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Recent Posts
The Third Category: Why Stack Migration ...
June 2, 2026
The 99 Percent Problem
May 26, 2026
When Hammers and Nails Finally Worked
May 19, 2026About This Blog
Written by Jae S. Jung — 30 years building systems, founder of WAM DevTech since 2007. Real lessons from real projects.
June 9, 2026
Putting It Together: Why AI Has Changed Everything About Software Development Except the Need for Developers
After a year of AI work on real client projects, the position is sharper, not softer: the architect mindset matters more than it used to, not less. We still need developers. We just need them doing different work than before. Part 5 of a 5-part series.
June 2, 2026
The Third Category: Why Stack Migration Is Suddenly Worth Doing
Stack migration was rarely a question of whether the work was worth doing. It was whether organizations could afford the timeline and the conviction to commit. AI changes both. The choice between hybrid modernization and full migration is now decided by situation, not by who can be hired or who will be lost. Part 4 of a 5-part series.
May 26, 2026
The 99 Percent Problem
An analysis can be 99 percent accurate about where to make edits and still be wrong about what those edits will do. The risk on brownfield work is not edit accuracy. It is ripple. Part 3 of a 5-part series.
May 19, 2026
When Hammers and Nails Finally Worked
A philosophy held for decades, that with proper planning the rest is just hammers and nails, can finally run uninterrupted. The compression isn't about how fast code gets written. It's about how thoroughly the thinking gets done first. Part 2 of a 5-part series.
May 12, 2026
Where AI Compression Actually Lives
The cost curve has inverted. The bottleneck moved from the keyboard to the blueprint. Part 1 of a 5-part series on AI-accelerated software development.
May 5, 2026
Payload CMS on AWS ECS Fargate — Part 5: Lexical Rich Text on the Frontend
Lexical stores content as a JSON tree, not HTML. The complete production-ready renderer for Astro, the text format bitmask explained, the WHERE query format, and a reusable query builder.
May 4, 2026
The Inefficiencies Were Always There. We Just Looked Away.
AI did not cause the tech layoffs. It made them impossible to keep delaying. A 30-year reflection on the structural inefficiencies the industry tolerated, and what AI actually changed.
April 28, 2026
Payload CMS on AWS ECS Fargate — Part 4: ALB Path-Based Routing
Route traffic between Payload CMS and your Astro frontend using a single ALB. Rule priority ordering, internal URL patterns, and health check configuration.
April 27, 2026
Are We in an AI Bubble? And Would It Be So Bad If We Were?
The bubble question is the wrong question. The right question is whether we choose to see the AI that amplifies people, or the version that replaces them.
April 21, 2026
Payload CMS on AWS ECS Fargate — Part 3: Dockerizing Payload CMS and the importMap Problem
The Docker build succeeds. The container starts. Rich text fields silently disappear. Here's exactly why that happens and how to fix it.
April 20, 2026
I Wanted to Launch a Site Renovation Service. Then I Noticed Something.
Why web development never modeled before committing — and why AI finally closed the gap. The thinking behind WAM DevTech's model-first approach to site renovation.
April 14, 2026
Payload CMS on AWS ECS Fargate — Part 2: RDS Aurora PostgreSQL and Secrets Manager
Set up the data layer. Security groups, Aurora PostgreSQL cluster, dedicated database user, and credentials in Secrets Manager — never in environment variables.
April 13, 2026
What Are We Actually Going to Do With the Time?
AI is breaking the link between hours and output. The question is what we do with the gap.
April 7, 2026
Payload CMS on AWS ECS Fargate — Part 1: Architecture Overview
Before touching the AWS console, understand the full architecture. Every service, why it exists, and what it costs. The mental model that prevents deployment failures.
April 6, 2026
Deploy Payload CMS 3.x with Astro SSR on Railway in 30 Minutes
The fastest path from zero to a running Payload CMS instance. Covers the importMap problem and root layout trap that break deployments silently.
March 25, 2026
The Lego Feeling: What AI Gave Back
After years of managing instead of building, AI gave me back the joy of making things. Not by replacing the work, but by removing the barriers.
March 16, 2026
What Happens When You Apply a Software Methodology to a Government Proposal
Five days. Thirty pages. One person. How the AI collaboration methodology I'd developed on code projects translated to a completely different deliverable.
March 13, 2026
The Blueprint Principle: Why AI Development Finally Makes Planning Worth It
Software development never had blueprints. We jumped from requirements to implementation. AI changes this equation entirely.
March 11, 2026
The Assembly Line Is Coming for Software Development
AI is splitting the developer job in two. The 'figuring out' becomes senior work. The execution becomes fast and cheap.
March 9, 2026
150 Endpoints in 3 Weeks: What AI-Assisted Migration Actually Looks Like
The numbers sound impossible. The work was harder than you think. Here's what AI-assisted migration actually looks like.
March 3, 2026
102 Tasks to 19: What Happens When You Actually Push Back on AI
AI generates fast. Humans have to execute. That gap is where projects fall apart.
March 2, 2026
Who's Going to Buy the Cars?
The AI timeline is negotiated, not predetermined. But negotiated doesn't mean slow.
February 23, 2026
The Craft Paradox: Why the Best Developers Are the Worst at Using AI
When mastery becomes the obstacle. Why experienced developers struggle to let AI do the real work.
February 18, 2026
Why Most Website Redesigns Fail Before They Start
A website redesign isn't one project — it's three. Here's the Three-Layer Methodology that fixes it.
February 16, 2026
The Architect and The Navigator: The Dual Roles of Effective AI Collaboration
AI collaboration requires understanding when to direct and when to explore.
February 9, 2026
I Shipped 3 Months of Work in 2 Weeks. Here's What Nobody Tells You.
The real story behind AI-accelerated development and what actually works.
February 2, 2026
Why AI-Only Development Fails (And What Actually Works)
AI is a powerful tool, but it requires human guidance to deliver real results.
January 14, 2026
Designing Private API Infrastructure for Non-Production Environments
Best practices for secure API development environments.
January 6, 2026
What If APIs Could Just Understand Each Other?
Exploring the future of API interoperability.
January 1, 2026
Remote Stand-Ups: Why the Real Problem Isn't Meetings, It's Lost Alignment
The evolution of software development meetings and how to make them work.
December 29, 2025
Why Aurora PostgreSQL Is the Best Foundation for Modernization
A deep dive into why Aurora PostgreSQL should be your go-to database.
December 22, 2025
REST API Driven React.js Application Using AWS S3, CloudFront, and CodePipeline
Building modern cloud-native applications with AWS services.
December 15, 2025
AI Is Not Killing Programming — It Is Changing What the Role Means
Why software roles and Computer Science are evolving instead of disappearing.
December 8, 2025
Building a Scalable SaaS Operation
How to build the internal structure needed for predictable SaaS growth.
November 24, 2025
A Smarter Way to Build and Release
Our DevOps workflow that keeps teams aligned and releases predictable.
November 17, 2025
Pioneering Without a Map — The Real Journey of Building a Business
What it really takes to build something that lasts.
October 27, 2025
Why the Tech Industry's AI Excuse Is Failing Workers and Society
A critical look at how AI is being used to justify cost-cutting.
October 20, 2025
We're Moving Too Fast with AI and Forgetting the People Behind the Code
The human cost of rushing AI into production.
October 13, 2025
Leading Through Chaos: Turning a Failing Vendor Project into a Functional Team
How to rescue projects that have gone off the rails.
October 8, 2025
Why Aurora PostgreSQL Beats SQL Server in AWS
A technical comparison for cloud database migrations.
October 1, 2025
Navigating ColdFusion Modernization: Tale of Two Projects
Lessons from real-world ColdFusion migrations.
September 16, 2025
AI and the Future of Modernization: From Legacy to Dynamic Systems
How AI is changing the way we approach system modernization.
September 8, 2025
The Future of Programming in the Age of AI: Help More Than Hurt
Why AI will augment rather than replace developers.
September 1, 2025
Why College Costs Have Skyrocketed and Why They May Start Falling
The economics of higher education in the digital age.
August 25, 2025
SQL Server to PostgreSQL Migration: Cost & Scalability
A practical guide to database migration.
August 18, 2025
Post vs Pre Increment Across Languages
A deep dive into a subtle programming concept.
August 11, 2025
Why REST APIs Future-Proof Application Architecture
Building systems that can evolve with your business.
August 4, 2025
Modernizing Without Rebuilding: Using ColdFusion as an Example
How to modernize legacy systems incrementally.
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