Not a definitive guide. Just what works for me right now.
Stack
Web — Next.Js and React. No debate here, it's been my go-to for a while and I don't see that changing. Alright I use other programming languages and frameworks like PHP, Spring Boot, Nest.js but those two first are main.
Data / AI — Python and its ecosystem. Still learning, but building real things with it.
Libraries I actually use
- Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui — styling without overthinking it
- Prisma + PostgreSQL + Neon — reliable, typed, and scales well enough for everything I've built so far
- Inngest — background jobs and workflows. Switched from Trigger.dev, much easier to sync locally and in prod via Vercel
- Better-Auth — when I want full control. Clerk when I just want to ship fast
Auth deserves its own article. Choosing between Better-Auth, Clerk and next-auth in 2026 is a whole conversation.
Editors & terminal
Zed is my main editor — fast, clean, no bloat. PyCharm and IntelliJ for Python and JVM stuff when I need proper language tooling.
Terminal is plain bash, with Neovim when I want to feel like a hacker.
Hosting & CI/CD
Vercel — pre-configured CI/CD, analytics, great DX. For everything else, Docker handles containerization when I need a different provider or stack.
GitHub Actions for custom pipelines. Trello for project tracking.
Methodology
Agile — Scrum when working in a team, Kanban when solo. It forces prioritization, which I learned the hard way building my own projects.