u/Extension_Track_7465

Hey everyone, long post but I really need some outside perspective here.

Quick background: I'm from a tier 3 college in Ahmedabad, just graduated. CGPA of 9.5, which I worked pretty hard for. Not from IIT or NIT so I know that already puts me at a different starting point in the job market.

My internship experience so far:

First internship was at a reputed firm — 6 months, but I left early. The work wasn't structured at all and I wasn't learning anything meaningful. On top of that, I was put on C#/.NET by the manager without any say in it — it wasn't something I chose or wanted to pursue. So I decided to move on rather than waste more time.

Second internship (current) — hired as an AI/ML intern at a startup, but turns out I'm doing full stack development. No ML, no AI, just regular frontend/backend stuff. I've been here 3 months and honestly? I feel nothing. No excitement, no curiosity, no "oh this is cool." I just sit and do tasks.

And that got me thinking about the bigger picture — and this is the part I keep coming back to:

Tech never really stops. Even when I'm 35 or 40, I'll still have to keep up with whatever new framework or tool is the hot thing that year. There's no point where you "know enough" and coast. That uncertainty genuinely bothers me. Like, is this just the deal I'm signing up for?

Right now I'm at that fork-in-the-road moment where I can still pivot relatively easily since I just graduated. I'm not asking for a magic answer, but I'd love to hear from people who've been here:

— Did the excitement come later for you, or was it always there? — Is the "constant learning" thing something you eventually make peace with, or does it grind you down? — If you were me, would you try to find a role that actually interests you first (maybe actual AI/ML, or something different in tech), or start exploring outside tech entirely?

Open to any honest takes, even the uncomfortable ones.

Hey everyone, long post but I really need some outside perspective here.

Quick background: I'm from a tier 3 college in Ahmedabad, just graduated. CGPA of 9.5, which I worked pretty hard for. Not from IIT or NIT so I know that already puts me at a different starting point in the job market.

My internship experience so far:

First internship was at a reputed firm — 6 months, but I left early. The work wasn't structured at all and I wasn't learning anything meaningful. On top of that, I was put on C#/.NET by the manager without any say in it — it wasn't something I chose or wanted to pursue. So I decided to move on rather than waste more time.

Second internship (current) — hired as an AI/ML intern at a startup, but turns out I'm doing full stack development. No ML, no AI, just regular frontend/backend stuff. I've been here 3 months and honestly? I feel nothing. No excitement, no curiosity, no "oh this is cool." I just sit and do tasks.

And that got me thinking about the bigger picture — and this is the part I keep coming back to:

Tech never really stops. Even when I'm 35 or 40, I'll still have to keep up with whatever new framework or tool is the hot thing that year. There's no point where you "know enough" and coast. That uncertainty genuinely bothers me. Like, is this just the deal I'm signing up for?

Right now I'm at that fork-in-the-road moment where I can still pivot relatively easily since I just graduated. I'm not asking for a magic answer, but I'd love to hear from people who've been here:

— Did the excitement come later for you, or was it always there? — Is the "constant learning" thing something you eventually make peace with, or does it grind you down? — If you were me, would you try to find a role that actually interests you first (maybe actual AI/ML, or something different in tech), or start exploring outside tech entirely?

Open to any honest takes, even the uncomfortable ones.

Hey everyone, just graduated last month (CS grad, June 2026) and considering picking up the MacBook Air M5 base config — 16GB RAM, 512GB storage. Wanted some honest opinions before I pull the trigger.

My workflow: I mostly use Claude for sprint planning and Windsurf / Cursor for actually implementing the code. So my laptop isn't doing heavy local AI inference — I'm offloading the brainwork to the cloud. My local environment is mostly:

MERN stack apps (Next.js + NestJS + PostgreSQL + Prisma, Socket.io for real-time stuff)

Python (FastAPI, Pandas, Scikit-learn, Plotly — data analysis/ML pipelines)

Docker (running multiple services simultaneously)

.NET Core with Dapr + SQLite (from a recent internship)

A few LangChain + RAG/FAISS experiments locally

Some recent projects: a Jira-like real-time task tracker (Next.js + NestJS + PostgreSQL), a collaborative notes app, a full-stack data visualization platform with ML insights, a travel companion platform with Gemini/Groq integration, and a Restaurant POS system.

My concerns with the MacBook Air M5:

16GB unified memory — will it choke when I have VS Code + Docker + a browser with 20 tabs + a Node dev server all running at once?

Is 512GB storage enough? Between node_modules, Docker images, and project files it fills up fast.

Any real-world experience running NestJS + PostgreSQL + Next.js dev environments on M-series Macs?

Open to Windows too — what would you suggest under ₹1 lakh (~$1200)?

I'm not a gamer at all (no time for it honestly), so I don't need a gaming laptop — and gaming laptops in this range have their own downsides anyway (chunky build, poor battery life, loud fans). What I need is:

Good CPU + at least 16GB RAM (32GB preferred)

Decent battery life — I move around a lot

SSD storage of at least 512GB

Runs Docker and a full Node/Python dev stack without sweating

No dedicated GPU needed — again, not gaming, not doing local model training

open to suggestions.

Not doing local model training or heavy video editing — purely web/backend development with AI tools in the loop. Would really appreciate input from devs running similar stacks on either platform! 🙏

Hey everyone, just graduated last month (CS grad, June 2026) and considering picking up the MacBook Air M5 base config — 16GB RAM, 512GB storage. Wanted some honest opinions before I pull the trigger.

My workflow: I mostly use Claude for sprint planning and Windsurf / Cursor for actually implementing the code. So my laptop isn't doing heavy local AI inference — I'm offloading the brainwork to the cloud. My local environment is mostly:

• MERN stack apps (Next.js + NestJS + PostgreSQL + Prisma, Socket.io for real-time stuff)
• Python (FastAPI, Pandas, Scikit-learn, Plotly — data analysis/ML pipelines)
• Docker (running multiple services simultaneously)
• .NET Core with Dapr + SQLite (from a recent internship)
• A few LangChain + RAG/FAISS experiments locally

Some recent projects: a Jira-like real-time task tracker (Next.js + NestJS + PostgreSQL), a collaborative notes app, a full-stack data visualization platform with ML insights, a travel companion platform with Gemini/Groq integration, and a Restaurant POS system.

My concerns with the MacBook Air M5:

1. 16GB unified memory — will it choke when I have VS Code + Docker + a browser with 20 tabs + a Node dev server all running at once?
2. Is 512GB storage enough? Between node_modules, Docker images, and project files it fills up fast.
3. Any real-world experience running NestJS + PostgreSQL + Next.js dev environments on M-series Macs?

Open to Windows too — what would you suggest under ₹1 lakh (~$1200)?

I'm not a gamer at all (no time for it honestly), so I don't need a gaming laptop — and gaming laptops in this range have their own downsides anyway (chunky build, poor battery life, loud fans). What I need is:

• Good CPU + at least 16GB RAM (32GB preferred)
• Decent battery life — I move around a lot
• SSD storage of at least 512GB
• Runs Docker and a full Node/Python dev stack without sweating
• No dedicated GPU needed — again, not gaming, not doing local model training

open to suggestions.

Not doing local model training or heavy video editing — purely web/backend development with AI tools in the loop. Would really appreciate input from devs running similar stacks on either platform! 🙏