It's OK to abandon your side-project

4 hours ago

Side-projects are common in the web industry, but they don't always succeed, and many developers abandon them.
There's pressure from developer culture to constantly ship side-projects, which can cause anxiety, especially for beginners.
The author suggests discussing failed side-projects openly, similar to retrospectives at work, to highlight their value.
A personal example involves building a Latvian noun conjugation quiz app to learn grammar cases, which was deployed and abandoned the same day.
Despite not using the app, the process of researching and coding it helped the author learn the noun endings indirectly.
The realization is that side-project success should be redefined by the learning experience, not just by shipping a product.
Abandoned projects can teach valuable skills, such as building APIs, working with GIS data, or creating animations.
Advice for beginners: focus on side-projects for personal learning and exploration, not just for external validation, and don't hesitate to abandon them if they cause stress or burnout.

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