Over the last decade or so I have seen a shift from fully self-managed virtual machines to cloud-based containers, and more recently to full serverless deployment models. I’m curious to see where this evolution will take us. Furthermore, I’m looking forward to seeing what the impact of advanced LLMs (large language models) will be on our sector. Both as a ‘coding assistant’ and as a (hopefully not too soon) replacement for developers. Interesting times ahead!

Another aspect that I like about my job is the ability to dig deep into complex issues trying to find the root cause. It sometimes feels a bit like playing a game of Cluedo.

I like to keep up with what’s happening in the development world through various online platforms like Reddit and Hacker News. But I also find it very inspiring to see passionate people talk about their interests or tools, frameworks, and more, which is why, as the backend chapter, we try to visit a developer conference every year. And finally, we also host a monthly internal developer conference within the team to share newly acquired knowledge.

What I enjoy most about my job is the constant variety. Each project introduces new challenges and technologies, so there’s always something new to learn and that’s what keeps me stimulated. Backend development also has a lot of touchpoints with other divisions like analysis and frontend development, which makes for a lot of cooperation with lots of interesting colleagues. Another aspect that I like about my job is the ability to dig deep into complex issues trying to find the root cause. It sometimes feels a bit like playing a game of Cluedo.

Interested in becoming a Backend Developer or working at Verhaert Digital like Karel?