My First Project That Nobody Used
Somewhere in the middle of last year, I got interested in building my own small apps with the help of AI.
I started by chatting with ChatGPT, asking how to even begin. I ended up using VS Code, while AI tools generated most of the code for me. My learning process was simple. I would ask, “How do I do this?” or “What does this mean?” The AI would explain and give me code. I would copy, paste, and try to make sense of it.
I got stuck a lot.
Along the way, I discovered that Claude was better at handling coding tasks, so I started switching between ChatGPT and Claude depending on the problem. It was painful and exhausting. But at the same time, I felt excited.
Many years ago, I wanted to build my own software. I tried learning to code back then, but it was so hard that I quit after six months. This time felt different. I still did not fully understand everything, but I could finally build things.
After about 20 days, I managed to create a Chrome extension. A simple Pomodoro timer. I submitted it to the Chrome Web Store. It got approved.
Just like that, my creation was live on the internet. With a lot of help from AI, of course.
I was unbelievably happy. I shared the news with everyone I knew.
Since then, I have learned many new things. Documentation. PRDs. Git. I kept experimenting and building many tiny apps. Most of them failed or were abandoned. A few of them I still use personally.
And that first project?
Nobody used it.
But it changed my life.