Matthew Lang

With a new full-time role, I’m in the process of getting my head around some of the technology choices I’ll be working with and the benefits and drawbacks of each option.

One of those choices is building single-page applications (SPA) with a JavaScript framework for the front-end. I can see why this choice was made, but I’m now weighing up whether it is worth considering for my own projects. With that in mind, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about single-page applications.

I liked Jim Newbury’s article on single-page applications and his point about understanding what you are building.

We ask “What framework should we use for this whole app?” for new products up front, when we don’t even understand what we’re building yet. It’s far less wasteful to ask “What technical approach best supports this user need?” on a case-by-case basis as we learn more about those user needs during incremental product design and development.

— Create your own dysfunctional single-page app in five easy steps by Jim Newbury

Sure your team might be well versed in building single-page applications, but it’s not the best fit for all types of applications. It’s all about finding the right tool for the job.

Ruby on Rails is a good starting point for most of the projects that I work on, but I know it’s not a good fit for other types of projects. For other projects I know I would need to use another set of development tools.

I understand the benefits of using single-page applications, but it’s not a style of application that will yield immediate benefits in my own, smaller projects. I’ll stick with the tried and tested multiple-page application monoliths for now.

During my last few months of job hunting, I was received numerous enquiries from recruiters for positions in startups and recently formed organisations.

Instead of flat-out declining these offers, I would research the organisation first and then make a decision based on their industry, growth and their suggested work culture. I say suggested as you can never tell with a company what they will be like to work for until you start working for them. Based on these findings I found that I always declined to move forward with the application.

The thing about startups is that they are organisations with no track history. They’re young and new, and while that might be an attraction for others, it’s not something that I am looking for in my future career.

I’m looking for to work in an organisation that is tried and tested. They have experience in their sector and they have a steady platform from which to grow from. And it’s not just in an software development that I am looking for this, but further forward into my career as well.

I’m looking into a different career path that while is new to me isn’t a new type of job in itself. This role has been around for decades but is something that I am interested to move into. Time will tell if I can make the move to this new role, but at least I know that it’s something that will be around for years to come.