Stop learning. Start building.

Why you should start working on side projects

Sep 11, 2022

As developers, we often come across the term “Side Projects” and immediately have questions popping in our minds.

What are side projects?
Why should we work on side projects? How is it beneficial?
Where do we get ideas for our side projects?

These were some of the questions that kept bugging me when I started. It took me some years to figure out what side projects are. I’ll share whatever I experienced and hope this drives you to start working on your side projects.

Keep reading till the end. I’ve included some side project ideas that you can start working on. I’ve also showcased my side projects.

What are side projects?

Any project you work on, apart from your full-time work, out of your interest is a side project.

Side projects can be anything from a minimal button or card animation to a SaaS product.

You might be learning a new programming language or a framework. Working on a small-scale side project by implementing whatever you’ve learned will reinforce your learning and make you comfortable working with that language or framework.

Why should you work on side projects?

Tutorials are good to get introduced to something new, but there are some limitations when it comes to practical implementations.

Working on side projects has enormous benefits apart from the fun element in it.

Probably the best way to learn. When you work on a side project, you’ll convert an idea into a working prototype from scratch. You’ll face blockers and learn something new at each step of your implementation.
Gives credibility to your learning. There is a huge difference between telling someone that you’ve learned a language and showcasing a small project that you’ve worked on with what you’ve learned. This emphasizes that you have taken the extra effort to understand what you’ve learned.
Understanding nuances. Each programming language has its nuances and coding practices that might be overlooked in tutorials or boot camps. Working on a project from scratch gives a clear understanding of the language or framework making you learn from your mistakes.
Improving your skills by getting feedback. Do not hesitate to showcase your side projects to your friends, colleagues, Twitter developer community, and developer forums.
You might have the fear of being put down by someone more talented.
I had a very tough time overcoming that fear. But getting feedback from like-minded developers will significantly improve your coding skills.

It took years for me to understand that there will always be someone better than you in certain aspects. If you let that stop you from doing something, you’ll never take the first step.

Side project ideas

Coming up with ideas for your project is a challenge. I remember when I started my developer journey, I spent more time coming up with a UNIQUE IDEA than working on my coding skills.

This is the most commonly asked question when developers are asked to work on side projects.

Everybody wants to build a revolutionizing software application. But that is not possible when you’re in your learning process. Trust the process and you’ll definitely get there one day.

If you’re learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript, build a small calculator app or a personal portfolio webpage. Obviously, there are thousands of calculator apps out there, but it doesn’t matter. Working on it yourself will help you with your learning process.
If you’re learning Java and MySQL, start by building a small classroom register application to store student details and marks.

Start by building small application that might seem unnecessary and redundant. But the work you put in these small projects will help you reinforce what you’ve learnt and you’ll be more confident when you work on your next project.

Google “Side project ideas for <programming language>” and I’m sure you’ll get tons of results. Start working on something small that interests you.

My side projects

You might wonder what side projects I worked on in my developer journey. I’ve listed some of them below. Feel free to check it out and let me know your comments.

Word Play:
This is a small game that I worked on when I was learning React and react-sort along with Javascript. This is a front-end only game.
Try to find the word by rearranging the letters using drag and drop.

Visit Word Play

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock:
This term might be familiar for “The Big Bang Theory” fans. This is another small game I built just for fun when I was getting familiar with React components and Hooks. Be sure to check the game rules before playing. 😉

Play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock

Sling Chat:
This is one of my favorite side projects. This is a real-time text and video chat application built using Node.js socket and WebRTC. It took time for me to acquire the necessary skills to build this.
You can start a chat room and chat with your friends in the same room. You can also have a Video Chat (Limited to two) with one of your friends.

Visit Sling Chat

Feel free to get inspiration from these ideas to start working on your side projects.

These are couple of the projects that have inspired me a lot.

Paper Website: By Ben Stokes
Paper website is a project which will create web pages from what you write in a paper. It is simple and it works perfectly.
Pika Style: By Rishi
Pika lets you create amazing customized screenshots. This is one of the best examples for “Does one thing and does it perfectly”.

Start small and work your way up the ladder. You can even start monetizing your side project if it provides a valuable solution to users.
There are a lot of startups that started as side projects, now used by millions of users.

It is your time to stop learning and start building!

Until next time!