When I started my side project, everything felt smooth.
The code was clean. The architecture made sense. The README looked impressive.
Then I tried to actually use it.
That’s usually when the problems begin.
At first, it was small stuff.
A config I hard-coded “just for now.”
An API call that assumed perfect input.
A script that only worked on my machine (of course).
Nothing was technically broken.
But everything felt… optimistic.
The Demo Phase Is a Lie (and That’s Okay)
Most side projects live forever in what I call demo mode.
In demo mode:
- You are the only user
- You know exactly what the system expects
- You never do “the wrong thing” by accident
Demo mode is forgiving. Reality isn’t.
The moment your project touches real usage—cron jobs, retries, edge cases, bad input, network hiccups—it stops being a project and starts becoming software.
That transition is brutal if you’re not expecting it.
The Real Problem Wasn’t the Code
At first, I blamed my implementation.
“I should refactor this.”
“I need better abstractions.”
“This would be fine if I rewrote it.”
Classic developer coping mechanisms.
But the deeper issue wasn’t code quality.
It was that I built everything assuming best-case behavior.
No guardrails.
No visibility.
No clear failure paths.
The system worked… until it didn’t. And when it didn’t, I had no idea why.
I’d Seen This Pattern Before
That’s when it clicked.
This wasn’t a side-project problem.
It was the same problem teams hit when prototypes turn into production systems.
Early systems are wired directly together because it’s fast.
Later, everyone wonders why things are fragile, opaque, and hard to reason about.
The fix is never “more clever code.”
It’s structure.
Reality Forces You to Add Boring Things
The moment your project grows up, you start needing boring things:
- Explicit boundaries
- Logging you can actually read
- Fewer assumptions, more checks
- Slightly slower paths that fail safely
None of this is exciting.
All of it is necessary.
This is the part tutorials skip because it doesn’t screenshot well.
What I Learned (The Hard Way)
Side projects don’t fail because they’re bad ideas.
They fail because we stop at the point where everything almost works.
That’s not laziness—it’s optimism.
But if you want to level up as a developer, the real learning starts when you push past the demo and ask:
- What happens when this breaks?
- How would I debug this at 2 a.m.?
- What assumptions am I making that reality will absolutely violate?
Final Thought
If your side project feels fragile right now, that’s not a failure.
That’s reality knocking.
Open the door.
That’s where the good lessons are.
Top comments (20)
Said really rather well, Art and a true eye-opener for a developing developer such as myself!
Thanks.
If you need any help, feel free to contact me anytime.
It's always open.
Cheers, Art. To be honest, just the quality of content on DEV - such as your own - really helps but I will, of course, reach out!
Thank you so much—that truly means a lot coming from you. I’m really glad the content is helpful 🙌
You're too kind, Art. Yes, very helpful indeed!
Very true. most “failed” side projects just hit real users and real constraints for the first time. That moment isn’t failure, it’s the shift from toy to product.
That stage is actually a huge milestone. Hitting real users means you’re building something that matters, and learning from real constraints is what turns a good idea into a real product.
You hit the nail on the head - it's about getting the little details right, not about getting something to work "more or less" ... look at this article I came across some time ago, I think it's very relevant to this discussion:
dev.to/thebitforge/the-architectur...
What the author advocates goes pretty far, it looks solid and rigorous but looks like a LOT of work - but I do think he has a point, and it's more or less the same point as the one you're trying to make - right?
Absolutely — you captured it perfectly. I really appreciate how thoughtfully you connected that article to the point here; the emphasis on precision and discipline may be demanding, but it’s exactly what separates solid engineering from “just working” solutions, and your perspective shows real maturity as a developer.
Thank you! Well I did definitely saw a "link" between the two articles - although I think that the approach as explained in the other article might be overkill for many (most?) projects/systems - but, for a "mission critical" production system, it might be the right approach ... anyway, I thought it was interestig, it struck me as pretty original, hadn't seen something like that before ... and your post emphasizes the same point!
Excellent Post!! I really feel the same pain that you have discussed. I always thought I could make things better just by refactoring my code, but that wasn’t true. The answer was & always is that I need the boring stuff. All of it is necessary!!
👏 Your honesty about embracing the “boring stuff” shows real growth as a developer, and that mindset is exactly what leads to long-term improvement.
Can relate to it totally!
😎
Thank you for sharing
Thanks👌
Great post!! Thank you
Thanks for your attention!
👌
“Demo mode is forgiving. Reality isn’t.” That line nails it. The moment you try to use your own project like a stranger would, everything you assumed gets exposed.
Exactly—demo paths hide friction, but real usage stress-tests every assumption. Treating your own product like an external user is the fastest way to surface design and architecture blind spots.