Setlist

AI coding assistants promise a 10x productivity boost, but the reality is far more complex (and dare I say, interesting). This talk goes into the “productivity placebo” we discovered while refactoring our create-supertokens-app CLI with an AI pair programmer (or more precisely, all of the popular ones). We’ll explore the “70% problem”: how AI gets you most of the way there with dazzling speed, leaving you to navigate the treacherous final 30% of edge cases, bugs, and architectural alignment. Forget the hype; this is a practical “this-is-what-we-did-wrong-so-you-don’t-have-to” for taming your AI assistant, transforming it from an unreliable shortcut which may work if you “hold it right” into a useful sidekick.

Also presented at WITCon Skopje 2025 and TechOn! Krakow.

A Hands-On Guide to Astro, Pocketbase, SolidJS & Tailwind. Ever wondered what powers the website and platform behind WhatTheStack? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll pull back the curtain and build a real-world feature for the WhatTheStack conference website itself! We’ll explore the modern, lightweight, and developer-friendly stack it’s built on: Astro for a blazingly fast frontend, Pocketbase for a simple yet powerful backend, SolidJS for sprinkling reactive interactivity, and Tailwind CSS with DaisyUI for rapid styling. This session is perfect for developers curious about the modern web who want to go from zero to a deployed, dynamic feature in just three hours. You’ll leave with a working project, a clear understanding of how these technologies fit together, and the confidence to build your own performant web applications.

Metaframeworks: you’re probably using one already and may or may not love the experience – but what if I told you they aren’t rocket science? In this talk, we’re ditching the buzzwords and over-complication to build one from scratch. Armed with Vite for the front-end, a modern UI framework, a bunch of off-the-shelf-parts readily available on NPM and a healthy dose of curiosity, we’ll piece together the routing, rendering, and all the essentials you’ve been letting metaframeworks handle for you. Expect a crash course in understanding the tech you use every day. By the end, you might just be asking: “Should I just roll one myself?” And no, you probably shouldn’t. But it’s sure fun building one and understanding what makes them tick.

Also presented at GameOfCodes (Niš, Serbia) and BeerJS Skopje.

“Future proof your UI: Building with web components” is a talk about web components, their original promise… and their not-so-great (IMO) developer experience. Comparing web components to other modern tools (think JSX), we’ll bridge the gap between the two and see how we can use web components in a modern way… using Solid.js. The talk wraps up with a demo of building web components using solid-element, and integrating the compiled web components in a framework of the audience’s choice.

Also presented at React Day Berlin, ArmadaJS, CityJS Athens, and WebExpo.

The recording of the talk is available on YouTube. The slides for the talk are available here.

“Panel for the Future: What’s next?” is a panel discussion where we discussed the current state of tech, and what we think the future holds given the current trends and latest developments in AI.

“The UNIX Way: Because You Only Need One Acronym to Rule Them All” is a talk about the UNIX philosophy, and how it can help you build better software, faster. Before we had DRY, SOLID, YAGNI, and all the other acronyms, there was the UNIX philosophy. The talk is a mix of history, philosophy, and practical examples of how you can apply the UNIX philosophy in your daily work (and how the many modern acronyms we use are directly influenced by the UNIX philosophy). The slides for the talk are available here.

This talk is a collaboration with Boro Sitnikovski, a DevEx Engineer at Automattic.

“State of the Stacks #1: Return of the Server” is a panel discussion dealing with a simple question - Feeling like we’ve overdone it with the front-end? With the rise of static site generators, the JAMstack, stuff like HTMX, BFFs, metaframeworks, and the general return of server-side rendering, it’s time we had a chat about where we went wrong with the over-reliance on the client-side, why we got there and how we can get back to a more balanced approach. The recording of the panel is available here.

“Web standards: neat HTML tricks you probably haven’t heard about” is a talk about web standards - whether you’re writing PHP, JS, or something else, creating applications with React, or making pages in WordPress, there is one thing that is common to all - the web platform. Before the result of our work reaches the users, it ends up as HTML, CSS, and JS. In this presentation, we will focus on HTML and explore some interesting (js-less or low-js) tricks it offers. Slides for the talk are available here.

“Stepping Beyond Themes: Embracing Headless WordPress” is a talk about the evolution of WordPress, and how you can use it as a headless CMS. The success and widespread adoption of WordPress is undeniable, with its expansive ecosystem of themes driving the look, feel, and functionality of countless websites. This ecosystem, however, has its own set of constraints coming from its deeply integrated nature.

What if we could break these boundaries without compromising the strengths that make WordPress a CMS favorite? Enter Headless WordPress - this approach uses the WordPress as an API, allowing for modern front-end developments using tools like React, for example. Additionally, it allows integration with various platforms and publishing solutions. The beauty of all this? Content creators and editors can keep (most of) their familiar WordPress tools. The slides for the talk are available here.

This talk is a collaboration with Boro Sitnikovski, a DevEx Engineer at Automattic.

“The importance of being part of a community as a developer” is a panel discussion where we discussed the importance of being part of a community as a developer, and how it can help you grow as a professional in the software industry. We shared our experiences, and how being part of a community has helped us in our careers. We also discussed how you can get involved in a community, and how (and why) you can start your one of your own.

“Return of the Web: Use the Platform, Developer” is a NOT a talk about the web platform. Well, it is, but it’s more about how moern tools embrace or fight the web platform. Halfway through the talk, we switch gears to Astro, as a shining example of a tool that embraces the web platform. The talk wraps up with a demo of what Astro is capable of.

The recording of the talk is available on YouTube. The slides for the talk are available here.

“Tomorrow’s Web Today: A Front-End Developer’s Guide” is a talk and part of a panel discussion, where we discussed the current state of the web platform, and what we think the future holds for web developers. We covered some of the latest web technologies, and how they can be used today, to build better, faster, and more accessible web experiences. The slides for the talk are available here.

“DevEx for the rest of us: Building Bridges in DevRel and DevEx for Everyone” is an intro to Developer Experience (DevEx) and Developer Relations (DevRel), why they exist, and how they can help you build better products and culture within companies. This talk was designed with the purpose of introducing the concepts of DevEx and DevRel to a wider audience, especially in a geography where there is an active IT industry but not much awareness of these professions. The talks is a collaboration with Boro Sitnikovski, a DevEx Enngineer at Automattic. The recording of the talk is available here. The slides can be found here.

We also did a longer version of this talk at WordPress Meetup Skopje #31 (slides here).

“WordPress as an API” is a talk about headless WordPress, and how you can use an existing WordPress site as a backend, via its REST API, and integrate it with Astro. This talk covers a specific scenario where you’re “stuck” with WordPress, but the needs of the project have evolved beyond what WordPress can offer (easily). The slides for the talk are available here.

I also have a variation of this talk with the WordPress part left out, which I did at one of Software Sauna’s meetups. The slides for that talk are available here.

“Solid.js - The React we never had” is a talk about Solid.js - a declarative JavaScript library for building user interfaces. The talk will cover the basics of Solid.js, its features, and how it compares to React. The talk also included a live coding session in which I built a simple application using Solid.js. The slides for the talk are available here.

“Teaching the browser how to chat: building an offline capable chatbot in the browser” is a talk about basics of NLP and some of the elementary concepts for building offline-capable chatbots in the browser. The talk wrapped up with a demo of the chatbot for which we also built a a few skills for on stage. There is a recording available on YouTube and the slides are available here.