Developing a reading list for programmers - Motivation
Tags: productivity, showdev, development
Published: 2021-03-22 08:27:37

---
title: Developing a reading list for programmers - Motivation
published: true
description: 
tags: productivity, showdev, development
//cover_image: https://direct_url_to_image.jpg
series: ReadingDragon
---

A few months ago, the reading list of my choice, Pocket, made a change that I didn't agree with. A minor change, but nonetheless extremely annoying.  
That sparked a thought. I love working on side-projects, why not develop my own?

Following that decision, I started thinking of other features a reading list could have.  
The ideas ranged from simple, like showing if an article was already read (in case it's added a second time), to complex, like keeping a backup of the website in case it goes down or the article is removed.

## Grand vision(s)

After a few weeks the idea expanded. It doesn't have to be a reading list only. It could include any kind of information that can be linked to. Books, Podcasts, online courses, videos, lectures.  
Such a product could become a **central hub of information**.

Not only listing, but organizing it as well. Features like showing the source of an article, who recommended the article, book or video, adding notes, following specific high-quality blogs, and many more crept into my mind.


I use a reading list because I often come across great content, but don't have the time or energy to consume it in that moment. So I add it to the list for later.  
That's the idea of a reading list. But it could be so much more...

What if I didn't view it as only a list of information, but as a **central place to manage information *consumption*.**  
The difference being that it doesn't just list, it also helps to *retain* the knowledge that these articles contain. In this area I'm still a little short in what I could do. Spaced repetition is one thing, but I'm sure there's a lot more possible.


As you can see, this little project evolved into something huge. Only in thought for now, it'll probably take years until I have realized that vision. But every great thing starts at the beginning.

### Opportunity to tackle societal problems?

Not being short of visions, I found two more that are important to me and I might be able to do with this project.  

The first is battling fake and false news. The difference I make for this article is that fake news are deliberately presented as true, while false news is simply a mistake.  
For false news I already have an idea. Articles are often corrected, and usually there's then a correction section at the end. But very few people check back to see if there was a correction. So the feature could be to automatically watch changes on articles, and if a correction appears, show it.  
I have no idea yet what to do against fake news though.

The second is spearheading a move to higher quality information.  
In the past years, with the commodization of content publishing, a lot more high- and low-quality content became available, but the ratio shifted towards low-quality.  
It also seems to me that searching for specific topics doesn't list the high quality information. What I usually get is listicles or short articles about the topic. Long, well-researched writups are rarely found.  
I have an idea of how to tackle this, but it's not refined enough yet to share. I can only say that for it to happen I need users. Many users. Which means I'll create a valuable product first.

## Development

Rome wasn't built in a day, and it'll be the same with my little project.

The first step is to build a basic reading list. Then I'll add more and more features to improve the product and serve the vision.

A first version is done already. I named it ReadingDragon and you can find it here: [https://www.reading-dragon.com/](https://www.reading-dragon.com/)  
It is in alpha now. You can use the code 'alpha' to get 66% discount. Or 'free' if you don't share my vision, then you can try it out for free.

Since it's a side-project, and software development is my passion, I'll also share my progress on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Domysee) and via articles like these (which I'll also share on Twitter).  
I'll blog about product evolvement and about technical aspects, like the architecture, testing strategy and so on.

## Conclusion

The whole idea developed from a small and simple reading list to a really ambitious project. It is a bit intimidating, but I like the fact that I can potentially work on it for years to come.

Wish me luck! :)