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I remember this being the opposite. Some used to do side projects to play with and learn a new stack. That's how we all ended up here don't you think?
I feel like the coding assistants are opening doors for hobbyists the same way 3d printing did. If you’re into a hobby with physical components like rc-anything, robotics, or just need a one off part to fix something a 3D printer is a game changer. In the same way, if you’re into writing software for personal projects or just filling a discreet need ClaudeCode is a game changer.
Maybe, we will see solo employee unicorn startup very soon.
I have more than a few side projects that began as late night discussions with an llm. A couple of those projects reached a level of completion where I use the products daily, and one project reached production (a game you can find referenced on my profile). I have had similar experiences to the author, and I’ve found that just working with a single agent in Antigravity (on the Gemini Pro subscription) is adequate. T…
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Oh, I think I misunderstood. Do you mean if we paid the real cost of the compute it would be the numbers you mention?
Yes, AI companies are bleeding money with current pricing. Your AI usage is heavily subsidized by investor dollars.
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There are places like r/sideprojects but as with all non-niche boards it can get crowded pretty fast. I’ve often thought about standing up a subreddit specifically for side projects but with the proviso of: - No sign up - No ads - No subscription/payments of any kind Open-source is welcome but optional.
I think the problem with such places is, they just become a dump for self-promotion by people who otherwise don't participate at all. The opposite of an actual community. That's why even reddit used to have a 10-to-1 rule of thumb about posts like that (which would be very easily gamed today).
Right now I'm trying to get an AI (actually two ChatGPT and Grok) to write me a simple HomeAssistant integration that blinks a virtual light on and off driven by a random boolean virtual sensor. I just started using HomeAssistant and don't know it well. +2H and a few iterations in, still doesn't work. Winning.
HomeAssistant is probably doing too much for what you need. Imo it's not a good piece of software. https://nodered.org/ is maybe a better fit. Or just some plain old scripts.
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"Make the window show up on top, you can't click away from it. Also clear all the fields when you first show the window."
"Ok, here's a static bar on the top of the page" as it disappears as you scroll. You can now no longer click anything else on the page. You said "can't click away" and it did show up on top. As a 30 year coder that never did any UI, this is this shit I run into constantly. I can create awesomely cool and fast back end stuff, and can create better UIs than I've ever been able to, but not knowing the nomenclature trips…
Right now I'm trying to get an AI (actually two ChatGPT and Grok) to write me a simple HomeAssistant integration that blinks a virtual light on and off driven by a random boolean virtual sensor. I just started using HomeAssistant and don't know it well. +2H and a few iterations in, still doesn't work. Winning.
HomeAssistant is probably doing too much for what you need. Imo it's not a good piece of software. https://nodered.org/ is maybe a better fit. Or just some plain old scripts.
in the age of LLM-built side projects... what's the right venue for sharing these things with other people? i feel like the expectations for a "Show HN" project are too high for a passing around a silly little toy that I had the robot throw together. product hunt is for things that are actual products/businesses. so maybe you throw it in a targetted subreddit for a niche interest group? seems like there should be a m…
Once a month HN user david927 does a "What are you working on?" post (among others: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22What%20are%20you%20working%... ) that is perfect for you to drop things like this into as a comment. It looks like this month's is still open for comments though unlikely to generate much interest after the first few days. It should be made an official HN tradition like whoishiring.
Kicked it around for years, but CAD mold-making, especially multi-part mold-making, is reslly hard. Geometry, physics, understanding the process of using it… it was way more than I could find the time to develop expertise in.
Claude code, an MCP server to controll grasshopper (MCP server entirely written by claude of course), and maybe 8 hours total and I’ve got a fully algorithic multi-part mold-making program that designs the plastic tools I need to print, so I can pour silicone into plastic, so I can pour plaster into silicone, and the plaster parts fit goether perfectly for the final mold.
And it was fun. AI has brought joy back into coding projects I used to put off because they felt like a grind.