Go small and go home

We all love big projects. And if it can be all shiny and new, it’s even better. How many of us have started a Machine Learning project? Or thought about starting “something with React”?

Of course we love to check on new technologies, because we love to learn.

And whenever we use some familiar piece of tech, we love to build at a big scale. And that too is understandable, high-performance, complex architecture is appealing. And it lets you tackle things you might never have encountered before.

Once again, we sure love to learn.

The case for small, well-known projects

Small projects are boring. Especially when they only involve 'old' tech. Our daily work language, that old framework we know the ins and outs of.

And there’s a serious temptation each time to just cut corners and skip ahead — we already know all of this stuff!

But actually, working again on a small project is like reading a book from your early teens. You feel like you remember it all, and yet.

Let me ask you a somewhat unrelated question:

Do you have a single project whose code you’d say is perfect ?

If you’re like me, the answer is a resounding “No”. So if we think our code can still be improved, why do we have such disdain for small projects?

Truth is, a small, easy, basic project is the best place to play with best practices, patterns and improved code quality. Since you know the project is well inside your abilities — small scope, known tools — you feel relaxed and you’re way more inclined to hold yourself to high standards of code quality.

We wouldn’t laugh at a potter trying to make a perfect pot. We wouldn’t think mad a woodcarver going back to building tables instead of ornate dressers.

On the contrary, it is often held as common sense that going back to the basics and polishing our skills on them is a great way to improve in all regards of our craft.

Another undervalued aspect of small projects are simply that they are small.

Quite the redundant sentence, I know. But it is an underrated aspect.

As we move on with a project we often add small features here and there, or we find out some snag that makes the whole thing longer.

When you’re working on something that’s already massive, it quickly becomes gigantic. (Sometimes it even morphs from a fun project to an actual business.) But a small project can pretty much always be done in pretty close to the first estimate.

Just go, pick one.