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Me too, I think there are two types of side projects, this article focuses on those which I believe people will try to generate a business out of, or at least s

Me too, I think there are two types of side projects, this article focuses on those which I believe people will try to generate a business out of, or at least some form of passive income. But there are also some side projects where you just want to get your hands dirty with some different tech, if you do deliver something then you can showcase it on your portfolio. I know when the app store gold rush first started a lot of people did this as experience to get iOs dev jobs.

dcminter 9y ago
Exactly - I enjoy side projects precisely because they're not bound by pragmatic concerns. I can delve as deep as I like into getting the CI pipeline working just right, making sure the servers and cacheing are set up ok and all those other things that I usually have to leave to colleagues. More often than not the skills I learn doing this kind of thing end up being very useful to me in the day job. I'd like it if the side project was successful enough to justify all of that yak shaving, but I don't really expect it to be and I'm not that fussed when it isn't. But if your primary goal is that your side project should become your day job then the article is pretty good advice. Leave your yak unshaven :)
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  > they're not bound by pragmatic concerns. 99% of the time, if you want to go pragmatic, you should buy a ready-made solution (and then possibly adapt it to your use case). It's efficient (especially if you need the problem solved to make money) - but it's no fun.
mgolawala 9y ago
I agree, but there are good reasons why it is often good to combine both types. Considering this is only a side project, you have a high likelihood of abandoning it out of boredom, lack of traction or simply burn out. However, if your side project is "interesting" to you because you are experimenting with various tech, you come back to it because it is fun and it will keep you motivated. It is totally cool to build something to learn and throwaway, but why not build something to learn that might also generate some income in the future?

dcminter 9y ago

Exactly - I enjoy side projects precisely because they're not bound by pragmatic concerns. I can delve as deep as I like into getting the CI pipeline working just right, making sure the servers and cacheing are set up ok and all those other things that I usually have to leave to colleagues. More often than not the skills I learn doing this kind of thing end up being very useful to me in the day job. I'd like it if the side project was successful enough to justify all of that yak shaving, but I don't really expect it to be and I'm not that fussed when it isn't. But if your primary goal is that your side project should become your day job then the article is pretty good advice. Leave your yak unshaven :)

TeMPOraL 9y ago
> they're not bound by pragmatic concerns. 99% of the time, if you want to go pragmatic, you should buy a ready-made solution (and then possibly adapt it to your use case). It's efficient (especially if you need the problem solved to make money) - but it's no fun.

mgolawala 9y ago

I agree, but there are good reasons why it is often good to combine both types. Considering this is only a side project, you have a high likelihood of abandoning it out of boredom, lack of traction or simply burn out. However, if your side project is "interesting" to you because you are experimenting with various tech, you come back to it because it is fun and it will keep you motivated. It is totally cool to build something to learn and throwaway, but why not build something to learn that might also generate some income in the future?