[haburka]

In my opinion, side projects don't have to ship. Some people do need to ship side projects, some people do not. It's important to challenge yourself with code, absolutely, but enforcing deadlines on yourself is usually just met with disappointment when you don't do it. Additionally, by allowing yourself to stop working on side projects when you want, you can focus on doing the parts of coding that you enjoy which means you can find your preferences and passion.

However, I do believe that everyone should be able to set up a server and a web page to show off the functionality of any side project they make (or an app). The best part about any side project is taking your phone out with your friends and showing it off.

[vhakulinen]

> In my opinion, side projects don't have to ship.

Totally agree. I have had tons of side projects and most of those have just been for fuzzing around with new and shiny (or old and solid) things. From side projects, I have "shipped" couple of apps but have gained the most experience from the ones that I haven't.

Also, the blog post mentions only books and blogs for reading. I've found that reading issue tracker/PR and other forums closer to actual code has sometimes been extremely helpful (in those cases, I tend to end up reading the code it self from time to time).

[philsnow]

If you don't already have experience / are trying to break into the industry, side projects that have actually shipped are one indicator of potential impact.

"Potential" because some people farm out side projects on upwork etc. That kind of project management is also a valuable skill but it's not the same thing.