TLDR; no its not fair
I would say like any other profession no... you're no less of a developer if you don't code in your free time.
So far, I've always been technically curious so I'd be coding on my own even if I wasn't a dev. Could that change in the future? Absolutely.
Some junior devs (and some more senior) can feel pressured to do so to keep on top of their game. For the next job or performance reviews. I'd say we have to advocate for this to be apart of our work, allocated in our sprint.
So having said that, it can make the world of difference to confidence, morale, initiatives, and investment back into the project (directly or indirectly) - if we do this at work.
TLDR; no its not fair
I would say like any other profession no... you're no less of a developer if you don't code in your free time.
So far, I've always been technically curious so I'd be coding on my own even if I wasn't a dev. Could that change in the future? Absolutely.
Some junior devs (and some more senior) can feel pressured to do so to keep on top of their game. For the next job or performance reviews. I'd say we have to advocate for this to be apart of our work, allocated in our sprint.
So having said that, it can make the world of difference to confidence, morale, initiatives, and investment back into the project (directly or indirectly) - if we do this at work.
Good take on this one. I like your proposal to advocate for this to be part of our work, that would be the win-win for everyone.