I’ve spent many thousands of hours since my early teens messing around with retro games and gaming systems. I haven’t accomplished anything as “big” as this person, but I’ve gotten to work on some cool things, and through that process I learn so much more about computer architecture and low-level programming than I ever could through school or work. The time I’ve invested into that has paid off in job and educational opportunities that would not have been available to me otherwise.
A hobby project that is both fun and hard is in my experience the best way to gain experience and develop my skills, regardless of whether it’s “useful”.
I’ve spent many thousands of hours since my early teens messing around with retro games and gaming systems. I haven’t accomplished anything as “big” as this person, but I’ve gotten to work on some cool things, and through that process I learn so much more about computer architecture and low-level programming than I ever could through school or work. The time I’ve invested into that has paid off in job and educational opportunities that would not have been available to me otherwise.
A hobby project that is both fun and hard is in my experience the best way to gain experience and develop my skills, regardless of whether it’s “useful”.