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Emmanuel Obogbaimhe
Emmanuel Obogbaimhe

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Do you (still) code for fun?

So I used to code in my spare time. Working on several side projects, going to hackathons, meetups, etc. I really enjoyed it but part of why I was doing it was to improve my skills, strengthen my portfolio and potentially make a profit if it turned into a success.

But now I have a great job that challenges me and allows me to be creative in my approach to building tools.

Lately I've been getting an ich to get back into free-time coding. But I feel like it would be a waste of time now. And I'm at the point in my life where I really need to utilize my time wisely. So if I'm dedicating a chunk of time to something it has to be beneficial.

What do you guys think? Anyone in a similar situation? Or different, doesn't matter just want to get some thoughts.

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eblahoi profile image
eblahoi

Depends on what you're doing at your job I guess.

Faced a very similar challenge - I've been "architecting" solutions for the last 2-3 years. At my company this means very minimal coding - "spikes", education, code reviews. As days go by the feeling of "loosing touch" is creeping in and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign.

Took on a small side project and was shocked how hard it became to get into that type of thinking (apparently designing and implementing are not the same skills!).

My thoughts - it's great to do that every once in a while to stay in shape and not loose touch, especially if it can be paired with learning a new technology or concept. Might be a waste of time otherwise.