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by throwaway122011
5313 days ago
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I am trying to set up my github and work on side projects as I really would like to work on a startup...however I never really know what to build, what to "hack", coming up with ideas for side projects is where I always fail, and when I do find something that interests me I find that I lack the skills to finish it and I lose motivation.... I really don't know what to do, should I focus on the fundamentals first algo's, data structures, linux, software engineering, compilers etc...or just start "building things" ? I am constantly amazed at people with so many repos on github(not forks) with so many interesting projects...where do they find the time? how do they do it? I can't compete with these people, looking at them I can't even call myself a programmer, I feel no passion could ever help me reach their level...I keep thinking I am either doomed to work for the rest of my life as a mediocre developer or I am going to have to switch careers. |
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I feel you man, it definitely isn't easy. One huge point to note is that HN is extremely biased view of the tech scene. We are bombarded with so many elite programmers and projects that we forget this only represents a fraction of the entire tech scene. This is GOOD thing. You want to be in the presence of elite company. But it's super important to not let it deter your motivation. It may look like everyone is ahead of you because they are. But so too are 100x more people behind you. In the end, it really doesn't matter.
I started the same way, hacking spaghetti PHP and being a really poor programmer - I just wanted to make a website to sell some shirts.
The best thing I did and you can do is just keep at it. If it feels like work then you are probably in the wrong industry. You have to have a passion for building stuff, that's what keeps me going. I never thought I'd be able to stand 8+ hours staring at a computer screen. But it's not about that is it? It's about being able to see your creation realized.
Anyway, I'm by no means an elite programmer, but I have a very active GitHub profile =) http://github.com/plusjade.
Email me and we can work on something together. I agree shipping a complete project from top to bottom that actually runs online is hard. I'm stubborn so I just willed myself into doing it. But everyone can use help so please take my offer seriously. Also put contact info in your HN profile.
look forward to working with you.