3 ms·

Things software engineers will never get tired of: - Building job boards - Building static site generators - Building todo list apps - Building "personal kn

by dewey 1y ago

Things software engineers will never get tired of: - Building job boards - Building static site generators - Building todo list apps - Building "personal knowledge base" type apps

SCUSKU 1y ago
Personally I have checked 3/4 boxes here, and actively working on a job board currently for fun... At least for a job board, it feels like it is useful, and also ultimately not that complex a piece of software. Which is nice for doing some light coding as opposed to things I usually deal with at work.
- xitang 1y ago
  +1 to this! I have tons of fun while building this job board and having to refactor my code multiple times to generalize a pattern that can pull jobs from various sites. It is so fun to dig into some readings on the trimodal nature of tech compensation and pay transparency laws in the US. Plus it is a helpful site for folks like you said. What type of job board are you building btw? Does it focus on a niche?
Scarblac 1y ago
I will do that one day but I want to blog about it as I build them and I never get my blog set up the way I want it.
- zahlman 1y ago
  That's what the personal static site generator project is for.
mnky9800n 1y ago
Static sites are more interesting tbh. Why does everything have to be so meta?
welder 1y ago
You forgot "Building time tracking apps" I'm seeing even more of this effect lately among young vibe coders. Not saying it's a bad thing, I'm saying: It's reached the point where it's easier to build your own app than search/decide/choose an existing one.
- koakuma-chan 1y ago
  But do they actually use those todo lists and time tracking apps? For example I use iOS and for me setting up alarms works much better than "Reminders".
spullara 1y ago
- Not letting you sort by a column
- tacker2000 1y ago
  Yup, why cant I search bu total comp here? Also the table lags on my iPhone 15 when you select All. What stack are you using, OP?
  - xitang 1y ago
    Thanks for the note on the lag issue! I notice it as well and haven't gotten a chance to optimize it, but I think it is likely to due too many rows (400+) re-rendering, etc. The site is built with Next.js, Typescript, React, tailwindcss, and deployed to Vercel. The cron job is a vercel function, which I believe is just a nice wrapper on aws lambda.
- xitang 1y ago
  Thanks for the note! This is an initial MVP, so column sort hasn't been added. The default sort order is based on posted date. Which column are you looking to sort btw?
xitang 1y ago
I have built various stuffs in the past few years and have came to appreciate more and more on things that will never get tired of. It can be a good indication that the problem spaces are large and remain unsolved as well as the opportunities. In such case, there are always rooms for anyone to come in to innovate and put their own spin to it. This is sometimes better than working on something that few or barely anyone works on, which can be an indication that the problem space is too small and only affects small set of folks. Love the list btw. What is an example of "personal knowledge base" type app? Like Notion?
- dewey 1y ago
  > What is an example of "personal knowledge base" type app? There's one on the front page right now, keyword "Obsidian" ;)
  - xitang 1y ago
    Thanks, I see :) I might have built part of a "personal knowledge base" type app by rolling up a custom editor before, so 1.5 boxes check.
nikolayasdf123 1y ago
- Building XYZ from scratch
drewcoo 1y ago
- Throwing shade because other people are building wrong
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
wiether 1y ago
I read your comment in the morning and it was funny. Right now I just saw this[1] popping in the top and it made your comment much funnier! [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44022448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44022448
rendaw 1y ago
Despite all these people making job boards, it's incredibly hard to find one that's decent. I gave up finding ones that let you filter for worldwide remote, let alone time zone range.

by dewey 1y ago

Things software engineers will never get tired of: - Building job boards - Building static site generators - Building todo list apps - Building "personal knowledge base" type apps

SCUSKU 1y ago

Personally I have checked 3/4 boxes here, and actively working on a job board currently for fun... At least for a job board, it feels like it is useful, and also ultimately not that complex a piece of software. Which is nice for doing some light coding as opposed to things I usually deal with at work.

xitang 1y ago
+1 to this! I have tons of fun while building this job board and having to refactor my code multiple times to generalize a pattern that can pull jobs from various sites. It is so fun to dig into some readings on the trimodal nature of tech compensation and pay transparency laws in the US. Plus it is a helpful site for folks like you said. What type of job board are you building btw? Does it focus on a niche?

Scarblac 1y ago

I will do that one day but I want to blog about it as I build them and I never get my blog set up the way I want it.

zahlman 1y ago
That's what the personal static site generator project is for.

mnky9800n 1y ago

Static sites are more interesting tbh. Why does everything have to be so meta?

welder 1y ago

You forgot "Building time tracking apps" I'm seeing even more of this effect lately among young vibe coders. Not saying it's a bad thing, I'm saying: It's reached the point where it's easier to build your own app than search/decide/choose an existing one.

koakuma-chan 1y ago
But do they actually use those todo lists and time tracking apps? For example I use iOS and for me setting up alarms works much better than "Reminders".

spullara 1y ago

- Not letting you sort by a column

tacker2000 1y ago
Yup, why cant I search bu total comp here? Also the table lags on my iPhone 15 when you select All. What stack are you using, OP?
- xitang 1y ago
  Thanks for the note on the lag issue! I notice it as well and haven't gotten a chance to optimize it, but I think it is likely to due too many rows (400+) re-rendering, etc. The site is built with Next.js, Typescript, React, tailwindcss, and deployed to Vercel. The cron job is a vercel function, which I believe is just a nice wrapper on aws lambda.
xitang 1y ago
Thanks for the note! This is an initial MVP, so column sort hasn't been added. The default sort order is based on posted date. Which column are you looking to sort btw?

xitang 1y ago

I have built various stuffs in the past few years and have came to appreciate more and more on things that will never get tired of. It can be a good indication that the problem spaces are large and remain unsolved as well as the opportunities. In such case, there are always rooms for anyone to come in to innovate and put their own spin to it. This is sometimes better than working on something that few or barely anyone works on, which can be an indication that the problem space is too small and only affects small set of folks. Love the list btw. What is an example of "personal knowledge base" type app? Like Notion?

dewey 1y ago
> What is an example of "personal knowledge base" type app? There's one on the front page right now, keyword "Obsidian" ;)
- xitang 1y ago
  Thanks, I see :) I might have built part of a "personal knowledge base" type app by rolling up a custom editor before, so 1.5 boxes check.

nikolayasdf123 1y ago

- Building XYZ from scratch

drewcoo 1y ago

- Throwing shade because other people are building wrong

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

wiether 1y ago

I read your comment in the morning and it was funny. Right now I just saw this[1] popping in the top and it made your comment much funnier! [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44022448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44022448

rendaw 1y ago

Despite all these people making job boards, it's incredibly hard to find one that's decent. I gave up finding ones that let you filter for worldwide remote, let alone time zone range.