Then vs Now: What's Changed Since 2023
The tools that make the journey easier today. If I were starting now, here's what I'd use.
AI Coding Assistants
2023: ChatGPT for coding help, copy-paste into editor. 2026: Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI - AI writes code directly in your IDE.
Then (2023)
ChatGPT + TextEdit + copy-paste
Now (2026)
Claude Code writes directly in VS Code
Vector Databases
2023-2024: Weaviate, Pinecone - expensive at scale ($600+/month for my use case). 2026: Supabase pgvector - cheap and good enough.
Then (2023)
Weaviate Serverless ($600+/month)
Now (2026)
Supabase pgvector ($25/month)
AI Frameworks
2023: LangChain from scratch, complex chains. 2026: Many frameworks, templates, and AI can scaffold entire apps.
Then (2023)
LangChain + manual orchestration
Now (2026)
Multiple frameworks + AI scaffolding
Development Speed
2023-2024: Chatbot v1 took 5+ months. 2025: STRAŦUM took 75 days. 2026: DIALØGUE v2 took 14 days. The acceleration is real.
Then (2023)
Months per feature
Now (2026)
Days per complete product
What I'd Do Differently Today
Skip some foundational courses. Use AI coding tools from day 1. Focus on building, not learning. Ship faster.
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