I'm back at DEV: what changed after 25 years of programming

I have been programming since the beginning of the 2000s. In that time, languages have changed, frameworks have been born and disappeared, the web has matured, and artificial intelligence has left laboratories to enter daily work. I have also changed. When I published my first text here on DEV, in 2024, my profile still showed only part of my journey. After that, I continued building systems, companies, digital products, SaaS platforms, and automations. But I shared very little of this process. I'm back to change that.

Building continues to be my way of learning. Over more than 25 years, I have learned that technology only gains value when it solves a concrete problem. An API is not interesting just because it is well-structured. It is interesting when it allows another product to exist. An automation does not matter just because it saves a few clicks.

It matters when it returns time, reduces errors, and makes an operation more predictable. A SaaS does not sustain itself with just a good stack. It needs to solve a real pain, work in production, and find people willing to use it. This connection between engineering, product, and business is what interests me most today.

What I'm building

Currently, I work on products and experiments that combine development, artificial intelligence, automation, and digital business. Among them are:

GHDevLog — a private hub to receive, validate, and investigate GitHub webhooks in real-time, with a focus on security and traceability;

BibliaAPI — a biblical infrastructure for applications, with REST API, WordPress, mobile app, and SaaS resources;

ClariDados — simple analytics to track visits, origins, pages, and conversions without the complexity of traditional platforms;

Cresça na Fé — a platform of content, studies, and resources focused on spiritual growth;

tools for developers, WordPress plugins, APIs, and new SaaS still in validation.

I have also been studying and applying AI agents, MCPs, workflows, and automations in real situations — not just as demonstrations but as parts of products and operations.

Why I'm back to writing

For a long time, much of my work remained behind the scenes. Many systems belong to clients or are part of private products. However, this does not prevent decisions, standards, and learnings from being shared. I want to use this space to document:

architecture decisions and their trade-offs;

construction and validation of SaaS products;

APIs, webhooks, and secure integrations;

PHP, Laravel, WordPress, and JavaScript in production;

AI agents, MCPs, and applied automations;

Docker, CI/CD, observability, and operation;

errors, changes in direction, and product learnings;

the relationship between code, monetization, and growth.

The intention is not to publish theory distant from practice. I want to write about problems I encountered, solutions I tested, and things I am still trying to understand.

What 25 years of programming have taught me

Some principles have survived all the changes in stack:

The problem comes before the tool. Choosing technology without understanding the need usually produces sophisticated solutions to the wrong problem.

Putting something up in the air teaches more than planning indefinitely.

Building, observing, learning, and improving continues to be a powerful cycle.

Code is just one part of the product. Security, documentation, experience, operation, acquisition, and sustainability are also part of the engineering of something useful.

Simplicity requires experience. It's easy to add layers. It's difficult to remove what doesn't need to exist.

Sharing organizes thought. Explaining a decision forces one to separate conviction, habit, and evidence.

What's next

In the next texts, I intend to open the backstage of the projects I'm building and turn practical experiences into content that other people can test and adapt. Some topics that are already in line:

how to validate GitHub webhooks signatures with HMAC;

architecture decisions for multi-tenant SaaS;

what I learned building an API that serves different products;

where AI agents really help — and where they just add complexity;

automations and tools for the WordPress ecosystem;

how to connect engineering, product, and growth without losing technical focus.

If you work with any of these topics, are building a product, or facing a similar problem, let's talk. I'm back on DEV to share while I build — not after everything seems perfect. Because, after 25 years, one thing remains the same: building is still my way of learning.

Have you also returned to writing after some time? What made you start again?