Recommendations for pros and cons after a year

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. Posting this here because the relevant subreddit has gotten too noisy lately. Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard.

Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. Posting this here because the relevant subreddit has gotten too noisy lately. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not.