There has been growing pressure in the developer community to have side projects as a way to prove your worth.

People take a dim view of developers who don’t do anything outside of work. If you’re not coding something in your off hours and keeping a portfolio of successful projects it must mean you are not passionate enough, or smart enough, or ambitious enough. And they take the opinion that that is not the kind of developer companies should hire, nor that they want to associate with.

Side projects thus become a sort of humble brag, instead of a project built out of genuine interest. Many developers are building things they don’t seem to give a shit about beyond how it will help their career prospects.

These notions need to end.