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About

Ten years, one throughline.

I learned this craft the long way and kept the instincts. What changed is the leverage — and what I choose to still write by hand.

0+

Years building

0

Companies & own brand

0

Skill groups

The story

Chathura J Ekanayake — portrait

Based in

Kandy, Sri Lanka

Role

Software Developer

Focus

Full-stack · AI automation · WordPress

Working since

2010

Dynamicanddetail-orientedsoftwaredeveloperwith10+yearsofexperienceinfull-stackdevelopment,AIautomations,WordPressengineeringandsystemadministration.

Known for strong interpersonal skills, adaptability and leadership in collaborative development environments. Adept at translating business needs into robust digital solutions, with a genuine appetite for emerging technologies and scalable architectures.

I've led teams of developers, owned technical direction on client engagements, and personally delivered 50+ production websites and systems under my own brand, Digitix365.

How I build

Ten years in the IDE. Now the IDE works for me.

2010 — 2022

Hand-written, line by line

editor.tsx

1public class Library {

2 private List<Book> books;

3 public void checkOut(User u) {

4 // every line by hand

5 }

A decade of writing everything manually in the IDE — Java, PHP, Python, JavaScript. Console apps, Laravel school management systems, MERN platforms, WordPress plugins from an empty file. Slow, but it built the instinct for how software actually fits together.

IDE-firstRead the sourceDebug by reasoningNo shortcuts
Step 1
2023

The workflow flipped

prompt

❯ build the booking flow, ACF-backed

·reading schema…

·drafting 3 files…

·ready for review

AI stopped being a novelty and became the fastest path from intent to working code. I rebuilt how I work around it — prompting, reviewing, and steering models instead of typing every character myself.

AI-assistedPrompt as specReview over recallFaster loops
Step 2
2024 — now

AI-first, manual fallback

review.diff

+ const rate = useLiveRate(region)

+ if (!rate) return fallbackRate

- const rate = 1.0 // hardcoded

// ↑ AI draft — accepted

// ↓ edge case, written by hand

Today AI handles the majority of my use cases — scaffolding, boilerplate, refactors, automation logic, first drafts of whole features. I drop back to manual coding exactly when it earns its keep: gnarly edge cases, performance-critical paths, architecture decisions and anything the model gets confidently wrong.

AI does the volumeI own the architectureManual where it mattersShip faster, review harder
Step 3

In practice

Old-schoolIDEcoderbytraining,AI-firstbypractice.IuseAIforthemajorityofmyday-to-daydevelopmentandfallbacktohand-writtencodeonlywhentheproblemgenuinelycallsforit—whichmeansIstillread,reviewandowneverylinethatships.

Next.jsTypeScriptReactTailwind CSSFramer MotionNode.jsFastAPIPythonPHPWordPressElementorn8nMake.comOpenAI APIDockerLinuxMySQLMongoDBPostgreSQLRedisSolidityScikit-LearnVercelGitHub ActionsNext.jsTypeScriptReactTailwind CSSFramer MotionNode.jsFastAPIPythonPHPWordPressElementorn8nMake.comOpenAI APIDockerLinuxMySQLMongoDBPostgreSQLRedisSolidityScikit-LearnVercelGitHub Actions

Toolkit

The stack behind the work.

Ten years of accumulated tooling — from the Java and PHP I learned by hand to the AI workflows that now do most of the typing.

How it gets built now

AI pair programmingPrompt-driven scaffoldingn8n workflow automationMake.com scenariosOpenAI APIChatGPT auto-publishing pipelinesAI code reviewManual fallback when it matters

The fundamentals I still fall back to when AI gets it wrong.

JavaJavaScriptTypeScriptPythonPHPCC++Solidity

Journey

Where the ten years went.

Full CV with every detail

Rope Digital

Current

January 2026 — Present · Sri Lanka — Remote

Software Engineer

Jan 2026 — Present

    Code94 Labs (Pvt) Ltd

    Current

    February 2022 — Present · Remote — Sri Lanka

    Lead Web Developer

    Jan 2024 — Present
    • Lead a team of developers, managing project timelines, deliverables and technical direction.
    • Own project analysis, system architecture design and technical research to support scalable web solutions.
    • Integrated external APIs into the WordPress ecosystem and implemented workflow automation using Zapier and n8n.
    • Oversee complex WordPress customisations, ensuring seamless performance across concurrent projects.
    • Developed and enforced coding standards and best practices, improving code quality, maintainability and team efficiency across multiple projects.

    Senior Web Developer

    Feb 2023 — Dec 2023
    • Customised Elementor and developed advanced WordPress themes and plugins tailored to client needs.
    • Handled API integrations and supported backend enhancements within the WordPress ecosystem.
    • Conducted project analysis and feasibility studies to propose optimised technical solutions.
    • Collaborated closely with designers and stakeholders to translate UI/UX requirements into high-quality, responsive and scalable web interfaces.

    Web Developer

    Feb 2022 — Jan 2023
    • Gained practical experience in full-stack TypeScript development by helping build a complete MERN stack food catering system (MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js).
    • Contributed to debugging, testing and performance improvements across various client projects.
    WordPressPHPTypeScriptReactNode.jsElementorREST APIn8nZapier

    Terratecma (Pvt) Ltd

    August 2021 — February 2022 · Remote — Norway

    Associate Software Engineer

    Aug 2021 — Feb 2022
    • Full-stack development with Django and Laravel — built custom modules and optimised SQL queries.
    • Gained hands-on experience in WordPress plugin development and deepened knowledge of the WordPress ecosystem and its advanced features.
    • Built a school management system from scratch using the Laravel framework, working across both backend and frontend and contributing to system architecture and performance improvements.
    • Implemented automated testing and debugging workflows to enhance code reliability and reduce regression issues across multiple projects.
    DjangoLaravelPHPPythonMySQLWordPress

    Yomboc

    March 2021 — August 2022 · Remote — Sri Lanka (Thissa Jananayake)

    Software Engineer Intern

    Mar 2021 — Aug 2022
    • Hands-on experience with Django, Firebase and cross-platform integration.
    • Developed and integrated an online learning platform for Mr. Thissa Jananayake's Sipsuru online classes, customising a Moodle-based system to meet specific educational requirements.
    • Gained initial exposure to WordPress development and design, becoming familiar with the ecosystem and its best practices.
    • Worked with Elementor to build and design WordPress websites.
    DjangoFirebaseMoodleWordPressElementor

    Digitix365 — Freelance

    Current

    January 2010 — Present · Kandy, Sri Lanka — Remote worldwide

    Software & Web Developer — own brand

    Jan 2010 — Present
    • Developed websites and systems across many sectors, specialising in WordPress, plugin development and server deployments.
    • Built advanced AI automation workflows using n8n and Make.com.
    • Created a WordPress auto-publishing system integrated with the ChatGPT API for content creation, image generation, SEO optimisation, drafting and publishing.
    • Used Python (FastAPI) and JavaScript to implement advanced backend logic in automation workflows.
    • Continuously experimented with different automation techniques and tools, and studied blockchain development as part of a university project.
    • Delivered 50+ freelance WordPress projects under my own brand, Digitix365.
    WordPressn8nMake.comFastAPIPythonOpenAI APINext.jsLinux

    Education

    Sep 2020 — Dec 2024

    BSc. (Hons.) in Information Technology

    Specialisation in Cyber Security

    Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT)

    2018

    GCE Advanced Level

    Physical Science Stream

    Dharmaraja College — Kandy