Ask HN: How to get involved in projects, or how to start your own.

11 points by kzisme 12y ago ↗ HN

Hello HN, I'm currently studying software development and I have a decent time grasp on Python and C++ currently. The only issue is how to improve more. I'm still new to programming, and I'm looking for suggestions on beginner projects or things I can do myself or with others to learn.

5 comments

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sideproject 12y ago ↗

Would love for you to check out my project - sideprojectors.com

http://sideprojectors.com

plenty of interesting projects to pick up or find someone to work with.

I believe the best way is to create something that you're interested in!

sigvef 12y ago ↗

Getting into the game jam scene is a great way to find projects to work on. A game jam is a short game prototype festival/hackathon where developers and artists get together to create simple games. Game jam projects are usually fun, creative, have tangible objectives and short time frames, which makes it easy to see projects to completion.

Just this weekend, a 48-hour game jam called Bacon Game Jam was held - you can see the games made during that game here: https://bacongamejam.org/jams/bacongamejam-07/games/ , or drop by at #bacongamejam @ Freenode on IRC to say hi!

You can also find general info about game jams here: http://www.gamejamcentral.com/ .

tanmaydesai89 12y ago ↗

Join a startup either as an intern or as an employee. Trust me.

fvt 12y ago ↗

Find a goal you love or care about and either find a project that shares the same vision as yours, or just create the project from scratch and lead it.

Open sourcing your work is an important part of learning as people will eventually send you pull-requests or report issues to you.

Pairing is one of the best way to get up to speed. Joining a company that believes in pair-programming is important, but you might also want to find a pair for yourself (and open source projects could provide you this opportunity).

dzink 12y ago ↗

Look through GitHub for repos you might find compelling and go to hackathons/Startup Weekend events where you can join people in person. Programming is tough to get used to, so pick a problem you are really passionate about and tackle it - your interest in the problem will carry you through the tough parts.

If you have an idea for a project and need feedback or teammates, you can post it on DoerHub.com (it has a lot of university student-led projects with subject matter experts in different areas and people are open to helping/mentoring you when they see you are passionate about learning their craft).