Choices
Before getting into the benefits of personal software projects, it's worth taking a brief look at some of the different kinds of projects you could explore. If you wanted to look at embedded programming, you could get yourself a great embedded system for less than $60 (sometimes much less). The most popular choices are Arduino and Raspberry Pi, but there is also the very powerful BeagleBoard and more specialized embedded boards like the TI LaunchPad series.
If you want to get into mobile development, all you need is a smart phone or an iPod Touch and you can do Android or iOS development. You could write a game, a productivity app made just for you, or satisfy some other nagging itch that's been plaguing you.
If you want to explore web development, you have tons of resources available, both online and off, for any number of web development frameworks: Ruby on Rails, Django, ASP.NET MVC, AngularJS, MeteorJS, or something newer and less well-known. There is no shortage of options, and you're bound to come across something new and exciting.
You could even do classic application development in Visual Studio with C# or XCode with Objective-C. There's also system-level programming in Linux. You could study up on your algorithms, look into machine learning, experiment with a new library, or explore what's new in big data. You can even dabble in parallel computing by programming your graphics card with CUDA.
The possibilities are nearly limitless and readily accessible at close to no cost. All of these types of projects are immensely fascinating, but to make any significant progress, you'll have to focus on only one and resist the urge to jump from one to the next like a raccoon chasing shiny objects. If you manage this tremendous feat and settle down to work on a project for an extended period of time, here are some of the benefits that you may experience.
Learn Something New
Starting with the obvious, if you pick a project in an area that you have little experience in, you're going to learn a ton of stuff. By working on a project that's not trivial, you will learn much more than if you had only read about it. Don't get me wrong, I love reading, and I read everything I can. But you won't learn a new language or pick up new skills simply by reading about it. Reading is hugely important and a necessary part of learning, but without something more to cement that knowledge in your brain, you'll quickly forget whatever you read. A project is a great learning tool because you'll struggle with things that seemed simple in the literature, and that struggle and the solutions that you discover along the way will stay with you much longer than what you read.Practice, Practice, Practice
Projects don't have to only be about new things. You can do a project in a language and framework that you already know well and get some great practice out of it. You could get practice in other ways, like doing programming problems on various websites, but these problems focus on narrow pieces of a very large puzzle. While solving small, contrived problems can be fun and instructive—I thoroughly enjoy it myself—working on a larger software project will give you more practice in the context of something real. You'll also be developing other skills that small problems don't address, like designing the software architecture, deciding on the features you want to include or not, and defining the problems that need to be solved in the first place. Software development is so much more than merely writing code, and doing a real project will give you good practice at all of those non-coding skills.Take New Tools for a Spin
For most people, using the hot, new programming language or framework at work is strictly forbidden. Unless you're working on a greenfield project in a company that's willing to take a risk on something that's probably not production ready, you'll be working in one of the well-established, mature programming environments at your day job. A personal software project will give you the opportunity to try out an intriguing new language that you've been meaning to learn, but has been off limits for your work projects. Who knows, if you get good enough at it, you could spin up some little utility projects at work to solve immediate problems that you're having and show off the new tool's advantages. One thing could lead to another, and you could end up adding real value to your company's business while getting a chance to play with new tools more often.A Vehicle for Experimentation
When you've learned a new programming technique or a new language feature, it's probably best to not turn around and try your new-found knowledge out in a production code base right away. You're more likely to tick off your coworkers with all of the mistakes you'll make implementing a design pattern for the first time than actually adding value to a company project. Instead, try experimenting with new techniques on a personal project where you can turn your code upside down and inside out until you've gained a true understanding of the issues involved. Personal projects are also great sandboxes for trying out crazy ideas, just to see if they work.Portfolio Gold Plating
A substantial personal project is a great addition to a work portfolio. If you've made some cool projects while tinkering at home, it's going to give you much more interesting stuff to talk about in an interview, and it's likely to help your CV stand out in a crowded field because it shows that you have a passion for programming. What's more interesting, saying that you implemented some of the business logic for yet another enterprise payroll system, or that you implemented an embedded control system for a robot that can navigate a maze? If the only kind of work experience you've been getting is the former, a personal project is your best opportunity to show off what awesome stuff you can do. Of course, doing a project for the sake of your portfolio alone won't work because the motivation won't be there, but if you're already doing it because you can't stop yourself, putting it in your portfolio is a bonus.Glory and Honor
If you manage to build something in your spare time that's truly valuable and noteworthy, and you release it as OSS, you could make a real difference in other programmers' lives. A lot of the frameworks and libraries we use on a daily basis were made in programmers' spare time, and the authors are pretty well-known in the software development community. Fame can be a blessing and a curse, though, and these OSS projects can take on a life of their own. Persevering with a big open source project is a huge commitment, and it will take a lot of energy to see it through. Even more so than portfolio gold plating, you have to have the motivation to succeed with OSS or you won't get very far.For Fun
This is the reason every passionate programmer does their own software projects, because it is great fun. Exploring new corners of the programming world, experimenting with esoteric and novel programming languages, creating useful things with your imagination and a computer—these are the reasons why programmers get excited about programming and play around with pet projects until the wee hours of the morning. Of all the benefits listed here, none is as important as having fun.…And Profit
A personal project could eventually grow into a personal business or something more. Plenty of thriving businesses started out as a simple idea and some after hours effort. The amount of effort required to make a viable business is substantially more than messing around with pet projects, but if you think you have a good product that people would be willing to pay for, don't be afraid to charge for it. The worst that could happen is no one buys it. Then you've still got a great project for your portfolio, you learned a ton of stuff, and you hopefully had fun doing it.It Needs to be Done
Sometimes there's a hole where a software product should be, and if you want it filled, you are the one who's going to have to do it. There's something about your life that keeps bugging you, and you simply can't find the right tool to fix it. You've searched endlessly on the app stores and Google and you've come up empty. Sometimes you don't even need to go to those lengths. Sometimes your problem is so narrow and personal that you know it's only going to get done right if you do it yourself. A custom piece of software can be one of the most satisfying projects because you're solving your own problem with your own skills and ideas. Nothing feels as great as that.For the Children
If you have kids, working on a project at home can be a great learning experience for everyone. You get to teach them something that you love, and they get to spend time with one of their favorite people while doing something fascinating. Depending on their age, you'll have to tailor the project to something they can handle, but all kids love to build things, create things, and control things. Software projects cater to all of those desires, and it's great for them to learn how to solve problems through their own creativity and imagination. They'll learn how to overcome problems by your example. Watching you struggle with the problems that crop up in programming, realizing that they are solvable, and working through them together is invaluable. Watching their reactions when something finally starts working is incredibly fun and rewarding. The sheer force of excitement from seeing their creations come to life will keep both you and and your kids coming back for more.Change the World
Big things start from small beginnings. If your personal project is filling a need that extends beyond yourself, it's quite possible that you could change the world. Change doesn't necessarily mean revolution, and the world doesn't necessarily mean all of planet Earth, at least in the beginning. Something that started out as a simple way to connect and share with other people or to optimize your health and lifestyle could grow into The Next Big Thing. Who knows? You'll never find out unless you start that project. Go learn something, have some fun, and change the world.
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