I'm sure a few people here will recognize this idea as I've mentioned it a few times. I built ProjectNext.app. My ultimate goal is to create a platform that encourages developers (beginners and veterans alike) to self-educate.
I've been working on a long term project for a very long time now, debtCollect.io - it's starting to piss me off. What I mean by that is the codebase has started to give me tunnel vision and the project has stopped being fun. I've been trying to figure out why, because that's a big problem... starting to dread working on the primary project. I reflected on it and I just needed to work on a side project and learn a new technology or 2 to refresh myself.
More than anything on earth, I love learning new technologies, programming languages, frameworks, etc. I love networking with developers. I love the accomplishment that comes with launching an app FAST!
ProjectNext.app was my 'pilot' to see if it could be done. Could I build a social platform for self-teaching and rapidly building MVP's inside of a week? Can I create a platform where developers can track their progress in learning technologies while iterating through ideas and looking for a spark? I think I did. It was rough after the first week, so I extended it through a second week.
It's been 2 weeks and most of the core functionality is in place, more importantly, I'm feeling refreshed. It's ironic because I've put in more hours coding in the past 2 weeks than I normally would have, but I think like a lot of developers, I thrive on progress and it felt so good to learn new technologies.
Now I'm trying to iterate on this idea and make it more fun and valuable to developers. I'm open to any ideas. There are a number of placeholder projects on there that I'll be deleting this week. If anyone here is willing to see what it's all about, I'd love to discuss it with you.
Here's what I'm asking. Are you working on:
- A side project?
- Learning a new technology/language/framework?
- A vague idea or concept that isn't perfectly clear yet?
If so, I'd encourage you to join me on ProjectNext.app - I'll do everything in my power to help it thrive as a platform for 'side projects' and I'd LOVE some input.
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope you're all enjoying the calm before the storm that is... the holidays. Or to my fellow Semites, 🕎✡ Happy Chanukah ✡🕎 - (That's the spelling I grew up with...)
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I'm not a dev so maybe not the target audience for this, but I like the idea. I think if they're more about skills-development and 'maybe it becomes a thing' then you could reframe it a bit i.e. not 'Semi-disposable' but more like 'Skills hack' where you pick a random challenge and spend a couple of days at it so that you can learn new technologies etc?
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Nice work Bob - this looks like a great project.
My quick feedback is the landing page is quite dense with text - would be great to have a one-liner somewhere uptop that makes it clear what this is. "A place to build your next side project" or something along those lines.
Happy Chanukah/Hannukah!
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Thank you - I was thinking the same thing. It was much smaller but I got carried away and before I knew it, it was a wall of text. I'll do something about that today. I also recorded my journey building it so I'll edit the video and host it on the projectNext.App page for Project Next App. I really want to make it a place focused on self-educating with the help of some structure, resources, and community... hopefully...