Help me decide between this approach — am I overthinking this? [v3]

Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks.

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. Looking for honest feedback, not validation.

Spent the last few weekends digging into this and the deeper I go the more questions I have. Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go.