TaskForge

TaskForge is a project I'm building to understand better backend coding practices. It's not the most complex or innovative project out there—it's a simple project management use case—but that's exactly the point.

The Context

I'm part of a team at Philips that vibecodes a lot to produce solutions. We move fast, we use AI tools heavily, and we prioritize getting things done over perfect code. While this approach works well for delivering business value quickly, it has a downside: it can lead to a reduction in core coding skills.

I noticed this happening to me. I was relying more on AI-generated code, more on quick solutions, and less on actually thinking through the architecture and implementation myself. And that worried me.

The Challenge

I treasure my coding skills. I don't want to lose touch with what makes me a good engineer—the ability to write clean code, to design systems thoughtfully, to understand what's happening under the hood.

So I decided to build TaskForge completely from scratch, without using AI. No code generation, no shortcuts. Just me, the documentation, and the fundamentals.

The Focus

The project itself is intentionally simple—a project management system with tasks, users, and basic CRUD operations. But the focus isn't on building something groundbreaking. The focus is on following CLEAN architecture, learning better coding principles, and reinforcing good habits.

I'm paying attention to separation of concerns, dependency injection, proper error handling, and writing code that's maintainable and testable. All the things that get overlooked when you're just trying to ship fast.

The Takeaway

TaskForge is my way of staying sharp. It's a reminder that speed isn't everything, and that the fundamentals matter. It's about preserving the skills that make me a good engineer, even when the day-to-day work doesn't always require them.

Because at the end of the day, I want to be someone who can build anything, with or without AI. And that requires practice, discipline, and projects like this.