Aleksandr Baumgertner

We’ve been exploring Go-based backend patterns lately, and I came across a great post by Murat Demircion why Go + gRPC has become such a powerful combination for modern microservice architectures. He breaks down how gRPC, built on HTTP/2 and Protocol Buffers, enables strongly typed, high-performance communication between services — and how Go’s lightweight concurrency model makes it a natural fit. The result: fast, reliable, and maintainable systems that scale beautifully. What I really like about his take is that it goes beyond the basics — touching on production-ready aspects like interceptors, authentication, observability, and streaming. It’s a reminder that great backend architecture isn’t just about protocols, but about thoughtful design, monitoring, and trust between services. For anyone working with distributed systems, it’s worth a read — and a good nudge to revisit whether REST is always the right tool for the job. #GoLang #gRPC #Microservices #Backend https://lnkd.in/dgmGn79h

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For quite a while I have been using NATS JetStream as my messages queue for Symfony/Messenger which allows processing of tasks in the background with different priorities. Great alternative to Amazon SQS which limits us with message size, RabbitMQ which requires a bit more DevOps work or Beanstalkd which is far from being a production-grade tool. NATS JetStream out of the box offers great performance and with minimum of settings can be deployed easily as a container or standalone service for both production and development environments. With this library you can use it together with Symfony/Messenger. GitHub: https://lnkd.in/dUNhmJEe Page: https://lnkd.in/dV9FeEfN More on NATS JetStream: https://lnkd.in/dMBFjiMm MIT License. (I am not associated with NATS nor Symfony.) Symfony NATS.io

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Your code doesn’t build itself. There’s a full kitchen behind every APK. We talk so much about writing clean Kotlin or crafting elegant Compose UIs. But behind all that polish is a build system — quietly doing the heavy lifting every time you hit Run. Gradle is not just compiling your code. It’s managing dependencies, optimizing resources, shrinking unused classes, packaging your app, and signing it — all in seconds. Most days, we take it for granted. Until it breaks. And then… we stare at a terminal wondering why our build failed at mergeReleaseResources. Here’s how I’ve started thinking about it: Your code and assets? Raw ingredients. Gradle? Your head chef. build.gradle? The recipe book. Flavors? Regional menu variations. ProGuard/R8? Cleanup crew that makes the dish lightweight. CI/CD? Sous-chefs that automate everything in your kitchen. When I first ran into a flavor dimension issue, I thought it was just a misconfig. But understanding how the build system works changed how I approached everything — from testing to delivery. Now I: ✅ Debug faster ✅ Configure variants with confidence ✅ Work better with QA and backend ✅ Avoid guesswork during app releases If you’re building Android apps in 2025 and still treating Gradle like a black box — take the time to open it up. It's not just tooling. It’s the bridge between your ideas and a working APK.

If you’re looking for an open source project to contribute to, here’s a #PHP one that’s already used in thousands of production systems. I’ll leave the useful links in the comments. I’m trying to make everything as easy as possible for you, even if you still don’t see the full picture. And with every task you work on, or any question you ask, I’ll help you understand the bigger picture step by step. Start simple: • Read the README. • Then go to the Developer Guide. • You’ll find Good First Issues you can start with no matter your level. • And there are Architectural issues too, for when you want to stretch your mind a bit. - Image from Google Nano Banana AI.

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TL;DR I did something that might save you time and money (lots of it). Last week I had a very expensive code refactoring session together with Cursor as you might already know from my previous post https://lnkd.in/dBtjUMx8 During the refactoring session one thing I noticed and got really frustrated about was renames. As "naming" is one of the most challenging problems in swe renaming happens all the time, during refactors, while implementing a new feature... Other people might overlook to the naming problem but every swe knows it in heart. Before AI agent era your IDE was your best friend, you could rename a class and viola 100 files changed even without a compile error. After AI agents it has become a pain. Since agents need grep/set/replace ... to to find the correct locations to change in the code... sometimes it takes several minutes + tens of agent actions to change a single class name. Long story short, renaming has become a costly and time consuming operation in the era of AI agents; it used to be very easy and fast. I know you've already smelled what's coming next :) I and Claude 've developed a renamer (only for Kotlin for now); it is a bash command named 'kr' check it out here -> https://lnkd.in/dEjgrnM7 I benchmarked it in my mid-sized product catalog project. Prompt : "rename the term Combo with Bundle as it is more accurate, using kr bash command" first it tried to dry run and then got happy with the result then started using it. Then I did the same without kr, and the results; 12x less AI agent actions 10x faster and the shocking part is; I used cursor composer-1 FREE model with kr, however without it composer couldn't event complete the task, I switched to Opus 4.6. so the cost is infinitely less :) If you enjoyed the tool leave a star in my repo If you enjoyed the post leave a comment, spread the word and let everyone save the planet :P -- Update -- I’ve released a significant update to the Kotlin Renamer. In this version, I introduced skills files and everything outside of the core rename functionality is new. Alongside the existing rename and move capabilities, the skill now includes a full suite of project analysis commands — outline, find, dependencies, hierarchy, unused symbols, and Spring bean scanning — all with structured output support. The skill’s activation, triggering logic, documentation, and examples have also been added or expanded. These improvements make the tool far more useful for understanding Kotlin project structure and preparing safe renames.

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I’ve been wondering why we don't see more people adopting the "shared nothing" model that PHP-FPM uses. Years ago, the argument against it was clear: process scheduling and context switching were expensive. Other languages went the route of shared state and long-lived processes because it was more efficient for things like async I/O. That made sense at the time. But today, context switching is much cheaper than it used to be. Meanwhile, the benefits of the shared nothing model have only become more obvious. The amount of cognitive overhead it removes for a developer is huge. You don't have to worry about memory leaks between requests or state bleeding from one user to another. Every request starts fresh. I think that simplicity is a huge part of why PHP still dominates such a massive portion of the web. I get why people didn't build this way 30 years ago, but I don't really understand why nobody else has tried to offer a similar model in the past 15ish years. There was a great article by Nicolas Grekas recently about how they handled over 1,000 concurrent screens in real-time at SymfonyCon. He showed how stable the PHP-FPM model is, but also acknowledged where it hits a wall (like massive amounts of concurrent connections) and how he handled that specific part differently. It’s a great look at using the right tool for the job without throwing away the simplicity of the shared nothing foundation. The link is here if you haven't seen it: https://lnkd.in/dmqva_SH Does anyone actually know why this architecture isn't more common in other ecosystems? Is there a technical reason I'm missing, or is it just a matter of "that's not how we do things here" or some ego-driven need for what we perceive as "clean architecture" over pragmatism? I'm curious to hear what you think.

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Senior Frontend Truth: You Don’t Rise to Senior by Writing More Code There’s a quiet misconception in our industry, If I write more code, I’ll become senior. It feels logical, more output - more value - promotion. However seniority isn’t about volume, it’s about leverage. The Output Trap: At junior and mid-level roles, performance is often measured by visible activity: - Tickets closed - Features shipped - Lines of code written - PRs merged So engineers optimize for productivity and the problem is productivity alone doesn’t scale your impact. What Actually Changes at Senior Level: The transition to senior isn’t about doing more work, it’s about changing the type of work you do. Senior frontend engineers: - Think in systems, not tickets - Anticipate future change - Reduce technical debt before it compounds - Improve team decision-making - Mentor and unblock others - Challenge unclear requirements - Design for maintainability Their influence extends beyond the code they personally write, in-fact, some of the most senior decisions result in less code being written. The Shift from Output to Impact: Mid-level engineers increase output, senior engineers increase organizational clarity. They ask: - Should we build this? - Is this the right abstraction? - What happens six months from now? - Where will this design break? They optimize for sustainability, not speed alone. The Real Promotion Skill: The real signal of seniority isn’t how much code you write, it’s how much complexity you remove. It’s the ability to: - See second-order consequences - Make trade-offs explicit - Protect the system from fragile design - Multiply the effectiveness of the team Code is still important, but judgment is what gets you promoted. Apart from judgement, what other components makes you rise as a senior?

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FastRuby.io Launches "Is It Ruby or Rails?" Discord Bot The eternal question that haunts Rails developers - "Wait, is this method from Ruby or Rails?" - has inspired FastRuby.io to create an entertaining solution. Their new Discord bot transforms that moment of uncertainty into daily puzzles that challenge Ruby knowledge whilst building community engagement. The "Is It Ruby or Rails?" bot delivers daily challenges where developers identify whether methods, features, or concepts originate from Ruby language or Rails framework. Players receive immediate feedback and compete on weekly leaderboards, adding gamification to professional development. How the bot works: 🔹 Daily puzzles sent to designated Discord channels 🔹 Immediate feedback after answering 🔹 Weekly leaderboards showing top performers 🔹 Simple setup with /set_channel command for customisation Why this matters for Rails teams: Understanding the distinction between Ruby language features and Rails framework additions demonstrates technical depth that employers value. The line between Ruby and Rails often blurs during daily development, but clarity improves debugging skills and architectural decisions. Community building through learning: Discord bots like this create shared learning experiences that strengthen developer teams. Regular challenges encourage consistent engagement with Ruby/Rails concepts whilst fostering friendly competition among colleagues. Technical insight development: The bot addresses a genuine knowledge gap. Many developers work effectively with Rails without fully understanding which capabilities come from Ruby versus the framework. This distinction becomes crucial during performance optimisation, debugging, and architectural planning. Professional development benefits: 🔹 Strengthens fundamental Ruby/Rails knowledge 🔹 Improves technical vocabulary and communication 🔹 Builds consistent learning habits 🔹 Creates team bonding opportunities through shared challenges FastRuby.io's approach reflects their expertise in Rails upgrades and refactoring - they encounter the Ruby/Rails distinction constantly whilst modernising codebases, making them well-positioned to create meaningful learning tools. The bot is open source on GitHub, encouraging community contributions and transparency in educational tool development. What methods or concepts do you find most confusing between Ruby and Rails? We're connecting with developers who value continuous learning and deep framework understanding. #RubyOnRails #Discord #DeveloperEducation #TechLearning #RubyLanguage #TechRecruitment

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Symfony developers, the conversation is shifting from simple chatbots to powerful, stateful AI agents. 🚀 But how do you build them to be performant and scalable without getting lost in complexity? The challenge isn't just the AI; it's the orchestration. We need to handle long-running LLM tasks and complex, multi-step workflows without blocking the main thread and killing the user experience. This is where Symfony shines. ✨ Its powerful, battle-tested components—like Messenger for async processing and Workflow for managing state—are the perfect foundation for building a robust, asynchronous AI orchestration layer. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. I just published an article on exactly this topic: ➡️ From Chatbot to Agent: Asynchronous AI Orchestration in Symfony We explore the specific architecture, the critical 'why' behind asynchronous processing, and the 'how' of implementing it to build next-gen AI features on a framework you already know and trust. If you're a Symfony developer or architect looking to build the future of AI, this one's for you. Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/gyNWKRvJ https://lnkd.in/gyn5Cxst How are you using Symfony's async tools to power your AI applications? Let's discuss in the comments! 👇 #Symfony #PHP #AI #AIAgents #Asynchronous #SoftwareArchitecture #MessengerComponent #Workflow #PHPDev #TechLead

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How you can get some Async in PHP using Symfony HTTP Client or Guzzle: I published a video on a small refactoring on our own Tideways GmbH codebase to use parallel HTTP requests to reduce time spent talking to a microservice. https://lnkd.in/eAEsmtB7 #php #symfony

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In most PHP projects I’ve seen, Entities are just bags of getters and setters - and that’s a problem. All the validation logic and rules are pushed into Services. With this approach, nothing prevents you from creating invalid Entities - you might forget to validate them or even bypass Services and call a set method directly (e.g., in the Controller). If you build Entities with behaviour instead, that won’t be possible - validation logic will trigger when creating the Entity, and any method that should trigger behaviour will actually do it. If you want maintainable, self-protecting code - build rich models. Encapsulate behaviour. Use Value Objects. Make invalid states impossible to represent. https://lnkd.in/dkEJzZsM

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Scaling to a billion documents is not just a technical challenge; it's a strategic one. The recent Symfony article on managing Germany's dynamic fuel prices and scaling with MongoDB offers a brilliant deep dive into how intelligent data modeling can transform a seemingly overwhelming dataset into a performant, insightful application. It highlights that the true power lies not in merely storing data, but in how we structure it and efficiently extract value from it. The strategic use of patterns like the bucket pattern and calculated denormalization, paired with MongoDB's robust aggregation framework, is critical. This approach allows developers to significantly optimize read operations, which is paramount for delivering lightning-fast user experiences and real-time analytics in complex applications. For instance, a simple but powerful aggregation stage might look like this for daily data processing: { "$set": { "day": { "$dateTrunc": { "date": "$date", "unit": "day" } } } } In my PHP and Laravel projects, especially when dealing with high-volume data streams, applying these NoSQL principles with MongoDB, and integrating them into responsive frontends built with React or Flutter, consistently delivers superior performance and scalability. This kind of architectural foresight ensures that businesses can not only handle massive amounts of data but also unlock its full potential for informed decision-making and competitive advantage. What are your go-to strategies for tackling billion-scale datasets in your projects? #SoftwareDevelopment #WebDevelopment #PHP #Laravel #MongoDB #DataModeling #Scaling #BangladeshTech

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This clearly shows how the right technical decision can directly impact business value performance, cost, and user experience all aligned RookTek

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🔴 “PHP is Dead.” I’ve heard this phrase too many times over the past few years. But let’s face it... If PHP is dead, then the internet must be a ghost town. 👻 💡 Let’s look at the real picture: 🌍 79% of all websites still run on PHP. 🧱 Platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Magento are still the backbone of millions of businesses. ⚙️ Frameworks like Laravel are powering modern APIs, SaaS tools, and scalable apps. 🧪 Real-world Case Studies: - Facebook started with PHP. It was so essential, they built their own compiler for it: HHVM. - Slack’s backend had large PHP components during early scaling phases. - Wikipedia still runs on PHP and serves billions of page views every month. - Mailchimp, Etsy, Badoo, and Tumblr all scaled with PHP in production. 📈 Hiring Market? Still Alive and Well. - Thousands of open roles across Upwork, LinkedIn, Indeed, and Toptal. - UK, US, Canada, Germany, UAE, India — companies are still hiring PHP/Laravel developers today. - Demand for maintenance, migration, and feature enhancement in legacy systems is growing. 🧠 So, why the hate? Because we developers love shiny tools. 🚀 JS frameworks, Rust, Go — they trend, they’re cool. But here’s the truth: ✅ PHP is not “sexy,” but it gets the job done reliably. ✅ It's faster, safer, and more modern than most people think (try PHP 8+!) ✅ It powers real businesses. It pays real salaries. 💬 I’ve worked on PHP projects that supported: 💰 $2M+ in revenue 👨‍👩‍👧 Teams of 50+ engineers 🌐 Millions of daily users 🤝 To new devs: Don't feel pressured to abandon PHP for clout. 📢 To companies: Don’t rebuild everything in Next.js just because it's trending. 💪 Stick with what works. Learn what’s new. Be proud of your stack. 🔥 PHP is not dead. It’s just quietly running the world behind the scenes. Let’s give it the respect it deserves. 🙌 #PHP #Laravel #WebDevelopment #SoftwareEngineering #TechCareer #RealTalk #BackendDeveloper #WordPress #OpenSource #CodingTruths

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🔴 "PHP is dead." Yeah, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that. But let’s cut through the noise: 👉 If PHP is dead… then the internet is a haunted mansion. 👻 Because PHP is still quietly running the show behind the scenes. 💡 Reality Check: ✅ 79% of websites still run on PHP. ✅ Platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Magento power millions of businesses. ✅ Frameworks like Yii,Laravel,Symfony fuel modern SaaS, CRMs, and APIs. 📚 Real-World Proof: 🔹 Facebook started with PHP — and even built HHVM to scale it. 🔹 Slack scaled early using PHP. 🔹 Wikipedia still runs on PHP — serving billions of pageviews. 🔹 Mailchimp, Etsy, Tumblr, Badoo — all thrived with PHP at their core. 📈 PHP in 2025? Still going strong. 🧠 Thousands of open roles right now on LinkedIn, Upwork, Toptal, Indeed. 🌍 Demand across US, UK, India, Canada, Germany, UAE — and beyond. 🛠 Enterprises still depend on PHP for migrations, maintenance, and growth. 💥 Why the hate, then? Because devs love chasing shiny new things: 🚀 Go. Rust. Deno. JavaScript frameworks. Tech trends come fast — and fade even faster. But here’s what stays: 💪 PHP may not be flashy, but it’s battle-hardened. ⚡ With PHP 8+, it's fast, secure, and fully modern. 📦 It runs real products, solves real problems, and scales real businesses. 👨‍💻 In my experience: 💰 Projects I’ve built have generated more in revenue 👥 Scaled across 50+ developers 🌐 Served millions of users — daily. 🗣️ My message to the dev world: 🔁 To new developers: Don’t fall for hype. Master the fundamentals. 🚧 Depth beats trends. Every time. 🏢 To CTOs & engineering teams: You don’t need a rewrite in Next.js to look modern. 🔧 Upgrade smart. Focus on ROI. Tech ≠ Trends. 🔥 PHP isn’t dead. It’s just quietly doing its job — powering the internet. Let’s stop the disrespect — and give it its due. 🙌 #PHP #Yii #Laravel #Symfony #WebDevelopment #SoftwareEngineering #LegacySystems #RealTalk #TechLeadership #DevLife #CodingReality #BackendEngineering #OpenSourceCommunity #SaaS #APIDevelopment #EngineeringTruths #ModernPHP #TechMyths #ProgrammingFacts

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Unpopular opinion (apparently): .NET devs who genuinely value OSS, simplicity, and minimal corporate nonsense are a minority in the .NET ecosystem. I say this as someone who’s been around since 2004. I understand the legacy. I lived through it. I even survived it. But at some point… can we move on? Too much modern .NET code still feels like it was designed in 2009, just with newer keywords and a fancier DI container. Endless abstractions, framework worship, ceremony over clarity. More patterns than problems. What honestly makes me sad is this: if you want sane defaults, low-BS development, and tools that don’t assume an enterprise committee per line of code, the most realistic option often seems to be… switching ecosystems entirely. Go. Rust. Pick your flavor of “less nonsense.” Not because .NET can’t do it. But because too many .NET devs won’t let it. The platform evolved. The language evolved. The runtime evolved. Some of the mindset didn’t. And no, adding one more layer, interface, or “enterprise-grade” framework is not progress. This is my last shout-out of the year. Next one will be next year, something more creative, less ranty… probably still inconvenient for someone. 🔥🎅

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Symfony is our main framework. We've built most of Nelisa on it. I'm doing tech discovery for a new part of the system right now. Symfony doesn't have the right libraries and ecosystem for what I need. So I'm probably building it in Laravel instead. No debate about "but we're a Symfony shop." Just what actually solves the problem. Tech as identity slows teams down. The framework becomes something to defend rather than question. Decisions get filtered through stack loyalty instead of engineering judgment. At Nelisa, the stack serves the purpose, not the other way around. When a tool adds friction instead of speed, when a language doesn't fit the workload - we let go. We're not nailing hammers with screwdrivers just because screwdrivers are what we know. This only works when the team is comfortable with it. People who see their stack as part of their identity struggle here. People who see tech as a means to an end thrive. Some stability matters - constant tool-switching creates chaos. But the opposite extreme is worse. Clinging to choices that no longer serve the work is how technical debt accumulates and teams slow down. The balance: default to what's working, but stay honest about when it stops working. #SoftwareDevelopment #EngineeringLeadership #TechStack

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Both "AEM developers don't exist" and "any dev can do WordPress" are dangerously misleading statements. Consider two real scenarios from our clients: Client A purchased AEM and spent four months searching for specialized developers in LATAM, ultimately hiring European contractors at premium rates, resulting in an eight-month project delay. Client B hired "WordPress developers" at $35/hour, launched quickly, but then spent nine months and significant resources fixing security vulnerabilities and architectural issues. Both clients made the same mistake: oversimplifying the talent equation. **AEM Talent Reality:** - AEM is Java-based and utilizes a component model built on Apache Sling and HTL. - Developers typically require Adobe-specific training, often taking 6-12 months for senior developers to become truly productive. - The specialized nature of AEM results in: - A small talent pool in LATAM, with an estimated <500 experienced AEM developers in the region. - A long time-to-hire, commonly 3-6 months. - Training investments needed for most hires. - Premium compensation required to retain talent. Once trained, AEM developers can leverage the full platform, as complex workflows, personalization, and DAM are integral features. **WordPress Talent Reality:** - Brazil has over 750,000 active software developers, and Mexico has 800,000+ programmers, making WordPress developers abundant. - However, a critical distinction exists: the developer who can build a site is not necessarily the architect who can create a secure, scalable enterprise platform. LATAM developer rates range from $20-40/hour for juniors, $35-70/hour for mid-level, and $65-100/hour for seniors. You often get what you pay for. **What Actually Matters:** For AEM: - Can you hire/train specialized talent? - Will they have enough work to stay engaged? - Can you absorb a 6-12 month onboarding period? For WordPress: ✅ Can you distinguish between basic devs and enterprise architects? ✅ Do you have ops discipline for security/updates? ✅ Will you invest in senior talent, not just cheap labor? The truth: Both platforms require senior talent at enterprise scale. The difference is specialization depth vs. breadth. #TechTalent #DeveloperMarket #TechHiring

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