3 years ago I did a video on "How to Build a Project That Will Actually Get You a Job". It is crazy how much has changed since then. I still think there is value in creating these projects to help your chances of getting a job, but they definitely don't have as much sway as they used to.
The reason of course is due to AI. How does a hiring manager looking at your profile know you didn't just vibe code the whole thing?
The main points I covered in that video still apply though. The code was never the important part of the project.
What matters most:
- Deploying your project - Anyone can just vibe code something and have it run on their local machine. Getting the project live is a different skill set and not one that AI can easily help with.
- Show your process - It is great that you built something, but I would be more interested in why you built it. When code is cheap it is worth spending time to think whether this should have been built at all.
- Testing and Monitoring - Unless prompted, AI won't write tests for you. Even when it does those tests aren't always that meaningful. Make sure your write relevant tests that go through the happy and the unhappy paths of your code. Set up telemetry and dashboards to show you understand that side of things as well.
Of course there is more to personal projects beyond getting a job. I know at the end of a long day at work the last thing many people want to be doing is coding more. Personal projects however are a great way to learn new skills (assuming you don't vibe code it).
With more and more companies drinking the AI cool aid in the name of productivity, your personal projects might be the only way you get to flex those coding muscles.
Just like real muscles, if you don't use them you lose them and your programming skills will slowly atrophy.
This week I created a projects page on my website so I can start listing out the things that I am working on. I have a lot of unfinished projects that didn't make the cut or were never released to the public and a lot more projects I want to build in the future.
❤️ Picks of the Week #
🤖 AI #
Is AI causing a repeat of frontend’s lost decade? - It is an interesting point. You used to need to know a lot about HTML, CSS and Javascript to be able to build a good website. Then frameworks came along and a lot of that knowledge disappeared. With everyone using AI, those that actually understand how things work will only become more valuable.
Vibe coding is the equivalent of me sketching a drawing of my dream car, it materializing in front of me, and then proclaiming “I MADE A CAR IT’S 80% DONE”. And then the first time I drove it the wheels would fall off, the engine would explode, and I would drive off a cliff. Seems fine.
From Vibe Coding off a Cliff by Dan Kim - The last 20% is always the hardest part, AI didn't change that. The 20% just got larger!
Please Use AI - Please don't replace human interaction with AI.
The dead economy theory - It does make you wonder what the end game is for AI. If companies replace all their workers with AI who is going to be left to buy their products.
Codex just found a "workaround" of not having sudo on my PC - That is pretty scary. I wonder how long until we all have to work on machines that aren't connected to the internet at all for our own safety.
💻 Programming #
SQLite is all you need for durable workflows - I still think Postgres is the way to go when you building out multi-user web applications. Especially if you need it to scale. For self-hosted applications with only a limited number of users then SQLite is certainly the easier choice.
Are you standard.site? - This seems similar to adding og: metadata to a website but makes your site more easily discoverable with ATProto. I don's use Bluesky any more, but I am going to look at adding this in to my site.
🏢 Tech Industry #
GTA 6 Developers Unionize - I wonder if we will see more unions for software developers cropping up as AI threatens the industry.
Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet? - I really hope the UK doesn't ban VPNs. I really need to look into decentralised alternatives to the internet before everything goes all 1984 on us.
Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min - Oh how kind of Meta to allow their employees 30 minutes of privacy. Choosing to work for Meta these days is already an odd choice, but why would anyone want to work for them now?
I keep getting floored by people saying programming as a job is “over”. I was jealous of engineers my whole life for having the ability to speak code with which they create software. The ability to speak code has never been more important than now, when we are able to delegate the code speaking. If you can’t understand what the AI wrote, you fall back on hope and trust, and I don’t think that’s such a good idea.
From Dragan Babić - Being able to code is still a superpower when everyone else treats it like a black box.
🧠 Miscellaneous #
I am retiring from tech to live offline - It is sad to see AI push people out of tech. At the same time I can see myself living an offline life in retirement.
Writing by hand makes us think better - I have started doing morning page again. I am not quite at the recommend 3 pages a day, but it does help me think better than writing on a computer.
💬 Quote of the Week #
It’s not giving up to put your current path on indefinite pause. He could pick up his law career exactly where he left off if he wanted to, but that is the furthest thing from his mind.
From Fear-Setting: The Most Valuable Exercise I Do Every Month by Tim Ferriss.
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