My Very First Project: Building Something I Needed

As a beginner software developer looking to break into the workforce, one of the common questions I face is: what kind of project should I build to showcase my skills? One of the more popular replies is along the lines of “Build something you can use” or “Build something that solves a problem for yourself.” This advice can be frustrating for me because I find it difficult to come up with ideas. I see myself as a soldier, a very good one, the kind you point at a problem and get good results delivered. So, coming up with a project that I would find useful was always going to be tricky.

I finally had my Eureka moment when an idea popped into my head. I am an avid news follower; it is part of my daily routine. From watching a large chunk—sometimes all 3-hours—of The Morning Show on Arise TV on YouTube, to browsing different sites to see what is happening in my country and the world at large. I hope you can see where I am going with this. It dawned on me that I could try to collect the front pages of some of the popular newspapers in my country, as quite a number of them have them on display on their website. I could aggregate them and serve them to myself somehow.

I must admit I was quite pleased with myself for coming up with this idea, as it was definitely going to be useful for me, which I have come to agree is really important. This is how newspaper frontpage aggregator was born.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I will detail the building process, the challenges I faced, and the solutions I found along the way.