if you don't have open-source code, I tend to assume you don't do much programming in your free time That is too general. Most stuff I've done in my free time

if you don't have open-source code, I tend to assume you don't do much programming in your free time That is too general. Most stuff I've done in my free time (when I still used it for coding) isn't publicly available anywhere for a number of reasons ranging from 'it's too bad' over 'it's only useful for me' over 'this piece of code is none of your business' to 'parts of this code are reused in a daytime job where the contract requires me not open-sourcing it'. And I am sure I'm not alone with some of these reasons. And if you don't program in your free time, how are you going to become a really strong developer This is, almost, an insult to me and lots of others with me. I have plenty of skills and none of them came from free time programming. Like the guy I learned the basics from and still go to for serious problems: he never writes any code in his free time yet he's a guru probably better than me and you combined :] I admit this depends a lot on the type of job me and he have: we can basically learn as much as we want during work hours, and after all learning is one of the key aspects that make a stromg developper. So sure if your job doesn't allow this you can gain from spending some free time programming but stating that programming in your free time is pretty much a requirement for becoming a strong developper is a couple of bridges too far.