5 awesome projects that inspire me to learn to code
Tags: petprojects, inspiration, python, javascript
Published: 2022-03-03 20:24:26

People have different reasons to learn programming. Some are really interested in technologies, some want to have a well-paying job, some love to *build* new things. And for sure you can combine all these reasons.

And there's an interesting group of developers who use their knowledge to make fun or artistic projects. So here are 5 of my favorite projects that really inspire me.

## The Pudding
These guys are my favorites! They [create](https://pudding.cool/) visual essays with data. And all of them are awesome! For example, [Rappers, ranked by the number of unique words used in their lyrics](https://pudding.cool/projects/vocabulary/), [an interactive experiment about the birthday paradox](https://pudding.cool/2018/04/birthday-paradox/) and [how 'gayborhoods' in 15 major American cities are divided by gender](https://pudding.cool/2018/06/gayborhoods/).

![Pudding](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/40g7c5b3njgxqul3xome.png)

I can't stop being inspired!

## Orville the Crow
[Stephanie Nemeth](https://twitter.com/stephaniecodes) made a fun project with the help of the crow. Yes, real crow! She set up the Raspberry Pi to run JavaScript and [share](https://twitter.com/orvillethecrow) live photos of a hooded crow that really loves peanuts.

{% embed https://twitter.com/orvillethecrow/status/1285566810209824773 %}

I think the crow really appreciates Stephanie's programming skills.

## Telegram bot as a doorbell
My friend [Artur Paikin](https://arturpaikin.com/) made a really cool project using JavaScript and [ESP8266](http://esp8266.net/). When Artur lived in New York, he didn't have a doorbell. So he built a Telegram bot that sends a message when a delivery man push the special (self-made) button downstairs.

{% embed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvorlYi4L_c %}

I can't stop thinking about how fun it was to build this thing!

## The Flemish Scrollers
Belgian developer Dries Depoorter has developed a Python project that analyzes livestreams of the flemish government meetings. When a livestream starts the software scans for cell phones, identifies a distracted politician, and sends [blaming tweets](https://twitter.com/FlemishScroller).


![Flemish Scrollers](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7uho9vrec4gsu7gptwcp.png)

Don't forget to check out other [projects by Dries Depoorter](https://driesdepoorter.be/). You'll be inspired, I promise!


## All the lonely people
Ilia Blinderman – as I know he's part of The Pudding team – analyzed data from Craiglist's Missing Persons section and created a [visual map of missing person reports](http://iliablinderman.com/connections/). The idea and the visualization of the data are really great.


![All the lonely people](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xbqg9ce0l89zdabexmnh.png)

At the end of the [article](http://iliablinderman.com/connections/) Ilia shares the methodology of creating this project.

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_This post is from my [blog](http://skaplichniy.com/blog/). Right now I'm looking for a job as a Software Engineer. So if you want to work with me, don't hesitate to message me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/skaplichniy/)._