u/Glittering_Earth_921

I’ve been working as a hybrid mobile app developer for 5+ years (I wouldn’t really call myself a software engineer), and lately I feel like I’m losing my direction a bit.

2020–2024 was honestly a great journey. I loved development, was constantly learning, and even participated in competitive programming almost daily. Back in 2024, I started preparing to move into backend development. I built a production-level backend app and was hoping to land a full-time backend role in 2025.

But somewhere along the way, I lost the focus. My backend preparation basically stopped. The other day, I suddenly realized I couldn’t even remember how bubble sort works. That honestly scared me more than it probably should have.

For some context, I’m from a developing country and currently work remotely. This is my only job now. But even in 2024, I was juggling a full-time job, a part-time job, and at least one client project. For the last year, I’ve basically done nothing besides my current job.

And I think AI has made this feeling much worse.

I used to see money as a byproduct of my passion for coding. Now I’m struggling to remember the last time I felt genuinely excited about building something meaningful. So much of my daily work is becoming “ask AI, review the output, fix things, move on.”

I’m also getting increasingly worried about the future. Should I continue investing in software development and adapt to the AI era, or should I consider moving toward something adjacent like IoT, data engineering/science, etc.?

Financially, this uncertainty feels much more threatening than it used to.

So I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been in a similar situation. What would you do if you were in my position?

Any advice, roadmap, or even just your thoughts on where software careers are heading would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been working as a hybrid mobile app developer for 5+ years (I wouldn’t really call myself a software engineer), and lately I feel like I’m losing my direction a bit.

2020–2024 was honestly a great journey. I loved development, was constantly learning, and even participated in competitive programming almost daily. Back in 2024, I started preparing to move into backend development. I built a production-level backend app and was hoping to land a full-time backend role in 2025.

But somewhere along the way, I lost the focus. My backend preparation basically stopped. The other day, I suddenly realized I couldn’t even remember how bubble sort works. That honestly scared me more than it probably should have.

For some context, I’m from a developing country and currently work remotely. This is my only job now. But even in 2024, I was juggling a full-time job, a part-time job, and at least one client project. For the last year, I’ve basically done nothing besides my current job.

And I think AI has made this feeling much worse.

I used to see money as a byproduct of my passion for coding. Now I’m struggling to remember the last time I felt genuinely excited about building something meaningful. So much of my daily work is becoming “ask AI, review the output, fix things, move on.”

I’m also getting increasingly worried about the future. Should I continue investing in software development and adapt to the AI era, or should I consider moving toward something adjacent like IoT, data engineering/science, etc.?

Financially, this uncertainty feels much more threatening than it used to.

So I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been in a similar situation. What would you do if you were in my position?

Any advice, roadmap, or even just your thoughts on where software careers are heading would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone! I’m planning pretty early for the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek, but I’m not sure which time of year would be best.

I’m mainly looking for that postcard-type scenery — snow on the ground, clear blue skies, and good views of the mountains. At the same time, I don’t want to deal with extremely deep snow or trek through days of fog/clouds.

Basically, I’m looking for a good balance of snowy trails + clear, sunny weather + good mountain visibility.

For those who’ve done ABC, which month/period would you recommend for this?

I need to buy a laptop for my younger brother, who has just started his first year of LLB.

He says it's mainly for university work (I know how that usually goes 😄), but my goal is to get him something reliable that can last throughout his university life. After graduation, or once he starts earning, he can upgrade to a better laptop himself.

The problem is that my budget is around 30,000 BDT, and I can stretch it to ~35,000 BDT if it's really worth it. In this price range, I'm mostly finding Walton laptops.

So I have a few questions:

• Is there any good new laptop in the 30k–35k BDT range that you'd recommend?
• If I end up buying a Walton laptop, how bad (or good) is it in terms of reliability, performance, and after-sales service?
• Are there any models I should specifically look for or avoid?

A couple of notes:

• I'm not considering a second-hand/refurbished laptop. I've had bad experiences with used laptops before.
• A desktop isn't an option because he needs portability.

I'd really appreciate recommendations from people who have firsthand experience. Thanks in advance!

I need to buy a laptop for my younger brother, who has just started his first year of LLB.

He says it's mainly for university work (I know how that usually goes 😄), but my goal is to get him something reliable that can last throughout his university life. After graduation, or once he starts earning, he can upgrade to a better laptop himself.

The problem is that my budget is around 30,000 BDT, and I can stretch it to ~35,000 BDT if it's really worth it. In this price range, I'm mostly finding Walton laptops.

So I have a few questions:

• Is there any good new laptop in the 30k–35k BDT range that you'd recommend?
• If I end up buying a Walton laptop, how bad (or good) is it in terms of reliability, performance, and after-sales service?
• Are there any models I should specifically look for or avoid?

A couple of notes:

• I'm not considering a second-hand/refurbished laptop. I've had bad experiences with used laptops before.
• A desktop isn't an option because he needs portability.

I'd really appreciate recommendations from people who have firsthand experience. Thanks in advance!

I'm looking for a good Bangladeshi bank/card for international payments, mainly for:

• Facebook/Instagram (Meta) ad boosting
• Hosting and domain renewals
• Other online international transactions

My main concerns are transaction costs and reliability.

From reading various Facebook groups, I've noticed people reporting different experiences with taxes and charges. Some say they're charged both 15% VAT and 15% tax/withholding on international card payments, while others say they only pay one of them. I've even seen a few people claim they aren't charged both in certain cases. I'm trying to understand what actually happens in practice.

I've also been looking at the DBBL Travel Card, but I'm not sure how reliable it is for Meta/Facebook ad payments, as I've heard mixed experiences.

If you're from Bangladesh and regularly pay for Meta ads, hosting, domains, or other international services:

• Which bank/card are you using?
• How reliable has it been for international transactions?
• What taxes, VAT, or other charges do you actually pay?
• Would you recommend it over MTB?

MTB is my primary bank, but I really dislike some of their policies regarding international transactions, so I'm wondering if there are better alternatives without having to overpay on fees and taxes.

I'd really appreciate hearing your real-world experiences before I decide to get another card.

Thanks in advance!

[Posting from Throwaway account]

I’m in my early 30s, and I’ve been working as a developer for around 5 years now.

I started my career in 2020 as a hybrid mobile app developer (Dart-based framework). I landed a decent job, built some really good apps, and a few of them became quite successful—one has 100k+ downloads on the Play Store, and some apps I worked on have 10k+ daily active users. I also did some local freelancing and delivered apps that made clients genuinely happy.

From the outside, it sounds fine. But honestly, I feel like I’ve been an “accidental senior” my whole career.

There was never anyone senior to guide me properly. Nobody really taught me software engineering practices, system design, clean architecture, or even many basic concepts. Most of what I learned came from trial and error, debugging, and just somehow making things work.

A funny (and embarrassing) example: back in 2021, when my first big project launched successfully, I proudly posted about it on LinkedIn. Someone commented asking what state management I used. I got completely confused because… I genuinely didn’t know what “state management” even meant at that time.

Yeah, I’m kind of a peter griffin in real life too.

By the end of 2024, I started feeling frustrated. I wanted to move into one of the "Nami dami" BD tech companies like BS23, Therap, or Vivasoft because I thought maybe there I’d finally get proper mentorship and grow as a real engineer.

Instead, I got a remote job (Alhamdulillah), and honestly, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. My PM and teammates are genuinely strong engineers—people many of you probably know by name. I thought, “Finally, this is where I’ll learn.”

But the irony is, from day one, I was assigned to a legacy project that needed to be rebuilt. I handled it, and now I’ve basically become the keeper of that project. Most of my time goes into maintaining it, so I’m not really learning anything new or growing in the way I hoped.

As for salary, Alhamdulillah, it’s still better compared to many local BD job conditions, so I’m grateful for that. But the increment was much lower than I expected, especially when I compare it with friends at a similar experience level who are earning significantly more.

I’m not saying this only from a money perspective. It’s more about comparing where I stand professionally. Since I don’t feel like I have strong enough skills to demand more, salary becomes one of the few ways I measure whether I’m actually progressing or just staying stuck.

So in 2025, I started thinking maybe backend is the better path.

I keep seeing backend-focused job descriptions with better salaries, and honestly, it feels more aligned with what a “real software engineer” should know. Spending all these years only on the mobile side feels like it cost me a lot.

For example, until recently, I didn’t even know how to properly build a REST API. I’ve learned some basics in the last few months—mostly CRUD stuff—and with AI help I deployed a bookkeeping-type project. But if you ask me what’s really happening under the hood, I honestly can’t explain it clearly.

Now I even see junior backend roles and think: they’re offering half my current salary, but maybe if I join and learn properly, I could surpass that within a year.

So I’m here for honest advice.

As you can probably tell from this post, I feel like I’m behind. I’m a CSE grad, but if you ask me to explain bubble sort right now, I’d probably need to Google it first. Constant use of AI tools has also made me weaker instead of stronger in basics. Recently, my reading block, anxiety, and burnout have been hitting harder and harder.

I want to fix this.

I want to prepare for a proper career and become a proper engineer—not just someone who somehow ships things.

Where do I start?

How did you guys build your foundation?

I’d really appreciate honest suggestions, especially from people who’ve been through something similar.