SUMMARY: How To Finish Programming Projects 1. Hava a well-defined scope - Projects exist not because of the outcome, but because of the process (understand how something is built). - The theory is very far from practice - Look at the projects from the perspective of what you will learn, not what you will build. - Before you start your project, use your readme as an outline, and list out each functional aspect of the project as a sort of a first draft of an MVP (minimum viable product). - One way to discover the requirements is to write User Stories (small chunks of work that a user can interact with). - Create engineering stories (things the users can't see or feel, but are equally as important - (i.e. unit tests and DRY patterns). - Fundamentally all that matters is that your goals are small, well-defined, and focused.
I thought I had finished my project. But after showing my friend who is in the industry he told me I was away off from presenting it to employers. He looked at the methods I was using the achieve my functionality and my practices and told me these would be the factors employers would look at first thing to know if they would hire me or not. Honestly so glad I had this conversation with him. My code with the project at the moment is fine for getting used to the framework I'm working with (Android, Kotlin), and counts as a project to put on my resume. But my mentors feedback gives me more to work on for the future. I do want that moment where I can say it's finished!
@@vectoralphaAI I decided to take on my mentors comments about my code quality to my next portfolio project. Im leaving the code for the old project as is and just counting it towards my portfolio, I could refactor the code for the old project, but I just need something new to start on and apply the feedback I had received from the old project into this new one .
This used to be my biggest obstacle when trying to code. I'd always get hung up on trying to create the perfect project that would scale into some next great breakthrough. In large part, thanks to your videos, I've broken out of that mindset. I now look back on old, archived repos with a sense of nostalgia. Even though they most likely look like absolute crap to everybody else, I appreciate them for what I learned while making them. I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos, and it's awesome to see that your channel has grown this far already. Keep up the great work!
This is really good. With the clear MVP you also give yourself a goal where you can fight through the problems because the goal is digestible! The learning comes through the fighting, and if the battles seem doable, then you can do it!
This video is so timely. I'm currently starting to build small projects and what I've done is create a roadmap, a readme that contains a checklist of major features that I would need to do in the app. I appreciate your content as always.
This advice is SO important. It's actually how I got my internship, and then full-time job at the same company! Coincidentally, I made a "weather application" as well, using Python. It would use a weather API to get some data, and then store that data in a local MySQL database. I never even did anything UI-wise. Once the data was stored in a database, it could be displayed in the terminal. It was a command prompt-only application, nothing fancy. :P I never got farther than this, though. I should've. But college life be busy like that. :/ During the interview, I was able to explain my thought processes and design decisions very well (well duh, I wrote it!). But I was able to put good confidence into my answers because of this. I explained how APIs worked, how I was using MySQL, etc. The interviewers ate it up. Personal projects will set you apart from other coders. It shows initiative, true problem solving skills, and a solution-oriented mindset, and more. All are important to getting that first job. So, for those struggling here, just hit the grind, and do your best. You got this. :D
I hate that people say not to watch CZcams videos for motivation with coding but videos like these are helpful, I never even considered using a readme as a contextual pseudo code wireframe if you will, but now I’m going to try. Good ideas are the currency of the 21st century
Wow, this one hit me right in the feels. That internal voice of "why bother?" and "I already know this" is my constant nemesis when it comes to finishing projects. You cut through the fluff and tackled that head-on with actionable advice. This isn't just helpful, it's a game-changer for me. Thank you, BigBox, for seeing right through the B.S. and giving me the kick in the pants I needed. ✌
You really opened my eyes here, I think the reason I haven't been completing projects is cause I approach it as a monolith instead of breaking it down into those manageable functional aspects. I'm gonna start doing this. Thanks Bro.
this video opened my eyes, i was struggling a lot with my improvement as a game developer, i was trying to make "good games" but it was a waste of time, i will start a project, then leave it there because i feelt like it was not good enough. Now i see that is not about the game being "good " or "bad" is about learning HOW to actually code and use the tools, i had the feeling that game dev wasnt for me, because coding feelt so hard, now that i can focus on just building things and learn while doing is way more "easy" and chill. Learning now is FUN AGAIN, thank you for this video!
Thank you for this BigBox. I'll go look back into the old dusty archives. See which one of my Frankenstein projects I should revive and focus on the process ⚡
You are speaking from my heart man. I am making a game engine. It looks like shit, but it's easily the coolest and most fun thing I've ever worked on. I don't know if it will ever be used for something, but being able to say "yeah, I did that", instead of just clicking 3 buttons in a commercial game engine, brings me so much joy.
Thx a lot! I really need that. Every time I think about project, my primary focus is always on building the best app, but then I end up stressing about the final product instead of enjoying the process and learning. It's like, I finish a project, and it's never as lit as I imagined, kinda messing up each time.
Personally I've made it a habit to first build my tools as simple scripts which take some input file/folder and produce some output, usually for productivity tools. I've found that this leads to me making much simpler tools due to the constraints. Now I'm looking to recreate the behavior from some of tools using the technology stack I want to use. Having a simple reference helps me limit the scope much better, and additionally I've already proven that the tool is useful to me.
I've been really doing well since I read about your "1commit per day" principle, Thank you for that! I am still a beginner learning intermediate JS, and soon I'll be building projects. So I hope we all succeed!
I'm currently majoring in Systems Development in Brazil and the amount of people saying that what college teaches will never be applicable in real life coding scares me. I literally recognize all the stuff you mentioned in this video because I learnt it at college (and am learning) and have already used it on my projects. I really love my college and major. Your videos are always helpful too, thanks! ❤
I needed to hear this lol. Unfortunately i had to learn the hard way and only just recently started putting together exactly what you were saying, but seeing this reinforced it.
I never outlined my requirements, I would just keep tacking things on, then get overwhelmed and lost and wonder why... this is some great advice that I am going to start implementing from now on! Thanks
I am succeeding, because of you. Thanks man. Ps. I'm absolutely serious. It's Saturday 2pm where I'm at, and I'm 7 hours into coding up my app, taking breaks every hour for about 5 mins.
I remember my first big project, made the UI, change pages, made pretty much every part of it work individually from the rest,made it so you stayed logged in on exit, made data encryption function, made an email sending method with activation code, imported a map, made it calculate the area of the shape you drew, made it do an api call to get data for that region, filtered the data, used it to calculate the energy solar panels would make in that region. Whole thing wasn't much to look at as a final product, but man was it a lot to put together.
i was just messing around with a project idea like 5 mins ago. i got scared a bit and i was looking for something to escape but i found this instead. i guess i'll work on it a bit more. thanks
Personally, I love projects with a specific outcome goal and I only work on things I want to exist for my own use (and if others can benefit from it too, that's a plus). The hard part is sticking to an MVP because it's so easy to get distracted by shiny or technically interesting features that end up not adding much value and delay the project. Nowadays, I choose projects really carefully, and if I start, I don't switch to another one until I have something I wouldn't be embarased to share on my website.
Would love a programming community where I could share my projects. All chatrooms I've tried are 90% off topic and tech twitter is just too massive and corporate
I ve always failed to continue projects and my problem is that i don't get satisfied with the things i have done so i start again again till i get bored ... Good advices man keep up
I like to create a mind map with the whole menu interactions and what each interaction leads to, with details in every node explaining what’s going on and how
I recently tried to make something that had no intended use, just to see if I could program it. It may sound weird, but I learned something from it and challenged myself so all in all I count it as a win. Later I found a use for it because it could be coupled on top of another project. So you never know what a "useless" project might lead to.
"Cocky assumption that I know how to build something because I could theoretically do it" I can't exemplify how accurate that statement was with me. There's a mountain of real world complexity to deal with typically when you start trying to apply your bullshit theory. And I have realized on numerous occasions that I'm definitely not as smart as I... theoretically am.
bruhh i needed to hear that or else i would have not stopped my current project which is a simple chat application. i was dead setting on makig it as next discord lol..
I just finished my php project. I did it mainly because its part of my exam grading. And because I didnt do any exercice in php but just studied stuff, so i used the project to gain xp and level up xd. My project took 2 weeks. Then my friend couldnt do his because of health issues, I offered to help and did his in like 2 days cz I knew what I had to do
I just started a CS program should I prioritize The Odin Project as well or what do you recommend? I want to become a dev and speed up my learning and find a job before graduating. I really want to work remotely too.
2:16... seeing Jest brought some not-so-good flashbacks 😂💀 my goodness, I spent the whole of today trying to run my tests on my nuxt app but it was hell ngl... it was either a version mismatch in something, a problem with babel, a problem with a config file, renaming files to commonJS... i chose this
SUMMARY:
How To Finish Programming Projects
1. Hava a well-defined scope
- Projects exist not because of the outcome, but because of the process (understand how something is built).
- The theory is very far from practice
- Look at the projects from the perspective of what you will learn, not what you will build.
- Before you start your project, use your readme as an outline, and list out each functional aspect of the project as a sort of a first draft of an MVP (minimum viable product).
- One way to discover the requirements is to write User Stories (small chunks of work that a user can interact with).
- Create engineering stories (things the users can't see or feel, but are equally as important - (i.e. unit tests and DRY patterns).
- Fundamentally all that matters is that your goals are small, well-defined, and focused.
It almost took me more time to read the summary than listen to the entire video lol
@@_justnick haha
bro ITS A 2 MINUTE VIDEO.
this man always arrives when i need him most
now let's hope that when the world needs him most he won't vanish 🫡
Pause
I needed this too.
I thought I had finished my project. But after showing my friend who is in the industry he told me I was away off from presenting it to employers. He looked at the methods I was using the achieve my functionality and my practices and told me these would be the factors employers would look at first thing to know if they would hire me or not.
Honestly so glad I had this conversation with him. My code with the project at the moment is fine for getting used to the framework I'm working with (Android, Kotlin), and counts as a project to put on my resume. But my mentors feedback gives me more to work on for the future. I do want that moment where I can say it's finished!
At that point you will never ever be done and you will always find something else to improve or work on and never actually move forward.
Hes getting better @@vectoralphaAI
@@vectoralphaAI I decided to take on my mentors comments about my code quality to my next portfolio project. Im leaving the code for the old project as is and just counting it towards my portfolio, I could refactor the code for the old project, but I just need something new to start on and apply the feedback I had received from the old project into this new one .
This used to be my biggest obstacle when trying to code. I'd always get hung up on trying to create the perfect project that would scale into some next great breakthrough. In large part, thanks to your videos, I've broken out of that mindset. I now look back on old, archived repos with a sense of nostalgia. Even though they most likely look like absolute crap to everybody else, I appreciate them for what I learned while making them.
I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos, and it's awesome to see that your channel has grown this far already. Keep up the great work!
old code nostalgia is so nice, love you bro thanks for the comment
why you are always to the point and relatable af mmaaaan !!!
I will cry
classic bigbox providing high value and actually implementable content
the funny fact is i was sooo sleep deprived when i recorded this HAHA
@@bigboxSWE lmaoo
This is really good. With the clear MVP you also give yourself a goal where you can fight through the problems because the goal is digestible! The learning comes through the fighting, and if the battles seem doable, then you can do it!
This video is so timely. I'm currently starting to build small projects and what I've done is create a roadmap, a readme that contains a checklist of major features that I would need to do in the app. I appreciate your content as always.
I love the way your videos get straight to the point literally giving the answer in the first few seconds
This advice is SO important. It's actually how I got my internship, and then full-time job at the same company!
Coincidentally, I made a "weather application" as well, using Python. It would use a weather API to get some data, and then store that data in a local MySQL database. I never even did anything UI-wise. Once the data was stored in a database, it could be displayed in the terminal. It was a command prompt-only application, nothing fancy. :P I never got farther than this, though. I should've. But college life be busy like that. :/
During the interview, I was able to explain my thought processes and design decisions very well (well duh, I wrote it!). But I was able to put good confidence into my answers because of this. I explained how APIs worked, how I was using MySQL, etc. The interviewers ate it up.
Personal projects will set you apart from other coders. It shows initiative, true problem solving skills, and a solution-oriented mindset, and more. All are important to getting that first job.
So, for those struggling here, just hit the grind, and do your best. You got this. :D
I hate that people say not to watch CZcams videos for motivation with coding but videos like these are helpful, I never even considered using a readme as a contextual pseudo code wireframe if you will, but now I’m going to try. Good ideas are the currency of the 21st century
You're a blessing bigboss.
Each advice for this man is so amazing thanks BigBox for all you are doing
Wow, this one hit me right in the feels. That internal voice of "why bother?" and "I already know this" is my constant nemesis when it comes to finishing projects. You cut through the fluff and tackled that head-on with actionable advice. This isn't just helpful, it's a game-changer for me. Thank you, BigBox, for seeing right through the B.S. and giving me the kick in the pants I needed.
✌
You really opened my eyes here, I think the reason I haven't been completing projects is cause I approach it as a monolith instead of breaking it down into those manageable functional aspects. I'm gonna start doing this. Thanks Bro.
this video opened my eyes, i was struggling a lot with my improvement as a game developer, i was trying to make "good games" but it was a waste of time, i will start a project, then leave it there because i feelt like it was not good enough. Now i see that is not about the game being "good " or "bad" is about learning HOW to actually code and use the tools, i had the feeling that game dev wasnt for me, because coding feelt so hard, now that i can focus on just building things and learn while doing is way more "easy" and chill. Learning now is FUN AGAIN, thank you for this video!
Thank you for this BigBox. I'll go look back into the old dusty archives. See which one of my Frankenstein projects I should revive and focus on the process ⚡
You are speaking from my heart man. I am making a game engine. It looks like shit, but it's easily the coolest and most fun thing I've ever worked on. I don't know if it will ever be used for something, but being able to say "yeah, I did that", instead of just clicking 3 buttons in a commercial game engine, brings me so much joy.
Thx a lot! I really need that. Every time I think about project, my primary focus is always on building the best app, but then I end up stressing about the final product instead of enjoying the process and learning. It's like, I finish a project, and it's never as lit as I imagined, kinda messing up each time.
Personally I've made it a habit to first build my tools as simple scripts which take some input file/folder and produce some output, usually for productivity tools. I've found that this leads to me making much simpler tools due to the constraints. Now I'm looking to recreate the behavior from some of tools using the technology stack I want to use. Having a simple reference helps me limit the scope much better, and additionally I've already proven that the tool is useful to me.
Hi, could u elaborate on some productivity tools that you made scripts for? Sounds interesting
@@rado147came here to write the same thing
Awesome videos man! straight and to the point with important insights
I've been really doing well since I read about your "1commit per day" principle, Thank you for that! I am still a beginner learning intermediate JS, and soon I'll be building projects. So I hope we all succeed!
I'm currently majoring in Systems Development in Brazil and the amount of people saying that what college teaches will never be applicable in real life coding scares me. I literally recognize all the stuff you mentioned in this video because I learnt it at college (and am learning) and have already used it on my projects. I really love my college and major. Your videos are always helpful too, thanks! ❤
I needed to hear this lol. Unfortunately i had to learn the hard way and only just recently started putting together exactly what you were saying, but seeing this reinforced it.
crazy you dropped this the very day i decided to do this on my own accord. Like a tech bro angel on my shoulders
I never outlined my requirements, I would just keep tacking things on, then get overwhelmed and lost and wonder why... this is some great advice that I am going to start implementing from now on! Thanks
I am succeeding, because of you. Thanks man. Ps. I'm absolutely serious. It's Saturday 2pm where I'm at, and I'm 7 hours into coding up my app, taking breaks every hour for about 5 mins.
Thank you, this is such an important perspective that I constantly lose sight of.
thank for lovable content, best way of learning programming it's about focusing on simple tasks of applications parts and projects only!!!
I just watched this video because it answered the question of the title in the first second of the video. Thank you for not making us waste our times
Thanks a lot. Love you. Spot on as always
Excellent points, worth repeating. Thank you!
I really love these videos, thx a lot!
You always coming in clutch
Love this channel for fulfill my energy to learning 😊
u literally pure my inner thoughts man, brb kms
thank you bigbox you never fail to fill me with code every week
Engineering stories. Nice one. Never thought of that 👍
Just what I needed to hear
The opening minute alome slaps so so hard. 12/10 video
Chadman always delivers
Bro thank you because you keep me motivated
It took me way to long to figure this out. Complete game changer.
I was currently in the middle of building an endless project (its been 8+ hrs rn overnight) but thanks to you I'm saved 😭
I remember my first big project, made the UI, change pages, made pretty much every part of it work individually from the rest,made it so you stayed logged in on exit, made data encryption function, made an email sending method with activation code, imported a map, made it calculate the area of the shape you drew, made it do an api call to get data for that region, filtered the data, used it to calculate the energy solar panels would make in that region. Whole thing wasn't much to look at as a final product, but man was it a lot to put together.
I've only watched this one video, so I could say I've "known" you for 2 minutes and 38 seconds, but I love you too
Thanks dude, subbed
big love bro
i was just messing around with a project idea like 5 mins ago. i got scared a bit and i was looking for something to escape but i found this instead. i guess i'll work on it a bit more. thanks
right concept at a right time.
Excellent delivery!
amazing video as usual bigbrobox
Personally, I love projects with a specific outcome goal and I only work on things I want to exist for my own use (and if others can benefit from it too, that's a plus). The hard part is sticking to an MVP because it's so easy to get distracted by shiny or technically interesting features that end up not adding much value and delay the project.
Nowadays, I choose projects really carefully, and if I start, I don't switch to another one until I have something I wouldn't be embarased to share on my website.
Thank you ! I love you
Nice motivation while I'm building some project, ty for shorting
Love you always man 🎉
Last line made me cry 😭
THIS SAVES LIVES
Needed this.
bro is the best programming CZcams and maybe the only that doesn't try to sell you a stupid online course 🥶
i love u man
It's like I was waiting for this video
Thanks to you I still do one commit per day. which make me consistent. and love do to everyday small amount of work
Would love a programming community where I could share my projects. All chatrooms I've tried are 90% off topic and tech twitter is just too massive and corporate
This is a good idea.... ProductHunt was like that, not sure what is happening now.
r/Sideproject I believe
Programming discord maybe?
It's all about the efforts, not the outcome 🔥
Dang thanks for this reminder!
I ve always failed to continue projects and my problem is that i don't get satisfied with the things i have done so i start again again till i get bored ... Good advices man keep up
this channel gave me fireship vibes
Great stuff!
I like to create a mind map with the whole menu interactions and what each interaction leads to, with details in every node explaining what’s going on and how
I recently tried to make something that had no intended use, just to see if I could program it. It may sound weird, but I learned something from it and challenged myself so all in all I count it as a win. Later I found a use for it because it could be coupled on top of another project. So you never know what a "useless" project might lead to.
Small, well defined, focus. Worlds to live by.
Can't believe this content is free. Algo bless you
It's a good world when these ppl exists
omg i love you
"Cocky assumption that I know how to build something because I could theoretically do it"
I can't exemplify how accurate that statement was with me.
There's a mountain of real world complexity to deal with typically when you start trying to apply your bullshit theory. And I have realized on numerous occasions that I'm definitely not as smart as I... theoretically am.
bruh u like the ceo of procrastination (liked + subbed)
Amazing video; gained a sub; not less, not more
You are so awesome............ Dude............ oh my
hey box, can you give some tips on how to enjoy something? i really love the way you explain stuff
must watch video. Bro told the harsh truth.
bruhh i needed to hear that or else i would have not stopped my current project which is a simple chat application. i was dead setting on makig it as next discord lol..
Not the hero we deserved but the hero we needed
Bro reinvented agile
amazing
I love hearing you talk like a human more :)
You are always favourite in my tech life BigBoxSWE🎉🎉🎉
I just finished my php project.
I did it mainly because its part of my exam grading.
And because I didnt do any exercice in php but just studied stuff, so i used the project to gain xp and level up xd.
My project took 2 weeks.
Then my friend couldnt do his because of health issues, I offered to help and did his in like 2 days cz I knew what I had to do
big bro earned a like+subscribe in 1 second
would have desparately needed those tips haha.
still helpful to remind myself of this tho
I just started a CS program should I prioritize The Odin Project as well or what do you recommend?
I want to become a dev and speed up my learning and find a job before graduating. I really want to work remotely too.
great 👍
good youtuber.
Yep the PROCESS. Man you're fucking practical!
Thank you Mr BigboxSWE :)
You are gem
Thought this was a fireship video
Thanks brother
2:16... seeing Jest brought some not-so-good flashbacks 😂💀
my goodness, I spent the whole of today trying to run my tests on my nuxt app but it was hell ngl...
it was either a version mismatch in something, a problem with babel, a problem with a config file, renaming files to commonJS...
i chose this
💋 thank you
Alright, you fixed "user stories", nice!
Best box