A long time ago, this would've been 2008, maybe very long time ago, I worked at a company called Envato. So this is way before LYCast was even a thing. And uh, if you're not familiar, Envato just very quickly was famous for two things. On one hand, they had these digital marketplaces like ThemeForest and CodeCanyon, where you could buy and sell digital assets, whether it's like a, um, a template or a WordPress theme or a an audio file or a video asset.

and sell digital assets, whether it's like a, um, a template or a WordPress theme or a an audio file or a video assets. And at the time, this was, this was new and novel, uh, and it just catapulted, uh, and bottom. And then they also, on the other hand, had these education blogs. Uh, and if you're a little bit older, you might remember me from one of them called Net Touch. And again, there was like seven or eight for all of the creative, uh, fields.

And again, there was like seven or eight for all of the creative, uh, fields. Um, tu design, touch, PSD, touch. Um, there was one for photography, one for video, one for audio. I think there was an audio touch. I can't even remember them. There was eight or nine of them. Again, very, very cool stuff. Anyways, that's not important. But what is important is at the time, one of the head engineers at Envato, his name was John,

But what is important is at the time, one of the head engineers at Envato, his name was John, and I didn't know John that well. He was based in Australia and I was remote. Uh, we would see each other sometimes at, um, company meetups and stuff like that. And I always liked John. Um, at the time I was quite green and John was quite smart. He was one of those people, when you meet them, they are just, their intelligence is immediately apparent.

He was one of those people, when you meet them, they are just, their intelligence is immediately apparent. Uh, and I respected that so much. He was the type of person, like one time we went to a, um, like a museum or something as a, as a company, some kind of activity. And he was one of the only people I noticed that when you go to each art piece or something, you know, there's like a plaque with a bunch of texts that that tells you what it's about.

there's like a plaque with a bunch of texts that that tells you what it's about. And most people don't read it or they'll read one sentence and lose interest and move on, and they just kind of like a wave move through the museum and finish up. He was one of the only people though I would notice. Like he would stop and read every single plaque entirely and then he would move on and read another one. And it's something I would never do.

and then he would move on and read another one. And it's something I would never do. And yet, in a weird way, I don't know, I just respected that so much. 'cause it, it just illustrates what kind of person he is. He is, he is always curious and he's better for it, right? So I very much admire John even though we didn't know each other that well. Anyway, so one time I was in Australia working at Envato HQ for the month.

Anyway, so one time I was in Australia working at Envato HQ for the month. Um, and we, he and I and a couple other people went out for drinks one night and we were talking about programming in general. And again, I wanna remind you, I'm pretty green at this point. Um, and he was not. And so I was talking to him about programming and I brought up this sense of programming anxiety.

And so I was talking to him about programming and I brought up this sense of programming anxiety that I often feel, and actually that's gonna be the name of this episode, by the way, programming anxiety. Anyway, so I brought up to him that one thing I hate about programming is this feeling that if, for whatever reason you get off the treadmill, even for a year or two just to focus on something else and deal with family stuff, if you were to get back on, as I said at the time, um,

and deal with family stuff, if you were to get back on, as I said at the time, um, you are instantly obsolete and irrelevant. The at, at that point, even one or two years, the industry will have passed you by so severely. And I hated that feeling, that feeling that I can't stop, I can't leave the rat race for even a year because you can't go back. And if you do go back,

because you can't go back. And if you do go back, it's just everything you know is irrelevant. Everyone's moved on to some hot new thing. And again, at the time, as I explained to John, this was a horrible aspect of programming. Anyways, as I'm explaining to this, he and some of the others there at the table were kind of, what is the correct word? They were giving me that look, you know, when you're talking

what is the correct word? They were giving me that look, you know, when you're talking to somebody and as you are talking, they are giving you a look that immediately makes it obvious that they disagree with what you're saying. That whatever that look is, whatever description you have for that look is what he was giving me. And again, I'm a little uncomfortable. I'm in a foreign country. He's much smarter than me. All of them were, at the time, I'm pretty green

I'm in a foreign country. He's much smarter than me. All of them were, at the time, I'm pretty green and they are giving me a look. Like everything I'm saying is, is b******t. And um, at some point I stopped and I remember saying like, you don't agree, do you? And he's like, no, not at all. And I was like, but how? How can you not agree? Look at all of the new tools that have been released just in the last year alone.

Look at all of the new tools that have been released just in the last year alone. And just to give you some context, right around this time is when jQuery had come under the scene. And if you're a little younger, you may not realize like JavaScript was in a rut at the time. Everyone hated JavaScript. It was so inconsistently implemented across the browsers to the point that like, even if you could figure out how something would work, there's like a 50% chance it just

to the point that like, even if you could figure out how something would work, there's like a 50% chance it just wouldn't work in this other browser. And you are constantly dealing with, uh, browser inconsistencies. So suddenly jQuery comes on the scene, it normalizes all of those inconsistencies, and then it wraps it up in, um, a very elegant API that's instantly, um, approachable. And as a result of this,

that's instantly, um, approachable. And as a result of this, suddenly there's this JavaScript renaissance. Everyone is using jQuery. All of a sudden it's, it's, it's easy for even a beginner to dive into the DOM and do something with it. Um, jQuery is an amazing thing. All of like, I would accredit all of the JavaScript advancements over the years to jQuery because here's what happened.

JavaScript advancements over the years to jQuery because here's what happened. If you're thinking, no, that's not true, this would've happened anyways. I don't think so, because what happened is jQuery was so immediately approachable to the point that everyone dove in. And then whenever that happens, of course a certain percentage of people are gonna go deep and they're gonna branch out.

a certain percentage of people are gonna go deep and they're gonna branch out and then they're gonna build their own new tools. And that's exactly what ended up happening. So right around this time is when suddenly there's all of these new JavaScript templating frameworks and all of these new libraries, and it was a renaissance, um, by any, by, by any use of the word. Anyway, so that's how I was feeling at the time.

by any use of the word. Anyway, so that's how I was feeling at the time. Um, I find that when you are in your beginner to intermediate phase, you are very heavily focused on tooling, right? Everything is the tools. And as I saw it, if I get off that treadmill for a couple years, there's gonna be all of these new, uh, the, all of these new tools on the scene and everyone will have migrated over 'em

the, all of these new tools on the scene and everyone will have migrated over 'em because especially at the time, that's just what everyone did. Suddenly this is the new tool. So we all switch over and I won't be relevant anymore. I come back two years later in the tools I were, I was using, nobody's using anymore. Everyone's using the new thing that I don't understand. Uh, and yeah, again, to say it three times,

Everyone's using the new thing that I don't understand. Uh, and yeah, again, to say it three times, I was just illustrating this anxiety to him and he disagreed in every way, shape and form. So finally he explained himself and he was saying, look, tools are just tools, but the fundamentals of programming, the ways you think about programming, the way you approach things, the way you organize things, the, the the way you name things,

the way you approach things, the way you organize things, the, the the way you name things, those are actually remarkably consistent and they have remarkably long legs. L he was entirely and clearly right, and I was just too naive at the time to, to see it. But you know, of course, of course he's right. The way we go about building applications actually doesn't change that much. Sometimes the tooling, sometimes the libraries change,

actually doesn't change that much. Sometimes the tooling, sometimes the libraries change, but the general approach not that different. Think about Laravel if we fast forward a little bit. Um, the way you might have constructed an app with Laravel four is just not that dramatically different from how we would do it today. Some things are different. Sure. Um, you might use a tool like Livewire, you might use a tool like Inertia,

Um, you might use a tool like lifewire, you might use a tool like Inertia, but you know what the, your backends remarkably consistent. Um, there, there are better APIs now, things that make things, uh, a little bit more elegant and, um, easy to prepare. But you know what, it's the same thing. You're still creating routes. Uh, you're still following a basic MVC approach. And you know what, back in 2005, something like that,

Uh, you're still following a basic MVC approach. And you know what, back in 2005, something like that, when I was, um, when I was getting started, um, I was buying books about MVC, and you know what, I'm still using MVC, you know, and, uh, granted there's other ways of building applications that don't follow that, uh, format and that's fine. But generally so many people are, and it just doesn't feel like that sometimes, right? The reason why it doesn't feel that way is

and it just doesn't feel like that sometimes, right? The reason why it doesn't feel that way is because social media makes us feel at all times, like we're falling behind. And I don't know if that is intentional or it's just a side effect of which people jump to the top of our feeds. Um, and maybe the algorithm promotes new things or people who are outspoken. I'm not entirely sure, but I, I would agree

or people who are outspoken. I'm not entirely sure, but I, I would agree that often it feels like you can't catch your breath. Like there's always something new and these damn tweets from people telling you, you know, like, uh, here's everything you know, is wrong now or such and such just changed the game, right? And it's important to remind yourself how many of those posts have you seen about such and such has now changed everything

of those posts have you seen about such and such has now changed everything and look back, did it change everything? No, not really. Often those are like promoted, uh, posts that are recommending, um, services and tools that won't even be around in a few months. It's is so unhelpful to the point that maybe we shouldn't even use some of these, uh, platforms.

that maybe we shouldn't even use some of these, uh, platforms. Or if there's just a way to exclude that entirely. I would love for social media in general to return to just you following your friends, you know, a handful of people, you know, you can see their posts only and you don't have to be exposed to the wider world. Um, I don't know. It sounds useful to have that exposure. And then sometimes it just feels like it makes us worse. It makes us more anxious, it makes us more competitive.

And then sometimes it just feels like it makes us worse. It makes us more anxious, it makes us more competitive. It makes us more mean-spirited, right? Anyways. Um, if you, if you are constantly online, you will have the impression that you are constantly being left behind. There's a good sentence for you. If you're constantly online, you will constantly have the impression that you are constantly being left behind.

you will constantly have the impression that you are constantly being left behind. Use constantly three times anyways. You know what I mean though? I think everyone instantly relates to what I mean. And it's important to sometimes unplug and realize that is not true. The way we build applications has been remarkably consistent for decades. And though ways we might go about it and tools we might use

for decades. And though ways we might go about it and tools we might use and APIs we might reach for will change. The general approach has remained the same. I'm still working with REST in 2025, you know, what I was doing in 2005, 2006, 2007, working with REST HTTP requests, make a POST request and then do something with it. Well, in 2025 I'm making a POST request and I'm doing something with it.

Well, in 2025 I'm making a post request and I'm doing something with it. So I think this is important to remember even with, um, things like ai, now this is the new thing. That's all that's gonna leave us behind, right? Should you even become a programmer today when AI can do everything and, um, we'll find out, right? But I think the important thing is to remember, it's just another tool and tools are really helpful. You can put it in your belts.

it's just another tool and tools are really helpful. You can put it in your belts and it will allow you to do things that you couldn't do before. But it's still just a tool and it is not altering the way you go about building applications to any significant extent. At least from my experiences. It is enhancing the way, uh, I go about it. It is expediting the process,

It is enhancing the way, uh, I go about it. It is expediting the process, but it is not fundamentally changing the way I would approach, uh, building an application. And that's a, that's a really important thing to be aware of. And yeah, that's it. That's all I got for you. That's all I've written down here. Uh, as usual, nothing overly wise, but I still think it's important to share.

Uh, as usual, nothing overly wise, but I still think it's important to share. Uh, if you feel some sense of programming anxiety, you are not weird and you are not unique, you are actually quite normal. Uh, if you're somewhat new to the industry, you should certainly feel it. Uh, it would be weird if you didn't feel it. Uh, if you are constantly online consuming that for you tab you should feel it.

Uh, if you are constantly online consuming that for you tab you should feel it. It would be weird if you didn't feel it. But maybe it's also important to remind ourselves to unplug and remember that actually the way we go about building applications has actually been remarkably consistent for the last 20 years. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.