Stop building side projects: Why volume no longer signals value

In a recent post on Dev.to, the author argues that the traditional advice to build numerous side projects to boost a portfolio is outdated. With the rise of AI, generating functional code has become trivial, rendering the 'volume' of GitHub repositories meaningless to recruiters. The author suggests that most side projects are 'tombstones'—unfinished experiments that fail to provide real-world experience. Instead of building multiple projects, developers are encouraged to focus on a single, sustained application that serves real users. By maintaining a product that faces actual user feedback, complaints, and technical failures, developers gain 'judgment'—a skill that cannot be replicated by AI. The core message is that while building for fun is valid, developers should stop treating side projects as a strategic career move and instead commit to the difficult, long-term process of supporting a real-world product.