Why you should ditch the solo developer projects
But aren’t personal projects a great way to develop your skills?
Exactly! Solo endeavors are a great way to learn to code. But I have a big counter-argument: Developing and coding aren’t the same. Say that coding (programming) is similar to writing in English. Now say developing is akin to making an article with a goal of posting online. Just cause you know how to put sentences together, doesn’t mean you’re gonna have a good article.
I believe the relationship between programming and developing is the same. No matter how well you code, you still need to work on your developer skills. Solo programming projects have their time and place. They’re great for fundamentals, or even later when you’re learning a new language or tool. But they can only take you so far.
The world of developing isn’t a solo endeavor. I believe in most cases if you’re developing solo, you’re doing it wrong. Unless you’re an indie game developer that has specific reasons for working solo, your project should probably involve others. Even indie game developers who work alone regularly involve outside help in the process, whether it be voice actors, 3d modelers, testers, it’s almost never truly solo. I don’t like the phrase “Nobody can do it all”, I think in relation to code and developing that’s false. With today’s tools you can solo develop a website or app. I’d rather say “You can do it all, but you can’t do it all well”. Don’t believe me? Here’s another article from Gitential.
Another reason solo developing isn’t the move is because people have horrible ideas. I know personally I have tried to develop some truly stupid programs. Others can stress test your ideas, and hopefully are honest enough to tell you if it’s a dumb one.
Yet another reason is because of accountability and success rate. When ever I find myself struggling to get up early to run or work out, I call a friend and set up a workout with them. Now I have a reason to get up, I’m not just letting myself down I’m letting someone else down too. This mentality easily fits into the developer scene. If you have several other teammates relying on your piece of code you’re way more likely to do what you need to do.
I worked my first internship in the Software Developer industry this past year. And one of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was how to argue for your ideas in a constructive and beneficial way. There were times I argued for things and was wrong in the end. There were times I argued for things and was right in the end. And other times neither party was right. The hardest part of that process was trusting that your fellow developer was constructively arguing as well. For instance I wasn’t afraid to argue my point. Even if it was uninformed, because I trusted that “losing” that argument would be handled constructively. What I mean is the goal was never to get what I wanted done. I thought it would work better one way, other developers thought differently. When one of us was proven wrong it wasn’t to bash or shame them. It was a great teaching moment because you were invested in your “solution” so you will pay attention to why it was wrong. That trust is hard to gain. Especially being a Junior Developer or intern. You need to trust that your fellow developers want the same thing you do, which is to find the best solution and learn as much as they can while finding it.
That sort of interaction, as well as the hundreds if not thousands of other similar interactions are extremely valuable developer skills. They are skills I had no knowledge of going into my internship, due to never coding on a team much before. When you’re by yourself, what you say goes. The only time it doesn’t go is when weeks down the line your code is breaking and you realize you went about things the wrong way.
Everyone is worried about their Leetcode, data structures, and solo resume projects. Which all of those skills are important, but all of them can be learned more efficiently and effectively through working with other people rather than having your head in a book. People are the best resource of knowledge in my opinion because it’s real life, not some bland textbook. So think about this the next time you’re considering a new project. Do you want to work on just your programming? Or do you want to work on your developing?