For context, I'm an SDE1 with ~16 months of experience and this is my first SDE job. How many of you do coding in your spare time? What kind of stuff do you do that you feel like helps you become a better engineer? I just feel like I dont get as many opportunities to program at work as I'd like in a way that helps me learn and even though I'm being told I am raising the bar for an SDE1 in many areas, if I had to take the Amazon SDE interview today there is no way I would pass. I have a healthy life outside of work in terms of what I do recreationally so I'm not looking to only program all the time and become unhealthy. I'm just looking to improve my programming ability and ability to just read code in general so I can improve as an engineer because I just don't feel like I'm growing as a developer by only writing in java and never learning about any technologies outside of internal tools. I've thought about buying a raspberry pi and doing some IoT stuff or making an Alexa skill. Sorry if this has been asked before, feel free to point me at the place where it's been posted
TC
32 smiles per day
Never coded in spare time. You dont get enough coding at work?
I guess work hasn’t beaten the life out of you yet. You’ll see what these old dogs are saying soon enough.
I code for stuff/ side projects to simplify my life even when there may be apps present but they do too much or too little. Past projects include - chrome extension , notifiers, iOS apps to de clutter. After investing so much time, I feel bad because none of them are polished enough to be released but do eat considerable amount of my time
Early on its great to code in other languages. You can try taking low cost custom work on Upwork.com, or playing a game like Screeps.com (its awesome)
Leetcode
I’m a SDE2. All the time. I don’t watch TV or play video games anymore. When I do I feel like I’m wasting my time and I could be using my skills for something. I work on my own projects because I want to be successful enough with them to be my own boss, working on something that’s interesting to me.
I don't code much in my spare time anymore. Sometimes I'll spin up a side project and spend a few weeks working on it, but this is sporadic.