Side Hustles for Programmers: Navigating Layoffs, AI Disruptions, and Industry Saturation

Are you looking to leverage your skills for some profitable side hustles amidst big tech layoffs, the AI surge, and industry saturation?

The online money-making landscape, although not crystal clear at the moment, holds boundless possibilities. In this article, I’m excited to share seven side hustle ideas that could potentially generate significant income for you in the future.

AI-Driven Custom Solutions for Clients

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transcended buzzword status. In 2023 alone, the AI market value has exceeded $153.6 billion, with expectations of exponential growth.

With new AI tools emerging weekly, explore platforms like TopAI for inspiration to complete development tasks, generate images and videos, research tools, and more.

As a developer, leverage this by offering businesses AI-driven custom solutions.

For instance, utilize large language models (LLMs) like GPT, Llama, PaLM 2, or other human-like text generating tools to build applications like AgentGPT or God Mode. Implement a system to break down user-defined goals into actionable tasks using the ladder technique for more useful responses.

Create a linking mechanism for task execution towards set goals. Design a user-friendly interface allowing interaction with the AI agent, goal definition, progress monitoring, and output reception. Monetize through a subscription model if your tool proves invaluable in saving self-prompting time or learning engineering techniques.

Selling Digital Products and Plugin Development

The digital transformation market, including digital products and services, is growing, expected to rise from 2.27 trillion in 2023 to 8.92 trillion by 2030.

Create digital assets like plugins for Shopify or WordPress.

With 45.8% of websites using WordPress and 28.51% of 9.2 million eCommerce websites in the US using Shopify as of 2023, there’s a significant market.

Also, create reusable website templates using your favorite tech stack and sell them on platforms like ThemeForest or Template Monster.

App Store / Play Store App Development

Mobile app development remains vibrant. As of 2023, Google Play Store hosts around 3.718 million mobile apps, and Apple App Store offers about 1.803 million iPhone apps.

Develop apps easily with cross-platform tools and frameworks like React Native, Flutter, or Ionic, without needing native language knowledge like Java/Kotlin or Swift.

For backend API communication, use PHP or Node.js with MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, served through a Web server.

Monetize through in-app ads, in-app purchases, or charging for ad-free premium versions.

Contributing to Open Source Projects

Showcase your skills, collaborate, and build a reputation within the developer community by contributing to relevant projects.

This could lead to job opportunities, consulting gigs, or selling your tools and services to the community around the project.

Monetize a well-received open-source project through sponsorships, donations, or dual licensing, offering a free community version and a paid commercial version with added features or support.

White Hat Services

With businesses increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, the demand for cybersecurity expertise has surged.

White hats, professionals identifying and fixing system vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them, are in high demand. This can range from web application testing to network security assessments and even social engineering exercises.

Work as a freelancer, start your consultancy, or join a company team. This field requires staying updated with the latest threats and technologies but offers high rewards both experientially and financially.

Tech Blogging

Tech blogging is an effective way to share expertise, review new technologies, or provide tutorials and tips.

It can start as a hobby but potentially become a lucrative career through ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, or selling digital products like eBooks or courses.

Successful tech bloggers establish niche markets, expanding their audience by delivering valuable, accurate, and engaging content. Blogging also enhances personal branding, opening doors to speaking engagements, book deals, or consulting work.

For programmers, writing articles and creating video content sharpens communication and editing skills, boosting competitiveness.

Freelancing in Other Areas

Explore your interests or strengths in specific areas through freelancing.

With flexible working hours, project choice, and diversified income sources, programmers can earn a stable income and achieve financial freedom through freelancing.

Essential Development Tools for Side Hustles: A Quick Reference Guide

For developers looking to efficiently complete application development work, mastering a variety of tools is crucial. Here’s a selection of common tools chosen by seasoned developers:

1. Code Editors/IDEs

Visual Studio Code: A free, open-source code editor from Microsoft, supporting multiple programming languages with a wealth of plugins and extensions. It’s powerful and meets various development needs.

IntelliJ IDEA: A paid IDE developed by JetBrains, supporting multiple programming languages with features like intelligent code completion, error checking, and refactoring to boost development efficiency.

2. Build Tools

Vite: Created by the Vue team, this front-end build tool aims to enhance the efficiency and performance of front-end development. Vite introduces a new build model that requires no complicated configuration for most projects.

Webpack: The most popular JavaScript module bundler, capable of bundling multiple JavaScript files into one and supporting various modularization schemes like CommonJS and ES6 modules.

Rollup: Another popular JavaScript module bundler, known for its small size and fast speed, suitable for building large projects.

Parcel: A zero-configuration JavaScript build tool that automatically recognizes file types for bundling, compressing, and more, offering simplicity and convenience.

3. Testing Frameworks

Mocha: A popular JavaScript testing framework that facilitates writing and executing unit tests, supporting various assertion libraries.

Jest: Developed by Facebook, this JavaScript testing framework is known for its ease of use and speed, supporting snapshot testing and coverage statistics.

Jasmine: A Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) style JavaScript testing framework, known for its simple and easy-to-understand syntax.

4. Debugging Tools

Chrome DevTools: Built into the Chrome browser, these tools allow for code execution inspection, breakpoint setting, network request viewing, and more.

Firefox DevTools: Similar in functionality to Chrome DevTools, Firefox’s built-in debugging tools also support various debugging features.

Safari DevTools: Safari’s built-in debugging tools, similar to Chrome DevTools and Firefox DevTools, are useful for debugging web pages with the WebKit engine.

5. Version Control Tools

Git: The most popular distributed version control system, tracking code changes, managing versions, and supporting branch management and collaborative development.

GitHub: A Git-based code hosting platform, facilitating code sharing and collaborative development by hosting code in remote repositories.

Bitbucket: Another popular code hosting platform, similar to GitHub but also supporting private repositories and team collaboration.

6. Development Environment Management Tools

ServBay: Designed for macOS, this local web development environment integrates popular tools like the Caddy server, MariaDB and PostgreSQL databases, Redis, Memcached, and database management tools like phpMyAdmin and adminer.

XAMPP: A cross-platform solution supporting Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and more. It integrates Apache server, MySQL database, PHP, and Perl.

7. Database/Server Management Tools

MySQL Workbench: An official MySQL database management tool for creating tables, inserting data, querying data, and more.

PostgreSQL pgAdmin: A graphical management tool for PostgreSQL databases, offering a rich set of management features.

PuTTY: A free SSH client tool supporting Windows, Linux, and more, useful for connecting to remote servers.