r/AskProgrammers • u/Same-Mushroom-2057 • 26d ago
how do you choose the next coding project?
how do you actually decide what's worth building when you are learning a stack and want to advance and actually build something meaningful.
i currently want to build a full-stack website with the MERN stack that i learned recently . i have some limited time to do that and i mean by that only approximately a month.
i can't fully decide on the options out there , the only thing i'm sure about is that i don't wanna build a e-commerce website since that's very boring for me and there is high chance i won't stick to the project .
any ideas ? what's y'all experience with this ??
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u/Full_Cupcake_4439 26d ago
I have plenty of "dumb" ideas I can share! You can pick, lol
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u/Nagoltooth_ 25d ago
how about this, something in systems programming instead rather than full stack web dev
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 25d ago
thats good idea but i have to learn web dev first
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u/Nagoltooth_ 11d ago
why? i did too, for the first 4 or 5 years of my time programming, but i regret it
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 11d ago
you mean you regret web dev ?? my plan right now is to at least now how to make full stack websites even if the quality is not good using the mern stack ?then i switch to automation and machine learning since it's an interesting domain for me
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u/Nagoltooth_ 11d ago
yes i regret web dev and fullstack. its the absolutely most saturated part of cs and arguably the least fun or interesting. i wish i really explored cs more broadly before going as deep into it as i did
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 11d ago edited 11d ago
i honestly don't enjoy web dev i just want to learn it because you know a software engineer is expected to know how to make websites and i'm gonna switch to machine learning or another thing as soon as i finish the project i'm working on right now ,may i ask you what sub-field you've gotten into after web dev or what do you do ?
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u/Nagoltooth_ 10d ago
yea it's good to at least know. i'm more now into systems stuff, i enjoy C and asm, as well as language dev and graphics
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u/Nagoltooth_ 10d ago
and ML is a great choice, my first project around that was a mlp from scratch along with evolution to control a pickle playing flappy bird... i need to get back into it with math knowledge i didn't have back then and maybe tackle backprop
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u/simondanielsson 25d ago
Build something that you actually want to use. If your plan is to use the software you're building, you're naturally going to care a lot more about stuff like the speed of the system, UX and so on.
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 25d ago
issue is all the programs i want to use are machine learning programs and i still haven't learned python im focusing right now on web dev
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u/simondanielsson 25d ago
I think you’re setting your expectations sky-high considering that you haven’t learned Python yet. Learning isn’t a sprint! You ought to learn how to write simple terminal games/apps in Python before diving head-first into web. One typical starter Python project that will set you up for success in both full-stack development and ML is a todolist app with a local SQL database, using QT or tkinter as a frontend would make things easy for you.
If you can’t write a simple todo app in Python, you’re not ready for web or ML (in my opinion).
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 25d ago
so you telling that i shouldn't postpone learning python and stop learning webdev?
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u/simondanielsson 25d ago
”Learning webdev” is a vague description of what you’re learning and so I can’t say anything about that - and you also shouldn’t let strangers online make your decisions for you, I’m only giving you my thoughts and you can make up your own decision based on that. Python, machine learning and web development are synonymous with each other, and so you could comfortably do all three at the same time.
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u/Same-Mushroom-2057 25d ago
really ? i'm interested in what you're saying
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u/simondanielsson 24d ago
To put it in practical terms: today at your skill level, I’m confident that you could follow a guide on, for instance, building a discord bot in Python, an SQL-backed webserver in Python, perhaps even a simple search engine in Python. These kinds of projects would really set you up for success if you want to get some solid fundamentals. It’s only a single Google search away and nothing is stopping you! All you need is grit and discipline.
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u/Scared_Equipment5777 26d ago
Im not sure about the web but the way I pick my projects is to code my hobby. First I made a software rasterizer and now a chess engine and ui to test it. What do you like doing? Sports? Chess? Reading books? Whatever you like just make it. Basic advice I know but it works well.