Side Projects Haunt Me - FAV0 Weekly #024

Issue 024 - Side Projects Haunt Me

This weekly newsletter is open source and records things seen and heard each week, mainly focusing on front-end, AI, indie development, open-source tools, etc. It is published every Saturday/weekend. Contributions are welcome via submissions, and I look forward to your follow/subscription -- fav0.com

>> Topics to Discuss

Side Projects Haunt Me

I recently came across the above blog post, which mentions:

Sometimes, my side projects feel like they haunt me. I want to build shiny new things, I buy the domain name, I get 90% of the work done… and then that’s it. Time to move on to some new shiny thing.

These projects are almost done, some are so close, and it seems silly to not complete them.

But they no longer shine!

And it's annoying because I genuinely want these projects to exist in the world. I think I know how much work it would take to kickstart them again, and that amount of work is daunting (but the new things are unknown and exciting).

After this blog was posted on HN, it resonated with many people and received encouragement. One comment said:

It's okay not to complete side projects — they were fun once! Be glad that you found some low-cost joy!

Indeed, we've experienced a lot of joy while coding, and even if we don't finish in the end, that joy doesn't just disappear.

Also, completed? What does completed even mean? Is going live considered complete? What about subsequent promotion? Is a daily active user count of 5K considered complete? Or an MRR of 10K? Rest assured, it will never be complete because we are inherently greedy, and these numerical goals will only increase.

That's why there's a term called "contentment brings happiness." Wow! I successfully completed the initialization of this project with a new tech stack; Wow! I made innovations in this project that aren't on the market; Wow! I got the deployment process working; then you encounter a problem like filing or approval, preventing you from sharing it online. But this doesn't negate your three joyful "wows" earlier.

>> Must Read

Astro 5.0

Astro is a web framework for building content-focused sites, including blogs, marketing sites, and e-commerce. If you need a fast-loading website with good SEO, Astro is for you.

Release highlights include:

Native WeChat Mini Programs for Android and iOS

Conditional compilation for seamless cross-platform functionality: Flexibly compatible with cross-end APIs, effortlessly achieving multi-end operation.
Convenient debugging for more efficient development: Supports HotReload and Remote Debug for easier debugging.
Supports skyline for more native-like experiences: Achieves interfaces and interactions closer to Android and iOS native experiences.
Comprehensive API for easily handling business development: Fully adapted for mini-program and mobile app capabilities, meeting diverse development needs.