I agree with this, plus the "it's fun" reason others have mentioned. I started work on my canvas library (licence: MIT) 8 years ago mainly so I'd have somethin

I agree with this, plus the "it's fun" reason others have mentioned. I started work on my canvas library (licence: MIT) 8 years ago mainly so I'd have something to showcase to potential employers. It worked: the reason I finally managed to land a job as a web developer was because someone took time to check out the library and decided the work I'd put in was worth them taking a risk on an older new entrant. Since that time I've continued to develop the library to help me deepen my knowledge of all things canvas. Especially since I started to look at ways to make canvas elements more responsive, and more accessible. But the main reason is just the joy I get from using it to create pretty demos and animations - the library scratches a creative itch. I got used to the idea that I'll never be rich a long time ago. Good friends are more important than money.