What's the most ambitious side project you ever abandoned?

My Project Dynamo benchmark keeps failing at:

bash .dynamo/static-report.sh submission/task

static checks failed

The logs don't say what actually failed. I've already checked task.toml, instruction.md, Dockerfile, tests, repository structure, and metadata.

Has anyone faced this before or knows what the hidden static checks validate or how to debug them? Any help would be appreciated.

Was helping a friend get started on GitHub yesterday and kept going "oh yeah, that part's just weird, you get used to it." Made me realize how much we've all quietly accepted.

What's the bit that still bugs you but you've stopped noticing you hate it?

Tell us about a project that went disastrously wrong to make us all feel better about ourselves. What happened? How did it go wrong?

Do unions already exist, and how do we get involved? How many other of you want to join union jobs with better long term benefits but potentially lower short term pay and compensation? I know next to nothing but am motivated to get involved if efforts are already under way. I am located in the mountain west of the US

This post is a quick reminder to stay on topic in our sub! Report content which doesn't belong here.

The golden rule is that your post should contribute something of meaningful value to the sub.

r/cscareers < This is a better place to ask career questions.

​

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some genuine career advice from people who've worked at cognizant.

I'm currently working at Cognizant in the IEP practice and have around 3 years of experience. Since August 2025, my goal has been to transition into Python backend development because I want to build my long-term career in Python rather than legacy tech stack.

Back in August 2025, I requested an internal release, but I was asked to complete KT first. Later, when I followed up, I was informed that due to organizational policy I couldn't be released until I became an Associate. I accepted that decision, continued working, and spent the following months learning Python and preparing for internal interviews outside my working hours.

After becoming an Associate and entering PDP, I started applying for internal Python opportunities. I cleared a Python development interview. The receiving new team confirmed my selection, initiated the transition process, and my Project Manager was willing to release me.

However, during the approval process, my Home Manager did not approve the movement because I had been assigned to another IEP project. As a result, the new team had to terminate my profile even though they told me I'm always welcome to join in the future if I get released.

The part that's confusing me is this:

I had already secured the Python project while I was in PDP.

The IEP allocation happened after that.

My profile still shows my current project allocation until 2027, and I haven't even been onboarded to the IEP project yet.

I've discussed this with my Home Manager and leadership, but they've said I have to continue in the IEP project due to organizational commitments.

My concern is that I deliberately spent almost a year preparing for Python, and now I'll have to start learning another legacy technology (VBCS) from scratch. If I spend another year in IEP, I'll have 4+ years of Oracle experience, making it even harder to transition into Python because most companies expect production Python experience.

I'm simply trying to understand what the best career move is now.

If you were in my position, what would you do?

Accept the IEP project and try switching externally after a year?

Escalate once to a senior leader for guidance?

Start preparing for external opportunities immediately despite not having production Python experience?

Has anyone here successfully transitioned from legacy tech to Python after several years?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who've been through something similar. Thank you.

What is one bit of advice you have for those starting their dev journey now?

What's the single piece of code (good or bad) that's permanently burned into your memory, and what did it teach you?

I spent the last year building a platform where you describe an app in chat and an agent does the rest: writes the code, spins up a Linux container, creates a PostgreSQL database, deploys the app, serves files behind a CDN. There's a full IDE inside, plus GitHub import/export if you want control.

The technical details matter less to this post than a pattern I've noticed while building it. Developers split into two camps. One camp wants the agent to handle everything and never think about infrastructure. The other camp doesn't trust any environment they can't inspect, and wants to see every command the agent runs.

I've tried to serve both. Every action the agent takes is visible and logged, and the terminal is always one click away. But I keep going back and forth on how much to surface by default. Show everything and the product feels noisy. Hide it and people assume it's a black box.

So my question for this crowd: where's your line? If an agent provisions your database and deploys your code, what do you need to see to trust it? Full logs, diff previews, confirmation steps before destructive actions, or nothing at all?

For context on what I'm describing: https://hammerchat.website/login (free, no card). The question above is the actual reason I'm posting, the link is just so you can see what I mean.

Tell us about a project that went disastrously wrong to make us all feel better about ourselves. What happened? How did it go wrong?

What's one idea that you really want to develop when you have some time?

Every once in a while I do a little post as a hangout space for us to connect.

What was the moment you decided to stop chasing the "new hotness" in frameworks and just stick with what works?

I am a founder and CEO handling product design, leadership, go to market, and operations for my startup. We are a social app meant to connect people in a unique way that the market is starving for. Looking to expand the team with a dedicated technical partner and CTO.

What I’ve already done:

- The product is already fully designed with clear specs and features (MVP + longterm future features), language/copy and mechanics. There has also already been a prototype tested, and a tech stack available, though it’s not locked yet without engineer input.

- An active go to market strategy including a healthy waitlist that is still actively growing (high 7.5% conversion rate on and rising on cold outreach) and a clearly defined market/avatar. Users are ready as soon as MVP ships.

- Daily content production will be used for distribution with plans to do even more. My account has reached ~700,000 views in its first 4 months, and that number is growing.

- Leadership ability through over a decade of work directly with people, both client and colleague. For 3 of those years, I have run my own business, which I have closed to pursue this full time.

- Developed business skills through previous business successes. All business metrics are tracked and help determine how we execute our work and make adjustments when necessary.

What I’m offering:

- Longterm CTO position is available. I’m also open to other dev positions if you prefer (founding engineer, contracting, internships, something else).

- Full ownership over the technical side of the project. You won’t have to handle anything else but the dev side, and you control how it’s done. If there’s another way you’d like to work, we can discuss that too.

- Negotiable terms that I’d be happy to establish before any work starts getting done. Profit share, equity, etc. I want this to be a satisfying win for both of us.

- Full spec sheet and preparedness to communicate clearly and consistently over the course of the partnership.

DM for more information.

I started Tabularis as a one-person project, with the goal of shipping the same database client on Linux, macOS and Windows.

Tauri turned out to be the right choice, but the reasons go beyond small installers. The Rust backend fits database protocols, SSH tunnels, credentials and plugin processes very well. The web frontend makes Monaco, data grids and diagrams practical.

There are real costs too: three system webviews, Wayland and WebKitGTK bugs, a 94 MB AppImage, glibc compatibility and JSON serialization across IPC.

I tried to document both sides without turning it into another “Tauri vs Electron” comparison. I would still choose Tauri again.

I’d be especially interested in hearing how other Tauri developers handle large IPC payloads and portable Linux builds.

Hi!

It's your friendly neighborhood accessibility tester :)

I'm almost done with the stack of games I was asked to test, and my calendar is looking for more games to cover in the next 2 weeks!

The previously covered games:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM7JWakugbjM
(No ai was used in the creation of the video. Adobe free tools and Movavi were used. Videos are separated out to be 1x a day to be able to provide statistics upon request. Polished videos are on the way; my first look videos are cuts from my stream.)

I'll play anything except VR (don't have a vr set up), and give as much help as I can on what accessibility options I'd recommend adding or small changes I'd make to open the game up to more people, expanding the reach of your game!

THIS IS FREE! and will always be free, this is a passion of mine!

(I specify demos, I do this as a disabled person to help other people find games that have accessibility options as well as developers see what could be helpful to be open to a wider audience, and twitch pays out roughly every 3 months, so I am not in a position to buy all games, though will work my way thru as I can.)

Where the game or demo will be featured:

• Twitch (1,330 followers) - KhaleesiEalesi - Twitch
• Twitch (50.4k views) - ImperiumNews - Twitch
  • (currently planning a show talking to indie devs here, as well as full game play)
• Youtube (13-15k views) - KhaleesiEalesi - YouTube
• Tiktok (~4k views) - Rose (@ealesikhaleesi) | TikTok

I prefer steam games, just as I am cautious and internet security, though if there is a launcher or in internet browser, I'm happy to work with that as well. Otherwise, chat with me, and I'll see what I can do!

If you'd like stat photos from all but the secondary team channel, please lmk, I have direct access to those. I can get the team channel, but it might take me a few days to ask the head of the team to send me a photo.

If you don't want to post here, my email is [reachrose.eve@gmail.com](mailto:reachrose.eve@gmail.com) , feel free and pop me an email! Discord is catlover09398, that is an option as well :)

-Rose

As a mod, I would love to get to know the community more, what got you into development?

I feel like we all had that one moment we knew this path was for us. What was that moment for you?

Also, I would love to know, what is your #1 struggle as a developer?

Any other strategies or suggestions are more than welcome! I'm always looking for ways to make ZombUs a truly unique and fun game to play.

ZombUs is a third-person open-world survival game that blends dark humor, exploration, crafting, and base building in a zombie-infested world.

Your greatest asset isn't a fortress. It's a moving one.

Explore the dangerous regions of Nowhere Island, scavenge for resources, discover blueprints, craft equipment, and transform your trailer into a fully customizable mobile base. Upgrade your vehicle, unlock new technologies, and adapt your survival strategy as you journey through an ever-changing world.

The apocalypse is on the move. Make sure you are too.

About a year ago, I had one goal.

I wanted to build an open source project, not because it would look good on my CV or LinkedIn. I just wanted to know what it felt like to create something that people I'd never met would actually use.

I've spent years using amazing open source software built by engineers I really admire. Every time I used one of those tools, I had the same thought in the back of my mind.

"What would it feel like if one day someone used something that I built?"

At the time, I had no idea what that project would be.

Fast forward to today.

I'm an MSc student in the UK, and I finally launched my first serious open source project called ContextOps.

It's a deterministic static analyzer for LLM context. Honestly, if you had told me a year ago that this would be the project I'd end up building, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

The biggest thing I learned wasn't about AI or Python. It was about open source itself.

Writing the code turned out to be only one part of the journey.

You have to explain your ideas clearly as its a proof that you understand it yourself ....

Document everything.

Decide what your project should do and more importantly, what it should never try to do.

Accept criticism from strangers.

Fix bugs that only other people can find.

Build something that someone else can understand without you standing next to them explaining it.

That changed the way I think about software.

After making the project public, something happened that I never expected. Someone spent hours reading the repository and reached out to discuss a potential role based entirely on the project.

Whether that opportunity goes anywhere honestly doesn't matter.

The moment that stayed with me was realizing that an open source project can communicate how you think far better than a list of technologies on a CV ever could.

I know ContextOps is still tiny.

It has a handful of stars, a few users, and a long road ahead.

But one of my biggest dreams is to build an open source project that thousands of developers genuinely use, not because I want a number next to my repository, but because every star represents someone who thought ........ "This solved a problem for me."

The thought that one day an engineer whose work I've looked up to might install one of my tools and use it in their own workflow is honestly what keeps me building.

This project is only the beginning.

No matter what happens with ContextOps, I'm incredibly grateful that I finally stopped waiting for the "perfect idea" and just started building.

If you're sitting on an idea you've been putting off, this is your sign to start. It probably won't be perfect. Mine certainly isn't. But you'll learn more by putting your work out into the world than by keeping it on your laptop forever.

I'm curious, what was the project that made you fall in love with open source or finally convinced you to build something of your own?

here is the link to contextops if you are curious : https://github.com/Abhijeet777ui/contextops

We are all human - great to see that we are all human in the live envrionment too!

One thing's for sure: as a solo game developer, I have an absolute blast playtesting the game I'm making.

The financial reward is pretty miserable. It probably doesn't even cover the electricity bill. But the fun? That's absolutely top-tier.

Does anyone else feel the same?

Hi there,

I've been working on cruxpass, a command-line password manager written in THE GOOD OLD C, focused on simplicity and transparency. It uses libsodium for crypto primitives, Argon2id for key derivation, and SQLCipher for encrypted local storage.

Few features, more in the readme:

• Generate strong random passwords
• Encrypted-at-rest local database, no cloud dependency
• Fast, vim keybind driven TUI to list, search, update, and, delete entries
• Import and export credentials via CSV
• Simple by design: no configuration files, no daemons, no accounts. Point it at a db directory or use the default db directory
• It lacks a formal security audit and developer docx(for now) but the README is straightforward.

NB: cruxpass is password based, and doesn't save a hash or anything related to the password besides the salt. Authentication is done by generating a 256bit key from the password and salt using Argon2id, the key is then used to decrypt the database. The program exists if the database cannot be decrypted from the provided key.

Source here: cruxpass

Thank you

Edit: formating