About

DevPlainly publishes practical, in-depth guides for developers who want to get more done with AI tools, write better software and run their own infrastructure — explained plainly, without filler.

Hi, I'm Nil Martinez

I started programming in high school. A family friend who works in the industry told me I had a knack for it and that I should get into it as early as I could. I took that advice seriously, and I have been building things ever since.

Today I'm studying for my vocational qualifications in Multiplatform Application Development (DAM) and Web Application Development (DAW). Day to day I work with Java, JavaScript and TypeScript, Angular and React on the frontend, Python and FastAPI on the backend, MySQL for data, and Docker for practically everything else.

The project I'm proudest of so far is an application for managing employee leave and permission requests: an Angular frontend with an Express backend, with the user interface covered by end-to-end tests written in Playwright. Building it taught me more about real-world requirements, testing and maintainable code than any exercise could.

My daily driver is Kubuntu — I like being able to customize every corner of my desktop — and nearly every project I touch runs in Docker containers, from databases to complete development environments. That is the setup I use to try out what I write about here.

Why I started DevPlainly

I was tired of tech articles that were generic, badly explained, or written about topics nobody actually needed. Too often a tutorial skips the one step that matters, or stops working the moment you try it on your own machine. DevPlainly is my attempt at the opposite: focused guides on things developers really run into, explained in plain language, with commands and code that actually work.

How I write

I use AI assistants for research and first drafts, the same way many developers use them for code. I then check the content against official documentation and edit it before it goes live.
Commands and code samples are run on my own setup (Kubuntu and Docker) wherever it allows. Some topics, like running a VPS or a Raspberry Pi, are researched guides based on official documentation rather than my own long-term use.
When I share something from my own experience, it is marked with a From my experience note, so you always know what is first-hand.
Articles show a publish date and, when revised, an update date. If something stops working, I fix the article instead of leaving it stale.
I link to official documentation and primary sources so you can verify everything yourself.

Away from the keyboard

I'm a pretty normal guy: I play video games, and I meet up with friends whenever we manage to agree on a plan — which, between exams and everyone's schedules, is its own optimization problem. Unsurprisingly, I'm also the one in the group who gets asked to fix everyone's computer.

Independence and funding

The site is free to read and is supported by display advertising. Advertisers have no say in what I write, and I don't accept payment for reviews or rankings. If I ever include sponsored content or affiliate links, they will be clearly labeled. See the disclaimer for details.

Get in touch

Found a mistake, or have a topic you would like covered? Send me a message — corrections are always welcome. You can also find my code on GitHub.