Learning New Tech Post-LLMs

"To get lost is to know the way." — Swahili proverb

This is exactly my approach to learning new tech in the post-LLM era of software dev.

While AI tools are incredibly useful, I’m building my latest project with zero LLM involvement; not even autocomplete. Hear me out...

The Background

I’ve been tracking my calories in the basic Notes app, but now that I'm adding cardio, steps, and workouts to the mix, I need a real system. I don't care for the feature-bloated Cronometer or ad-ridden MyFitnessPal, so I’m building my own simple PWA.

Tech Stack

Because I also want to level up my backend/ops skills, I'm forcing myself into unfamiliar territory. The architecture will leverage:

• 🦀 Rust for API and middleware,
• 🪶 SQLite for data storage, both running in a
• 🐳 Docker container self-hosted on a
• 🍌 Banana Pi.

That's a LOT of "new to me" tech, but think about it... this project has:

• ❌ No stakeholders
• ❌ No deadlines
• ❌ No budget constraints
• ☝️ Exactly one user (me)

Conclusion

Since I can take all the time I need, why would I trade my personal connection to the code for development velocity? There's no single right answer, but for this project, I’m choosing to "get lost" so that I can truly "know the way."