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One of many things I learned from writing software just for myself is that I'm just about as bad as anybody at figuring out what I really want, even when I'm ta

One of many things I learned from writing software just for myself is that I'm just about as bad as anybody at figuring out what I really want, even when I'm talking to myself. I've even had one or two cases where I ignored a feature I asked myself for, and much later realized: Hey, I could actually use that. The worst is asking myself, "How many times do I have to ask for this before you quit procrastinating and just get it done???" I'm not sure which of me is the bigger jerk.

Arrath 5y ago
Oh hey its me. I've done some painstaking work to add a feature (hell, even just an excel macro that at the time seemed useful) and realize like 9 months later I've used the feature a whopping 3 times.
- brokenmachine 5y ago
  Try to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
austincheney 5y ago
The challenge there is when people start using your personal project. Yes, you remain in control and you remain the primary user. But… now regression and features become a much greater concern because the last thing you want to do is harm other people even if they are only a secondary audience. As the project grows this becomes the most pressing concern regardless of who is the primary user. That begs the question: Why bother growing the application beyond the smallest set of explicit use cases? When you are the primary user AND the only use environment or input samples are written by you life is simple. The moment you must analyze something not written by you, even if this usage is only for you, the problem cases blossom. If your application refuses to solve for those cases then you need to add more features or use a different application. Those two scenarios seem to feed each other which becomes evident by traffic or usage numbers as you pull your hair out keeping up with some hobby application.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Sometimes it's wise to ignore what you want. So many times I started a project only to end up with 3 libraries and a custom build system. It's like I can't help myself. It got to the point I was too embarrassed to publish these things on GitHub.
- gridspy 5y ago
  Oh no. I was just tweeting about my new build system. Already got 3 libraries.

Arrath 5y ago

Oh hey its me. I've done some painstaking work to add a feature (hell, even just an excel macro that at the time seemed useful) and realize like 9 months later I've used the feature a whopping 3 times.

brokenmachine 5y ago
Try to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

austincheney 5y ago

The challenge there is when people start using your personal project. Yes, you remain in control and you remain the primary user. But… now regression and features become a much greater concern because the last thing you want to do is harm other people even if they are only a secondary audience. As the project grows this becomes the most pressing concern regardless of who is the primary user. That begs the question: Why bother growing the application beyond the smallest set of explicit use cases? When you are the primary user AND the only use environment or input samples are written by you life is simple. The moment you must analyze something not written by you, even if this usage is only for you, the problem cases blossom. If your application refuses to solve for those cases then you need to add more features or use a different application. Those two scenarios seem to feed each other which becomes evident by traffic or usage numbers as you pull your hair out keeping up with some hobby application.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Sometimes it's wise to ignore what you want. So many times I started a project only to end up with 3 libraries and a custom build system. It's like I can't help myself. It got to the point I was too embarrassed to publish these things on GitHub.

gridspy 5y ago
Oh no. I was just tweeting about my new build system. Already got 3 libraries.