i don't really get this. WP is just a tool like any other framework, library, etc. i can code... doesn't mean i have to write my own http library instead of just using requests/niquests. doesn't mean i have to roll my own backend to serve an API instead of just using FastAPI/Flask. likewise, i can hand-code a site or i can just use WP/Django/etc. i can roll my own UI library or just use React. imo what's important is your time vs money. this kinda thing is like getting bogged down in what kind of scaffolding to use for a building instead of getting the building made, the doors opened, and business going. reinventing wheels for the sake of reinventing wheels feels like engineering masturbation. i prefer to focus on building using whatever tools are available so i can get to the goal of project completion asap.
Talk to people who built Google and planes. I'm out of this discussion as I see the level of skill in this discussion doesn't exceed what I knew when I was 13 year old. Being a greedy bastard has its drawback that one day you may not notice how other greedy bastards may use one's greediness to their advantage. Basically a lot of people get wrecked with their own "weapon". A lot of those tools are weaponized against you - the "free stuff". Nobody does free stuff. Free stuff that does everything for us is usually a gateway to hell, but hell lasts for ages like 30% of your lifetime or your whole life. You won't feel consequences of certain decisions immediately. You need months, years and sometimes you realize that when you die.
With languages like Python and libraries such as pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, and TensorFlow, you can do some serious number crunching. This is huge for businesses looking to gain insights from their data or implement predictive models. WordPress plugins just can't compete here.
Need to automate a complex business process? A custom Python script can interact with APIs, databases, and file systems in ways that a WordPress site simply can't. Sometimes your business logic is too complex or unique for off-the-shelf solutions. Writing your own algorithms allows you to implement exactly what you need.
When you need to squeeze every ounce of power out of your system, nothing beats low-level programming. Think C++ for computationally intensive tasks. For complex visualizations or simulations, you might need to use OpenGL with C++ or Python, which goes way beyond what's possible in typical web frameworks.
Yeah, you can use Ahrefs to get data, but you'll be operating on vanity metrics which is basically lying to yourself and getting yourself stuck with bad computer data. It doesn't work in black hat space, so you can just quit black hat and go straight to white hat, cause there's not much black hat you can do with just tools. This is a freelancer and a white hat website for the most part. Most black hatters just laugh in the corner. I post for some reason. Probably just cause I'm processing stuff at the back of my head and I'm waiting to construct some concepts together. Like a background task in my head...
And so I can only tell you to reduce a number of dependencies, decoupling every possible function, not extracting functions and think of owning the code. Cause as long as you intertwine your code with someone's else stuff, you're just burning money unknowingly and making those corporations even stronger. But that's how they work - they give you trojan horses. Gone are the days when trojan horses were just some little viruses. Today it's in people's heads. Procedural programming style is powerful for marketing automation domain and I have no doubts about it after writing in many different styles.
