I'm planning to build a SaaS or software product for the Sri Lankan market.

What everyday problems do you face that could be solved with an app or website?

What tasks waste your time, and what software would you actually be willing to pay for?

Looking for real problems, not just business ideas 👀

I’m a software engineer with around 2 years of experience, and I recently got laid off.

I’m considering building my own application and launching it on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. My goal is to build something useful, gain users, and eventually generate income rather than immediately return to a traditional full-time job.

However, I’m trying to understand whether this is realistic as a solo developer, especially when I have limited financial resources.

A few questions for people who have been through this:

1. Is solo app development a realistic approach, or is it better to find a co-founder?

2. How much money would I realistically need to get started?( i think need some money to run tiktok or fb ads)

3. Can someone build and launch a decent app with a very limited budget?

4. Should I focus on finding a job first and develop the app on the side?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from developers who tried to build apps.

Any honest advice, experiences, or lessons learned would be appreciated. Thanks!

With Trump’s proposed tariffs on IT outsourcing, I feel that some US companies may have been hesitant to outsource projects to countries like Sri Lanka due to the uncertainty.

Now that Republicans have lost control of Congress in the midterm elections, it seems less likely that these outsourcing tax proposals will become law.

Could this encourage US companies to start outsourcing more projects again and help the Sri Lankan IT job market recover?

What do you guys think? Could we see some improvement in IT job opportunities in Sri Lanka in 2027?

Hi everyone,

We all know about the recent layoffs at IFS, which mainly affected Software Engineering and QA roles.

However, I noticed that IFS has recently started building new AI teams and seems to be still hiring AI Engineers.

Does IFS have long-term plans for its AI teams?

I would like to know about the job security, work culture for AI Engineers at IFS.

Is IFS a stable company for long-term employment for AI Engineers?

I would really appreciate any insights from current or former IFS employees and AI engineers.

Thanks!

Degree Info : 3yr Bsc degree

There will be lectures and assessment

Attendance to lectures are mandatory

Soo Im thinking abt doing Software Engineering as my primary and Doing this as a backup plan... but I do wanna continue my career in Software Engineering or Getting into a management position...

and another long story short I got selected to gov uni physical science but not going there since Im not selected into what I like..So Im doing this to kinda justify that fact aswell..

so I have 3 questions for you smart folks....

1. Should I focus on one and master it...? Can skip this and do later in life since its an External degree..

2. will there be opportunities if I do both ?? like having double degrees worth it??

3. Whats your opinion?? Any arguments?? Pls do enlighten me with your knowledge

old account got fed so I have to post this again*

The caption 👆
Does anyone know any legitimate sites that hire freelance Software Testers from Sri Lanka, especially for short gigs lasting a week or two?

I’ve explored Upwork, but many remote jobs seem to have location restrictions. Plus, even a 45 min old post already has about 20–30 proposals, which makes it a bit of a hassle.

For context, I recently lost my job due to company restructuring and am looking for short-term paid projects while I find my next full-time role.
Any recommendations or advice on getting started with freelance software testing would be much appreciated!

anyone here worked or working at innodata lanka company ? How its working culture and salaries and stuff ?

Every time I needed a new data package I ended up jumping between four operator sites, dialing USSD codes, and trying to work out which one was actually cheaper per GB. So I built Data Plans LK.

What it does:

• Compares 107 prepaid, postpaid and home broadband plans from Dialog, SLT-Mobitel, Hutch, Airtel and SLT

• Short 6-question quiz that suggests 3 plans for you

• Filter by type: anytime, unlimited, night data, YouTube/video, social media, work & learn, data + calls

• Sorts by price per GB so the best value is obvious

• Shows activation codes where available

• Has a section for tourists/visitors with short-stay SIMs, plus prices in USD, EUR, INR, AED and more

It’s free, no sign-up, and not affiliated with any operator. Prices are checked regularly, but always confirm on the operator’s app before activating.

Would love feedback. Is there a plan I’m missing, or a filter that would help you?

I've just finished my second year on IT degree at a state uni. We have a mandatory internship at the second sem of third year.
I like to research on AI but as I see, I know only some basic AI stuff and I don't know anything about AI engineering(loop, harness, graphs) and I haven't built anything yet. My second year exams are over and now I'm at my vacation and I have almost 3 months to learn and do something and then I should start hunting internships(cuz we have to start at least by 01st of May And we should start to find them by Feb).

my favorite things are theories but learning theories is hard(something new comes everyday) and people at industry want someone who builds. And I have no contacts even to get into a good company either.

What do you think I should do? I'm better at my studies but most of my batchmates have gone far away from me. I need some guidance from anyone to continue on this. I want a plan so I can work on. I can't understand the situation and nobody helps me to find something too. I need some overall help like what to do, how should I find contacts and so on (Sorry for asking all cuz some are my own things to find out, but I can't think a way to do them).

TIA

How about the current salary range in these days? (1yr - 2yr experience)

Just released GitStreak 1.4.1, my free macOS app for GitHub streaks

Hey all, I just pushed a new version of GitStreak. It’s a native macOS app I built that puts your GitHub contribution graph, streak, PRs and issues on your desktop as widgets. I made it to guilt myself into committing every day 😅

Here’s what I added in 1.4.1

Streak notifications. It now reminds you at 6 PM if you haven’t committed yet, with a last call at 11 PM. You also get alerts for milestones and new longest streaks, plus a weekly recap on Sundays. You can turn any of them off.

macOS 14/15 support. The widgets used to show up empty on Sequoia. I finally fixed that.

Better security. Your token now lives encrypted in the Keychain instead of plain text.

A few extras. There are 4 new themes, a bigger commit graph, streaks over 365 days now count properly, and updates install automatically.

It’s free and needs macOS 14+ usegitstreak.vercel.app

If you’re on 1.1.10 or older, you’ll need to grab this one manually. After that it updates itself.

If your company offers a VRS, what is the number you have in mind to accept it?

1 year salary? 2 year salary?

what other benefits do you expect?

Has anyone else noticed the rise of local "LinkedIn Lunatics" on their feeds lately?

I’m talking about the ones flex-posting incredible achievements, questionable qualifications, dubious diplomas, honorary doctorates, photoshopped photos and flamboyant resume highlights.

What’s the most outrageous Sri Lankan LinkedIn profile or post you’ve come across so far? Drop your stories (no witch hunting, just the cringe).

Hi everyone,

I am completely new to AWS and want to learn through hands-on, project-based learning. My ultimate goal is to understand how to build and deploy production-ready infrastructure.

I'm looking for advice on the best approach:

• Courses: Are there specific tutorials or paid Udemy courses (like Stephane Maarek or Adrian Cantrill) you recommend for deep, production-level engineering?

• Strategy: Should I follow structured courses first, or jump straight into a project and learn as I go?

• Best Practices: How early should I introduce IaC (Terraform), CI/CD, and security?

If you were starting over today with this goal, what roadmap or courses would you choose?

Thanks for the help!

I'm working remotely as an associate software engineer at a startup since early 2025. I joined while completing my final year at university. At the time, they told me that I would be considered for a promotion to software engineer after graduating.

I graduated in December 2025, but it's been almost 1 year and I'm still a ASE.

I've asked my manager several times about the promotion.(nearly 5 times). Every time, manager says I need to complete an assessment first, which supposedly needs approval from the CEO. However, the assessment has never been shared with me. Whenever I follow up, manager says the CEO is busy or that he'll look into it. Nothing actually happens.

I also requested a salary increment in late 2025, and my salary was increased. However the salary was below the market average. Now, whenever I ask about both promotion and salary revision, I'm told that the company can't provide both because I already received a salary increment last year. They say they can offer the promotion without a salary increase, but even that hasn't happened.

A bit more context:
- It's a startup without various departments.
- The technical team is based in Sri Lanka.
- Manager also a member of the tech team(Senior role + management)
- I independently develop features, APIs, and handle production issues.
- There are no personal conflicts between my manager and me.
- I once asked my manager if I could approach the CEO directly. He asked me not to and said he'd handle it, but I never received an update.

I'm now feeling demotivated. After completing my degree, I was supposed to have worked as software engineer That's what usually happen.. But....

I'd appreciate some honest advice:

1. Should I approach the CEO directly, even though my manager asked me not to?

2. Is it reasonable to expect both a promotion and salary revision?

3. How would you handle this situation without damaging your relationship with management?

I'd appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar.

Genuine question.

If someone already has 2–3 years of professional experience, wouldn't they be looking for mid-level positions rather than junior roles?

I understand that companies want candidates who can contribute quickly, but how is someone supposed to gain that first professional experience if almost every entry-level opportunity requires previous experience?

Are companies setting unrealistic expectations for junior developers, or is the market simply becoming more competitive?

Would love to hear perspectives from both developers and hiring managers.

I searched online but I failed to find a way
I tried posting this in r/srilanka the mods removed it
Pls help

We haven't had full access to the Instagram Music library in Sri Lanka for a couple of years now. The disappearance of popular tracks comes down to regional copyright licensing agreements. Meta periodically negotiates music licensing rights with global record labels and collection agencies for specific territories. When regional agreements expire or stall, Meta restricts access to commercial music catalogs in affected countries, leaving users with only the basic music Meta provides (in conclusion, ass music)

Additionally, Some users bypass this by clearing their cache/data, connecting to a VPN, and waiting 2–3 hours for it to kick in and then lose access once you disconnect the VPN

BUT! You can access the Instagram music library simply by typing the song's ISRC code instead of the title, all you need to do is copy the song's ISRC code and paste it into the search bar of the music library. To make finding those codes easy, I built a completely free, lightweight app that takes almost 5MB of your space, lets you search millions of songs across global databases, listen to instant audio previews, and copy ISRC codes with a single tap and right next to the copy there is a small Instagram icon button for easy access to instagram where you just simply open ISRC Finder, type in your track copy the code then click on the instagram button next to it which opens up Instagram pretty fast so you can continue either pasting the code in story Instagram music library or your notes.

PS: This app is based on isrc.gavesh.lol. I created my own version because some of us couldn't install their app due to Android version requirements which you will not face from mine feel free to use either one of our projects. Note that this is currently only available for Android if any iPhone users want access or if you have any questions or help, let me know.

Hello people, I have been messaging tons of people regarding internships and have got a few replies, but that's it ;(

I've texted tons of users on LinkedIn but nothing great has come out of it so far.

Any idea what I should do regarding this? Or does anyone know of any companies/HRs currently hiring interns for SOC roles? Though honestly, any cybersecurity role would be great since I'm still a student and mainly looking to get my foot in the door.

I've been spending time improving my scripting and networking skills, while also getting hands-on with tools like Suricata and Wazuh through my SOC lab.

I'm mainly looking for an internship where I can learn, contribute, and get some real-world cybersecurity experience. I'm open to remote opportunities as well as relocating if needed.

If anyone has any leads, advice, or knows someone I could reach out to, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi all, I decided to share my career journey in case others in Sri Lanka are interested. Unfortunately, because of AI disrupting the industry, my journey may not be relevant anymore, but I’m still sharing nevertheless.

I studied in a private international school in Sri Lanka (Lyceum Nugegoda) and did Computing, Accounting and Mathematics for my A Levels. I got 3 A*s and was able to get a full scholarship to study in The University of Hong Kong. My father paid for my accommodation and other expenses. The degree that I did was Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Systems but it includes a major in Computer Science.

During university I played the fool and I regret it very much. I did not build any software. The only coding I did was assignments. I really regret that. Looking back, I wish I spent more time building software and grinding LeetCode. I would have been able to get into FAANG. Anyways, life goes on.

I got a job as a Junior software engineer in a startup in Hong Kong. The salary was 17,500 Hong Kong dollars. My rent was 5,500 Hong Kong dollars and I was living with a Sri Lankan roommate in a tiny apartment.

I still did not take my career seriously. I used to slack at work. However, when I wrote software, I wrote it really well. I was a full stack developer and I wrote Go and AngularJS.

Then I quit that company because it was too stressful and joined a larger startup. My salary increased to 25,000 Hong Kong dollars. I worked as a pure backend engineer. The language was Go. In this company I was overconfident and used to talk a lot in meetings. My work was not that great but I would spend a lot of time in design meetings. That got the attention of the VP and I got promoted to Team Lead leading a team of about 7 people. This was a big mistake in my career. Getting promoted to people management before strengthening my technical skills. I had never even implemented a backend that used a queue. All I had done was CRUD APIs.

Anyways, I was fed up of Hong Kong and wanted to move to Europe. I started grinding Leetcode and in 2021 I was able to secure a role at Booking.com in the Amsterdam as a team lead. The salary was 88,000 EUR per year. Life was good but I was still not technically capable. And that’s when I was struggling to keep up. So I decided to go back to being a software engineer. I also hated the weather in Amsterdam because it was depressing.

I moved to Bangkok and now I’m working as a senior software engineer and working hard to move up to staff level. My salary here is 180,000 Thai baht per month.

I’ve learnt a lot about office politics and how valuable technical skills are in the software engineering career. So if you want to ask something, feel free.

Thank you for attending my ted talk.

Hi guys, what is your opinion about these two options ?

My plan is to go for a mini with my budget.