QCon London 2026 highlighted the hidden value of boring problems in software engineering, with Yinka Omole, The expert argued that engineers should prioritize fundamental and recurring issues instead of pursuing trending technologies. Essa approach builds lasting expertise and generates sustainable value for organizations, even as tools like AI rapidly advance. The presentation took place during the event in Londres and looked at how seemingly routine problems surpass fleeting trends in long-term impact.
The software engineering profession continues to expand despite recurring predictions of its decline. The number of global developers has gone from about 14 million in 2019 to about 21 million in 2025. Older Previsões, like Herbert Simon in 1965 about machines taking over intellectual tasks or Dario Amodei in 2025 about AI writing the majority of code in a year, have not fully come to fruition. Engenheiros that focus on fundamentals accumulate transferable knowledge between different technologies and industries.
Recurring career-defining problems
Engineers who invest in durable problem classes develop expertise that accumulates over the years. Conceitos such as data modeling, systems reliability, distribution and orchestration of workflows reappear in different contexts. Ferramentas change rapidly, but these fundamental challenges remain stable and enable more robust solutions.
The evolution of technologies like PostgreSQL illustrates this principle. Inicialmente overshadowed by MySQL in the LAMP stack, PostgreSQL gained prominence for prioritizing correctness, transactional guarantees and extensibility. Recursos as full-text search, JSON support, and vector extensions for AI have been incorporated without drastic architectural changes. Essa strategy allowed continuous adaptation to new demands.
Real examples of success focusing on the essentials
WhatsApp demonstrates efficiency in handling billions of daily messages using Erlang, a language developed in the 1980s by Ericsson for high reliability telecommunications systems. Após the acquisition by Facebook in 2014, the platform maintained a reduced team of around 32 engineers. The choice perfectly aligned with the needs of distributed global messaging and avoided unnecessary complexities.
Amazon has revised its video quality analysis architecture in Prime Video. Inicialmente, used a distributed serverless solution with AWS Step Functions and Lambda, but faced latencies due to state transfers. Migrating to ECS with in-memory operations reduced costs by about 90% and doubled throughput. Simplificações therefore prioritize stability and efficiency over technological hype.
Risks of pursuing news without criteria
Complete system rewrites often generate significant losses. The case of Netscape in the 1990s exemplifies this: rewriting the browser took years and prevented the launch of new features at a critical time of competition. The operational knowledge accumulated in edge cases and architectural decisions was lost, resulting in one of the biggest software disasters in history.
The concept of “innovation tokens”, proposed by Dan McKinley, warns of the limited ability of organizations to adopt new technologies. Cada framework or pattern consumes an innovation token. Engenheiros must question whether adoption solves real problems or just follows trends. Gastar tokens carefully preserve resources for issues that really matter.
Fundamentals that resist AI
Core skills such as decomposing complex systems, designing reliable architectures, and evaluating correctness maintain relevance even with AI coding tools. Specific Técnicas evolve quickly, but the ability to understand underlying problems allows you to lead teams and deliver lasting solutions. Engenheiros with solid foundations in fundamentals continues to be in a prominent position.
In payment systems and payroll platforms, recurring patterns involve managing multi-step flows with entities in states such as initiated, processing, approved or rejected. The focus on orchestration and state machines overcomes the reliance on transient tools. Essa perspective reinforces the importance of problems that appear routine but support critical operations.