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> I wish I had this energy again. I used to think my youthful energy was gone forever. Then about 3 months ago I had an idea for a project I truly believed in.

> I wish I had this energy again. I used to think my youthful energy was gone forever. Then about 3 months ago I had an idea for a project I truly believed in. I was able to write code for 16 hours straight, day after day, for most of the last 3 months. And it's not exhausting, it's rejuvenating. I feel like a young man again, despite my gray hairs! (I was planning on releasing it today actually, but this weekend I had an epiphany that requires a half rewrite for significant gains, which might add another few weeks.)

dmos62 1y ago
Happy to hear this, good luck!
radlad 1y ago
Careful not to fall into the trap of never releasing - it can always be better.
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  Definitely something I've worried about. But a major architectural change is different than an improvement. I've left a lot of low hanging fruit for me to fix up after release. But with this change it would literally become a new, backwards-incompatible product. That's where I personally draw the line for when to wait.
- parpfish 1y ago
  Or not? If his joy comes from endlessly coding and refactoring and tinkering, just have fun doing that. Not every side project needs to turn into a side product
  - 90s_dev 1y ago
    That's actually all it was in the beginning. Just writing code for fun. But the more code I wrote, the more it evolved into an app that demands to be released, especially since the nature of it is to be a platform, SDK, and API for others.
  - radlad 1y ago
    Of course, I assume OP is smart enough to realize they have free will and that I am not being prescriptive! OP had stated they were planning to release it, but held off, so I believe their intent is to release it. By the way, one can release a side project without it turning into a product. :-)
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  Well I released it today and I'm kind of regretting it. It's woefully underdeveloped.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
PaulRobinson 1y ago
Congrats on finding something like that, and can't wait to see the Show HN thread! What do you think made it something you could believe in? Was it the opportunity, that it aligned with something you were personally interested in or something else? I had a project a few years ago that was a bit like that. I'd be coding it up every hour I could find around the day job, and loved it. Perhaps I need to reflect on that some more.
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  Thanks! It's hard to know exactly why. What I do know is that I'm surprised week after week with breakthroughs I never dreamed possible and which I think other people will find very useful, and these each renew my excitement.
  - patcon 1y ago
    I don't suppose you're using LLMs for coding? The number of my older friends who've found energy for side-projects since LLM coding became a thing is very notable In the most extreme case: a new father of twins just uses his IDE and home projector to put up the work on the wall and builds little things by voice and reading, as he's home with his daughters. It's pretty eye-opening. Obviously, he won't want to divide his attention so obviously in the near future, but he's the sort who will likely be making things with and for them very early -- I imagine it will be like kids spending lots of time growing up in their father's woodshop.
    - aaronbaugher 1y ago
      I'm not using an LLM for programming (at least not yet), but I'm using it for business planning, estimating target audiences, summarizing research, etc. All stuff I could do myself, and that I have to verify, but it saves time. More importantly, it's making some work more interesting that was previously too tedious to ever get started on. Maybe that benefit will wear off for me once it's not novel anymore, I don't know.
    - 90s_dev 1y ago
ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
I'm 63, and still actively shipping "side" projects (quoted, because now they are my "day job"). Been doing it for at least a couple of decades. Probably more like 30 years. Here's what I'm working on, right now[0]. It's a major rewrite of an existing app, that's been submitted to the App Store, and will probably go "live" in a day or so (unless someone at Apple has an issue with it, which happens, from time to time. Annoying, but not the end of the world). I'm working on the README and code documentation, now (I'll put together a docc catalog, as well as a Jazzy Docs site, and the supporting pages[1]). [0] https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/ambiamara https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/ambiamara (Just a timer app, but a pretty good one). [1] https://riftvalleysoftware.com/work/ios-apps/rival-t/ https://riftvalleysoftware.com/work/ios-apps/rival-t/
- cjbgkagh 1y ago
  I’ve been doing my ‘side’ project as my day job for 5 years, 10 productive hours a day, 7 days a week. Sunday is dedicated to side side projects for experimental ideas that are not on the critical path. When working a normal job I could only work part time due to burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS. After a Covid vaccine injury (long covid) I had to pause work for a few years while I found a way to treat it. Once treated I elected to work on my side project even though I make much less money as I considerer the regular workforce to be highly dysfunctional and liable to cause me to relapse into a fatigued state.
  - 90s_dev 1y ago
    > burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS In my experience, burnout is really just a subconscious realization that what you're doing is just not worth doing, even for large amounts of money, and it manifests itself in fatigue or pain, because your mind is trying to stop you.
    - cjbgkagh 1y ago
      100% not true in my case and probably not true in the generally case, it’s a common misattribution. The cause of mine is hEDS which has ME/CFS as a comorbidity. I’ve done a WGS and found that I have 2 TNXB SNPs. By my math a lot of ‘burnout’ especially in tech is related to TNXB or CYP21A2 SNPs. The treatments that I take specifically targets IL-1B cytokines that are linked to brain fog. I was able to predict that I had these SNPs before taking the WGS test and once confirmed able to divise a treatment that worked. The probability of that happing by random chance is incredibly small.
yard2010 1y ago
Ship it! Ship it now!
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  I'm on the fence. But the new idea would fully break compatibility, and is much better. Should I continue to indefinitely support a product I no longer believe in?
AlecSchueler 1y ago
> a project I truly believed in I think you're onto something here. I find that as I'm aging I'm not losing energy anywhere near as fast as I'm losing the belief necessary for commitment.
joshu 1y ago
don't tease us like that, what is it?
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  A cross between love2d and pico8 with TypeScript and webgl2 that's plugin-first and community-centric. Basically my ideal pixelart gamemaker dev platform.
  - joshu 1y ago
    I love where you are going with it!

dmos62 1y ago

Happy to hear this, good luck!

radlad 1y ago

Careful not to fall into the trap of never releasing - it can always be better.

90s_dev 1y ago
Definitely something I've worried about. But a major architectural change is different than an improvement. I've left a lot of low hanging fruit for me to fix up after release. But with this change it would literally become a new, backwards-incompatible product. That's where I personally draw the line for when to wait.
parpfish 1y ago
Or not? If his joy comes from endlessly coding and refactoring and tinkering, just have fun doing that. Not every side project needs to turn into a side product
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  That's actually all it was in the beginning. Just writing code for fun. But the more code I wrote, the more it evolved into an app that demands to be released, especially since the nature of it is to be a platform, SDK, and API for others.
- radlad 1y ago
  Of course, I assume OP is smart enough to realize they have free will and that I am not being prescriptive! OP had stated they were planning to release it, but held off, so I believe their intent is to release it. By the way, one can release a side project without it turning into a product. :-)
90s_dev 1y ago
Well I released it today and I'm kind of regretting it. It's woefully underdeveloped.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

PaulRobinson 1y ago

Congrats on finding something like that, and can't wait to see the Show HN thread! What do you think made it something you could believe in? Was it the opportunity, that it aligned with something you were personally interested in or something else? I had a project a few years ago that was a bit like that. I'd be coding it up every hour I could find around the day job, and loved it. Perhaps I need to reflect on that some more.

90s_dev 1y ago
Thanks! It's hard to know exactly why. What I do know is that I'm surprised week after week with breakthroughs I never dreamed possible and which I think other people will find very useful, and these each renew my excitement.
- patcon 1y ago
  I don't suppose you're using LLMs for coding? The number of my older friends who've found energy for side-projects since LLM coding became a thing is very notable In the most extreme case: a new father of twins just uses his IDE and home projector to put up the work on the wall and builds little things by voice and reading, as he's home with his daughters. It's pretty eye-opening. Obviously, he won't want to divide his attention so obviously in the near future, but he's the sort who will likely be making things with and for them very early -- I imagine it will be like kids spending lots of time growing up in their father's woodshop.
  - aaronbaugher 1y ago
    I'm not using an LLM for programming (at least not yet), but I'm using it for business planning, estimating target audiences, summarizing research, etc. All stuff I could do myself, and that I have to verify, but it saves time. More importantly, it's making some work more interesting that was previously too tedious to ever get started on. Maybe that benefit will wear off for me once it's not novel anymore, I don't know.
  - 90s_dev 1y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago

I'm 63, and still actively shipping "side" projects (quoted, because now they are my "day job"). Been doing it for at least a couple of decades. Probably more like 30 years. Here's what I'm working on, right now[0]. It's a major rewrite of an existing app, that's been submitted to the App Store, and will probably go "live" in a day or so (unless someone at Apple has an issue with it, which happens, from time to time. Annoying, but not the end of the world). I'm working on the README and code documentation, now (I'll put together a docc catalog, as well as a Jazzy Docs site, and the supporting pages[1]). [0] https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/ambiamara https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/ambiamara (Just a timer app, but a pretty good one). [1] https://riftvalleysoftware.com/work/ios-apps/rival-t/ https://riftvalleysoftware.com/work/ios-apps/rival-t/

cjbgkagh 1y ago
I’ve been doing my ‘side’ project as my day job for 5 years, 10 productive hours a day, 7 days a week. Sunday is dedicated to side side projects for experimental ideas that are not on the critical path. When working a normal job I could only work part time due to burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS. After a Covid vaccine injury (long covid) I had to pause work for a few years while I found a way to treat it. Once treated I elected to work on my side project even though I make much less money as I considerer the regular workforce to be highly dysfunctional and liable to cause me to relapse into a fatigued state.
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  > burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS In my experience, burnout is really just a subconscious realization that what you're doing is just not worth doing, even for large amounts of money, and it manifests itself in fatigue or pain, because your mind is trying to stop you.
  - cjbgkagh 1y ago
    100% not true in my case and probably not true in the generally case, it’s a common misattribution. The cause of mine is hEDS which has ME/CFS as a comorbidity. I’ve done a WGS and found that I have 2 TNXB SNPs. By my math a lot of ‘burnout’ especially in tech is related to TNXB or CYP21A2 SNPs. The treatments that I take specifically targets IL-1B cytokines that are linked to brain fog. I was able to predict that I had these SNPs before taking the WGS test and once confirmed able to divise a treatment that worked. The probability of that happing by random chance is incredibly small.

yard2010 1y ago

Ship it! Ship it now!

90s_dev 1y ago
I'm on the fence. But the new idea would fully break compatibility, and is much better. Should I continue to indefinitely support a product I no longer believe in?

AlecSchueler 1y ago

> a project I truly believed in I think you're onto something here. I find that as I'm aging I'm not losing energy anywhere near as fast as I'm losing the belief necessary for commitment.

joshu 1y ago

don't tease us like that, what is it?

90s_dev 1y ago
A cross between love2d and pico8 with TypeScript and webgl2 that's plugin-first and community-centric. Basically my ideal pixelart gamemaker dev platform.
- joshu 1y ago
  I love where you are going with it!