The stuff on this page are personal projects that are more tangential in comparison to other personal projects. Most of my self-directed assignments are created, because they satisfy a need or allow room for practicing what I have learned.
Side quests also satisfy a need, but the implementation can be a bit… extra. The fact of the matter is, there may have been an easier or more accessible solution. However, I tend to be very specific about what it is I am trying to achieve, and sometimes preexisting solutions don’t quite hit the mark of what I am looking for.
Side quests also tend to require that I learn things before they’ve appeared in the curricula I’m following and often compel me to learn things that won’t be addressed in my learning materials at all. These are projects that I jump into head first due to some recurring issue that gets more bothersome each time it comes up. And that’s actually where the value is.
Once those projects are completed, I come out the other side with fewer problems and a better grounding in the tools and techniques that add to my life as both a programmer and a regular human being. And who knows, maybe the lessons I’ve learned and the tools I’ve come across will help someone else too!
