Sergii Marushchenko

🌀 What’s really happening in .NET today? We’re not talking hype. This is hands-on insight from someone who just migrated a production project to .NET 8. We spoke with Yahor Halubchyk, a senior .NET engineer at Vention, to get a grounded take on current trends, migrations, and what’s worth paying attention to. ⚙️ .NET 8 has become the default. It’s stable, fast, and LTS-backed. Upgrading from earlier versions is usually a matter of days. As for .NET 9 — most teams are skipping it and waiting for 10, which promises smart memory handling and auto-optimizations for collections and performance. 🧱 Still on .NET Framework? Brace yourself. If your project’s on modern .NET (formerly Core), migration is straightforward. But if you're stuck on .NET Framework 4.8, you're likely looking at a full rewrite. The architecture is different, and most libraries just won’t work out of the box. 🧩 Third-party libraries are the real bottleneck. Yahor put it simply: “If you're on the standard Microsoft stack, migration is smooth. But if you’re using MongoDB, niche ORMs, or older open-source packages, expect to dig through source code and open GitHub issues.” 📉 Blazor and Razor? Still niche. They’re rarely used in production. React and Angular dominate the frontend. Blazor might work in edge cases, like when sensitive business logic has to stay server-side, but it’s not the go-to. 🤖 AI + .NET: not just buzz — it’s useful. GitHub Copilot struggles with complex logic. But GPT-4? Surprisingly solid. Yahor’s team uses it to generate SQL queries, unit tests, and advanced search logic, especially when given proper context. 🧠 .NET itself? It’s more than a language — it’s an engineering mindset. Think architecture, optimization, concurrency. The learning curve is steep, but so are the opportunities. As Yahor puts it: “If you have real experience, you can jump straight into a project and deliver. For juniors, we offer solid growth.” 📌 We're hiring: 🔹 Senior .NET Developer — https://lnkd.in/digGyN3s 🔹 Intern .NET — https://lnkd.in/dqAM8NPQ

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I guess most of you don’t know this 🚨 If you ever thought: "It would be nice to have transparent and honest salary data for engineers in Ukraine" - here are the common options: you may Google it, guess it , or trust hiring agencies (don’t do that 😅). But most people miss the one source that actually matters - DOU, the largest Ukrainian tech community. How to check real salary data in 2 minutes: 1. go to DOU → Salaries (DOU is Ukrainian by default → switch the interface language to English in the footer) 2. pick the role 3. choose the level (Junior / Middle / Senior / Lead) 4. select the stack 5. pick location 6. add optional filters: company size, English level, employment type, etc. 7. read the results: median, 25–75th percentiles, trend line 8. always check sample size & latest month - small samples lie Now you have a real market picture. Not a pitch. Not a guess. Actual data from the Ukrainian tech market 🇺🇦 Why this matters: • faster offers • fewer renegotiations  • clear salary bands your team actually accepts 📌 A few pro tips: ✓ normalize currency (USD vs UAH) ✓ adjust for taxes & fees - many engineers work via FOP (aka Private Entrepreneur / Sole Proprietor) ✓ consider remote uplift for cross-border roles ✓ refresh the data quarterly - the market isn’t static If you want a custom salary analysis for your stack & levels - DM me or grab a Calendly slot (https://lnkd.in/e5BHDSpg). We’ll map data specifically for your needs! 🙌

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Test in Ukraine: A Rare Opportunity for Defence Tech Startups On 1 August, Ukraine’s defence-tech accelerator Brave1 launched its ‘Test in Ukraine’ initiative and already, 45 international companies have applied to participate. Why does this matter? Because for founders in Defence x AI startups, this is one of the few environments in the world where innovations can be tested in live operational conditions and refined with direct frontline feedback. Most applicants so far are building UAVs, UGVs, communications, and navigation tools, but the scope is much broader: 🔹 Counter-UAS & naval drones 🔹 AI & machine learning applications 🔹 Electronic warfare & signals intelligence 🔹 Even propulsion, navigation, and missile tech As Brave1’s Andrii Hrytseniuk put it: this gives foreign companies a rare chance to test products in real conditions and quickly improve based on practical insights. For founders, this is both an opportunity and a challenge: Opportunity → Test, iterate, and gain credibility in one of the most demanding environments. Challenge → Ensuring your solution can survive the scrutiny of real-world combat and deliver meaningful impact at scale. 👉 If you’re building in this space, don’t think of this as just another pilot programme, think of it as a stress test for your entire business model. As someone who works with defence-tech and AI startups on go-to-market and hiring strategies, I see this as a pivotal chance for companies to prove both their tech and their teams. 💬 Question for founders: If your product was tested tomorrow on the frontlines, would it pass the test?

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Stop just "logging" and start observing. As your Symfony applications scale—handling payments, async workers and high-concurrency—the standard dev.log tail quickly becomes a liability. A Senior Developer knows how to log. A Lead Engineer knows how to design a logging infrastructure that saves hours of forensic work during an outage. I just published a new article - 10 Advanced Logging Patterns for Symfony 7.4 using Monolog 3 and modern PHP features. We cover: ✅ The "Black Box" Recorder - Using FingersCrossed to capture debug logs only when a crash occurs. ✅ GDPR Compliance - Automatically redacting sensitive data (PII) at the processor level. ✅ ChatOps - Bridging Monolog with Symfony Notifier for instant Slack alerts. ✅ Structured Observability - Native JSON formatting for ELK and Datadog. Logging isn't a byproduct of code - it’s a feature of your infrastructure. Read the full guide and GitHub repo: 👉 [https://lnkd.in/dT-MbGHT] 👉 [https://lnkd.in/dGWM6RHf] #Symfony #PHP #WebDevelopment #SoftwareArchitecture #Monolog #Observability

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📈 Staying Ahead in .NET Development: 10 Key Focus Areas As a recruiter who works closely with .NET and C# professionals every day, I'm always on the lookout for valuable content that helps developers stay ahead in their careers. I recently came across this article: "10 Key Resolutions to Master .NET Development in 2025" by Jignesh Kumar and it's packed with practical insights. Whether you're a junior dev or a seasoned engineer, this article outlines powerful ways to grow your .NET expertise: ✅ Stay current with .NET 6/7/8 and ASP.NET Core ✅ Dive deeper into C# and advanced features ✅ Master Entity Framework Core and TDD ✅ Understand microservices, cloud (Azure/AWS/GCP), DevOps practices ✅ Get involved in open-source and tech communities ✅ And most importantly – commit to continuous learning 📚 💬 If you're a .NET developer, which of these goals are you focusing on? If you're exploring new opportunities in .NET/C#, feel free to connect. I'd love to chat about how I can support your next move. Full article: https://lnkd.in/e9nmXQ3c #DotNet #CSharp #ASPNetCore #EntityFramework #DevOps #Microservices #TechRecruiter #SoftwareDevelopment #Hiring #ContinuousLearning

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“AI increases developer productivity… But not all the time, and not for everyone.” That line from Yegor Denisov-Blanch at the AI Engineer Summit really stuck with me. Yes, AI is a powerful tool—but its impact depends heavily on context: 🧠 Task complexity 📦 Codebase maturity & size 📈 Language popularity 🧩 Available context length This is a reminder that AI isn’t magic—it’s leverage. Sometimes it accelerates; other times it overwhelms. For tech recruiters, this means asking: → How does the candidate use AI in messy, real-world code? → Do they know when not to use it? For engineers, it’s about learning to treat AI as a partner—one that works best when you know the terrain. AI won’t replace good devs. But good devs who learn to use AI wisely? They’ll outperform the rest. #AIEngineering #DeveloperProductivity #TechRecruitment

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Yesterday under my post 🤟 Kamil Kiełbasa mentioned Vertical Slices Architecture. So let's take a closer look into it. You need to change a single field in a feature. How many files do you have to touch? An api endpoint, a service, a repository, a DTO, maybe more? That's a lot of jumping around. 😫 This is a classic symptom of organizing code by technical layers. There is a better way. Vertical Slice Architecture (VSA) flips the traditional layered approach on its head. Instead of grouping related files by what they *are* (e.g., "all controllers here"), you group them by what they *do*. Everything needed for a single feature, the API endpoint, the business logic, the data access, lives in one place. A single "slice." Your folder structure becomes a map of your application's features. With that approach you are getting: * High Cohesion: Code that changes together, lives together. * Low Coupling: Slices are independent. Changing one feature is far less likely to break another. * Faster Development: Less context switching and file navigation. You can focus on the feature at hand. It's a more direct and intuitive way to build and maintain applications. ⚡ Have you tried Vertical Slice Architecture? What was the biggest benefit you noticed? 👇 #DotNet #CSharp #SoftwareArchitecture #WebApi #VerticalSliceArchitecture

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I'm happy to share that PHP Magazin published my article on PHP Best Practices for Production! Over the years, I've seen countless PHP projects slow down or fail due to avoidable architectural and operational decisions. In this piece, I share: - Practical advice for scaling PHP applications - Common pitfalls I see in real-world audits - A modern checklist for running PHP in production efficiently It’s based on lessons learned from profiling hundreds of apps, and it’s aimed at helping teams avoid performance traps early. Read the full article (in German): https://lnkd.in/e7u5K7aa Would love to hear your thoughts or feedback!

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On Tuesday I gave a presentation about Rediscovering Legacy Code at Java Forum Nord. We had so much fun in the Q&A afterwards that we went quite a bit overtime. The hardest question was "I want to fix it but how do I change my project/team/department?" Let's try to answer that. How do I change a team? I like to adapt the model from Atomic Habits, a book about personal improvement. It introduces the four laws of behavior change: 1. (cue) Make it obvious. Explicitly define what the new habits should be.  2. (craving) Make it attractive. Reduce (time) pressure. Stack habits together. Define that you will only "Do (Implement a feature), after I have done (10min of refactoring)". 3. (response) Make it easy. Learn the skills, perhaps from a coach. Reduce/eliminate the blockers of the new habit. If you don't have a good test example, create one. If classes are untestable, change them. 4. (reward) Make it satisfying. Provide immediate reward. Keep a (refactoring/bug) score. Increases the chance that the behavior will be repeated. You can use these laws of behavior change on yourself first. Especially "make it easy." If you can turn something hard into something easy, you now have enough of a foundation to change the team with "Fearless Change". The book introduces a set of patterns to introduce new ideas. * Personal Touch: "To convince people of the value in a new idea, show how it can be personally useful and valuable to them" > Maybe the most important one. * Early Adopter: "Win the support of the people who can be opinion leaders for the new idea." > This can be someone experienced who is generally open to new ideas. * External Validation: "To increase the credibility of the new idea, bring in information from sources external to the organization." > Show what the benefit of the change is. * Champion Skeptic: "Ask for Help from strong opinion leaders, who are skeptical of your new idea, to play the role of 'official skeptic.' Use their comments to improve your effort, even if you don’t change their minds" > Useful later, when you have early adopters already.  * Corridor Politics: "Informally work on decision makers and key influencers before an important vote to make sure they fully understand the consequences of the decision." > Do not bring up controversial ideas in big team meetings. Warm opinion leaders to the idea beforehand, address their criticism and they will come to your aid in the meeting.  * Trial Run: "When the team is not willing to commit to the new idea, suggest that they experiment with it for a short period and study the results."

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Thoughts on the Future of the German Software Market Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed a clear shift in the number and type of developer openings across the German software market. Traditional backend roles are becoming less prominent. In their place, there’s growing demand for expertise in AI, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity. This shift seems to be driven by: -The rise of AI tools automating previously manual development tasks -Nearshoring and outsourcing of engineering work -A strategic push by many companies toward greater efficiency, speed, and innovation But backend roles aren’t disappearing — they’re becoming more specialized. Hiring managers I speak to are shifting their requirements and looking for: -Java + industry expertise (finance, e-commerce, logistics) -Framework fluency (Spring Boot, Kafka, Kubernetes) -Cloud-native development experience Meanwhile, AI is creating entirely new opportunities for developers who know how to work with it, not against it: -Using AI-assisted coding tools like Copilot -Building or integrating with LLM APIs -Applying AI in real-world, practical ways German companies still need strong developers — especially those who speak the language, understand local context, and can adapt to new technologies. Personally, I reckon it’s not always about fewer developers. It’s about different ones. The profile is evolving. What are you seeing out there? Are you adapting your hiring or career strategy around these changes? #AI #SoftwareDevelopment #Recruiting #GermanyTech #TechTrends #Java #Nearshoring #CloudComputing #Cybersecurity #Hiring

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𝗔𝗺𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗿, 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Since the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war:  • 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 56 𝘎𝘞 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 9 𝘎𝘞.  • 𝘈𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 64% 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 25 𝘎𝘞, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥. But Ukraine is fighting back. The country’s largest energy provider, DTEK, has partnered with Fluence to design, develop, and commission a new 200 MW BESS portfolio across six sites. These facilities will store enough energy to power 600,000 homes for two hours, boosting grid resilience and helping to reduce rolling blackouts. It's inspiring to see how critical grid-scale energy storage is, even in wartime, supporting both energy security and national recovery. #BESS #EnergyStorage #Fluence #DTEK 

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