Welcome to this week's Top 7, where the DEV editorial team handpicks their favorite posts from the previous week.

Congrats to all the authors that made it onto the list 👏

@blackgirlbytes walks us through a systematic framework for choosing conference talk topics that actually resonate with audiences. They emphasize mapping your goals, passions, and current trends to create talks that matter, rather than trying to cover everything for everyone.

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@whitep4nth3r challenges the AI productivity narrative, arguing that widespread AI adoption is actually decreasing software delivery performance and meaningful work. She advocates for focusing on human-centered problem solving rather than getting caught up in the tools and "productivity" hype cycle.

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@sebs shares his journey of building a custom project management tool after being fed up with existing solutions that were too complex or missing critical features. His system emphasizes markdown simplicity, multi-dimensional estimation beyond story points, and integrated documentation as first-class citizens.

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@chigbeef_77 demonstrates how to build a complete Minesweeper game in a single day, using it as an excellent learning tool for understanding recursion concepts.

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@rasheedmozaffar reflects on their first 10 months as an entry-level software engineer, sharing valuable lessons about navigating large codebases and understanding "blast radius" of code changes.

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@abhinavshinoy90 recounts a Friday evening disaster where a seemingly harmless CSS variable change caused invisible buttons and 45 minutes of production downtime.

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@wimadev argues for prioritizing functional solutions over perfectionist code cleanup, comparing obsessive refactoring to inbox zero mentality.

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And that's a wrap for this week's Top 7 roundup! 🎬 We hope you enjoyed this eclectic mix of insights, stories, and tips from our talented authors. Keep coding, keep learning, and stay tuned to DEV for more captivating content and make sure you’re opted in to our Weekly Newsletter 📩 for all the best articles, discussions, and updates.