Sometimes you write code for yourself. Nobody else will look at it. Nobody will review it. It sure isn't going to be shipped as part of a product.

Why write that code then?

The act of writing code is a creative process. It is similar to writing words on the page. You are creating something. You are a writer. The more you write the better you be as a writer. It's the same for code.

I write all kinds of code. Most of it never sees the light of day. It is the process of writing the code that allows me to, in a sense, exercise.

  • I've written code to test ideas only to use them later in a real project. I call it practice.
  • I written code to see how an API would look. I call that style.

It doesn't matter if the code is shipped in a project. My GitHub profile is littered with abandoned repositories with source code long past it's expiration date. The fact that they exist is proof, to myself, of the practice.

ProTip! Don't delete old repositories you are no longer using because all of your GitHub activity will be deleted with it. I did that when moving to a mono repo for a project.

I don't track my progress on the GitHub activity graph anymore. I track my progress on how many ideas I can exercise in code.

The value of writing is apparent to any writer. The more you write the better you get at writing.

Writing code is writing. Now it's time to get back to it.