This is why you spent all that time learning to program

Programmer James Hague:

When I sit down to work on a personal project at home, it’s much simpler. I don’t have to follow the familiar standards of whatever kind of app I’m building. I don’t have to use an existing application as a model. I can disregard history. I can develop solutions without people saying "That’s not how it’s supposed to work!"

That freedom is huge.

Having recently knocked out some side projects of my own recently, James really hits it on the head. If you’re a developer and don’t have the time space to go off and run with your own thing on your own time, you’re missing a big growth opportunity.