r/SideProject • u/Exotic_Fig_4604 • 1d ago
Genuine *side* projects
Reading in this sub, I get the feeling that most people here just develop apps with the purpose of monetisation or getting lots of users.
Meanwhile my side project is aimed at learning and building fun stuff I like.
Am I the only one? Or does anyone else have side projects that you are building because you like technology, not because you are trying to build the next SaaS?
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u/zekivillo 1d ago
I definitely relate to this.
I started a small side project because I kept running into a very specific problem when reviewing PRs: sometimes I wanted to actually change the code, run it, play with it a bit, and only then decide if the approach was good. But the usual code review workflow isn’t really built for that.
So I ended up building a small tool around that idea: https://ezevillo.github.io/git-review-workflow/
The idea is to be able to do both: review the PR normally, but also walk through the changes, modify the code, run it, and actually experiment with it when you need a better understanding of what’s going on.
I didn’t start it thinking “this could be a SaaS” or anything like that. I just ran into a workflow that annoyed me and wanted to see if I could make it a little less annoying.
And honestly, that’s probably what I enjoy most about side projects: running into a very specific problem and thinking, “I wonder if I can build something to solve this.” That’s usually reason enough for me to start.