Side Projects vs Open Source Contribution
Developers should engage in side projects to gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies, experiment with ideas without workplace constraints, and showcase their abilities to potential employers meets developers should engage in open source contribution to gain real-world experience, build a public portfolio, and collaborate with global peers, which enhances job prospects and technical credibility. Here's our take.
Side Projects
Developers should engage in side projects to gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies, experiment with ideas without workplace constraints, and showcase their abilities to potential employers
Side Projects
Nice PickDevelopers should engage in side projects to gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies, experiment with ideas without workplace constraints, and showcase their abilities to potential employers
Pros
- +They are particularly valuable for learning new programming languages, frameworks, or tools, building a public portfolio for job applications, and solving niche problems that interest the developer personally
- +Related to: portfolio-development, self-directed-learning
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Open Source Contribution
Developers should engage in open source contribution to gain real-world experience, build a public portfolio, and collaborate with global peers, which enhances job prospects and technical credibility
Pros
- +It is particularly valuable for learning best practices in version control, code review, and project management, and is essential for roles in companies that prioritize open-source culture or for contributing to widely-used tools like Linux, React, or TensorFlow
- +Related to: git, github
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Side Projects if: You want they are particularly valuable for learning new programming languages, frameworks, or tools, building a public portfolio for job applications, and solving niche problems that interest the developer personally and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Open Source Contribution if: You prioritize it is particularly valuable for learning best practices in version control, code review, and project management, and is essential for roles in companies that prioritize open-source culture or for contributing to widely-used tools like linux, react, or tensorflow over what Side Projects offers.
Developers should engage in side projects to gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies, experiment with ideas without workplace constraints, and showcase their abilities to potential employers
Disagree with our pick? nice@nicepick.dev