Are You A Bad Developer If You Don't Take On Side Projects?

Are You A Bad Developer If You Don't Take On Side Projects?
forbes.com

You will be a better developer if you code more. You will be exposed to more languages, tools, people, and ideas.

If you don't code in your spare time, but you are happy where you are, don't feel like you are a bad developer, you just will not be as good at development as you could be. It is your life, why does it matter if you prefer to paint paintings at night instead of code? If you don't need to maximize your future revenue, don't feel bad.

If you want to be a better developer more than anything, then you should code. If something is stopping you from doing that, remove the blocker.

Personally, I don't hire anyone if I can't see code samples. 95% of the people I hire have their code samples on Github (not in a .zip file). So make sure you have some code samples available, but it doesn't have to be a side project or open source work.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, having multiple personal projects does make you much more marketable to potential employers.

If you don't have a well known University or a well known company on your resume, having a stack of personal projects that show you're constantly learning, that you're passionate about the programming and that you love what you do can mean the difference between getting a request to interview at a start-up vs. getting put in the "pass" pile of resumes/profiles that internal recruiters have to look at.

This especially holds true if you work at a large, enterpris-ey company (IBM, VMWare, Goldman, Delloite, etc.) and want to attract the attention of, and get a job at, a venture funded start-up based on our experience at DeveloperAuction.

This cuts into hours that could be used for work or family or fun, and probably won't succeed because their heart isn't actually in it.

It's hard to know whether a developer is good or bad with only a resume/interview. If you're looking for smart motivated people, the ones who tend to work on side projects etc. can actually show you stuff they've built, and generally you can get a good idea as to how/if they'd fit in with your company/start-up.

While this doesn't mean developers who don't take on side projects are bad, it's just hard to identify whether they are in fact good or bad.