BOOTTALE Indie & Solo Hacker Archive
ROUNDTABLES 6 upvotes 2011

Ask HN: How can a side project hacker get code review?

Shared by @kevinburke · Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013) · 3 discussions · ⏱ 1 min read (197 words)
6 pts
Hacker News Signal
2011 · Shared by @kevinburke
Ask HN: How can a side project hacker get code review? by @kevinburke
HN Thread (3)
ORIGINAL RETROSPECTIVE

The Founder's Submission

Direct narrative and submission text authored by @kevinburke on Hacker News:

I'm hacking on a few side projects. It would be nice if I could make money using them, but mostly I'm just using them to learn new tools. Frequently I have questions about the best way to design an application, or how to ensure that user data is secure, and I don't feel comfortable asking about it on StackOverflow or similar, either because it's too vague or could get traced back to a vulnerability in the projects I'm working on.

Is there a way I could get someone to "code review" the stuff I'm doing? Even if it's not looking at actual source, but just talking to someone about whether the way I'm laying out my code makes sense.

I could open source the app, but then I couldn't really make money off of it.

What the founder wrote

Retrospective Overview & Key Insights

Distilled reflections, business mechanics, and tactical takeaways:

An open Ask HN community consultation from 2011 where @kevinburke convened hundreds of developers and bootstrappers to share real experiences, hard numbers, and tactics.

Core Principles for Independent Builders:
1
Participants share raw revenue figures, churn rates, and stack decisions that corporate PR never publishes.
2
Recurring answers reveal that distribution, not coding skill, is almost universally the rate-limiting step in developer businesses.
3
Practical recommendations on bookkeeping, payment gateways (Stripe vs Paddle), and freelance-to-product transitions.
Community Debate Themes:

Hundreds of active indie hackers contributed case studies, pricing heuristics, and pitfalls to avoid when moonlighting on side projects.

What HN said

Community Discussions & Critical Reviews

Key perspectives, counter-arguments, and peer founder insights debated on Hacker News (3 total discussions):

ZN @znt Peer Contributor
2011 Thread ↗

I had success with getting code review for my projects by attending developer meetups. Just find someone who's comfortable with the language you're using, and ask them nicely.

PD @pdenya Peer Contributor
2011 Thread ↗

I'd be up for that if i'm fluent in your language, what are you looking for?

Read All 3 Hacker News Comments ↗
CATEGORY Ask HN Roundtables →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE 6 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 3 comments
TOPICS & TECH STACK:
#side-project