[dvt]

Man this article is so flawed, it's not even funny. I was going to comment earlier today but I was certain it would get buried. I'm a bit disappointed that it's still on the main page. Here's my take..

> Make sure your side project isn’t a waste of your time

A side project is never a waste of your time. It's a way to build something new, to exercise your creativity and passion, and to (when it's all said and done) ship something! I'd wager that 90%+ of "coders" have never built something from zero to hero. That is inherently a valuable thing, regardless of what your future boss thinks.

> Your side project, by itself, probably won’t get you a job

Okay, so? I'm pretty sure no sane person is going to go through the hard work of building a side project to impress during an interview. Not only that, but for a side-project to be successful, it also needs marketing, PR, networking, and so on. You probably won't have to do any of those things at your next programming job, but you most definitely need to do it when launching a side project.

> 1. Is your side project relevant to the job you’re applying to?

Again, who cares? Side projects should never be contingent on what jobs you're applying to.

> 2. Does your side project have depth?

Doesn't matter. A side project can be as shallow as Snapchat 1.0 (disappearing images? Sign me up). Run with it. Build something awesome and win at life.

> 3. Has your side project at least had 2 iterations?

I actually agree with this. Most of my MVPs are kind of shitty until I show them to a select group of friends and family that more often than not rip them to shreds. Fail fast, fail often.

> You have to bring attention to your side project

Yes, yes you do. But guess what: looking for a regular 9-5 programming job is completely antithetical to "bringing attention" to your side project. The latter of which involves emailing zillions of people, setting up mailing lists, getting featured on blogs, product design, going to talks, giving talks, and so on.

[drvdevd]

The article also misses the point about intrinsic VS extrinsic motivation in software. Personally I think being motivated by money, careers, nice cars — whatever — is just fine. But I think the only way to know if you really want to stick with Programming, and especially any particular branch of programming, is by finding out what intrinsically motivates you.

That can be your rock to hold onto as burnout approaches...

[bananaboy]

Yes! And this:

> I'd wager that 90%+ of "coders" have never built something from zero to hero

I think that's probably very true! Shipping something is such a useful exercise. You learn so much by going through the full process, rather than just starting and then later abandoning something.