Hacker News Reader

HNHacker News

Top New Best Ask Show Jobs

Comment by nathas | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

nathas·

I know this is _wrong_, but that's the point where I start writing side projects at work.

If I'm finishing all my rote work within regular day, at previous jobs I've started working on stupid side projects.

A physics engine in Lua, a maze generator in PyGame, and so on.

View on HN

There is a fine tactic regarding pacing yourself as a developer/engineer - and this is part of it. I think this really helps stave off boredom, especially the kind that might lead someone to want to quit. Sometimes this isn't possible, such as when you're being micromanaged, in which case, it's clear the employer has no interest in you growing your skill, learning, or becoming more valuable.

Careful, if things get ugly the company might end up owning anything you put work into while they were paying you.

In California there's recent law that makes it clear how you can avoid this (from memory, the obvious of using your own time and resources).

That won't help someone who said 'I write them at work'.

It's more complicated than that, it also has to be "not along the lines of business of your employer".

That phrase can mean different things for different employers. If you work at Morgan Stanley then doing a social bookmarking tool in your spare time is probably fine, if you work at Intuit then doing an iPhone game is probably fine. If you work at Google then everything is potentially problematic, as Google has a knack for poking its head into any line of business imaginable.

Oh, I'm aware. I always have very specific stipulations put into my employment contracts.

Regardless, I never write anything of worth for those side projects -- mostly experimental things, or using new languages/frameworks I had never tried.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com