutor - while still encouraging problem solving (which is the #1 skill you need to build in tech).

Not sure what project to work on? Try prompting:
“Act as a senior software engineer in Python/JS and design a complex coding challenge that will test my knowledge.”

The Future of Coding and What Developer Work Will Look Like in 2030

I made a video on how I see the role evolving, how to prepare for it, and what new roles might emerge with AI. I’d read way too many bad takes from people who’ve never seen a professional codebase in their life- so this is my take on what devs could actually be doing by 2030.

Check it out.

See you in the next one,
A 👾