What are some good programming side-projects to work on in your undergrad that'll look good on a resume?
tl;dr To get building with code rather than following tutorials, find a simple problem you face at least every few days and build a Chrome extension to fix it.You become a great programmer by programming through challenges or building - but tutorials rarely give you this (even NodeSchool you're not building something)So how to build something that's feasible and doesn't take forever?The answer: Build Chrome ExtensionsThese are little apps built in JavaScript that give you enormous power. Chrome extensions (these 'apps') allow you to add additional functionality to any page you're on. It could be something as small as, every time the word JavaScript appears on a webpage, highlighting it blue...or something much more complexThe first 4 hour evening hackathon for Codesmith students (8 days into the program) is to build a chrome extension. This cohort one group built an awesome integration to message with Slack from the browser, another a Hello Kitty extension that replaced all images in Facebook with Hello Kitty and hello-kittyfied the textStep by step planFind something you do multiply times a week in your browser that's a pain and that you could automate or make easierSome examples problems to work onProblemYou get distracted by Facebook's newsfeed but you can't stop opening FacebookSolutionChrome extension that removes the Facebook newsfeed whenever you open Facebook (one exists Kill News Feed ...but may be you want it so it only removes news stories featuring '20 things you have to see')Problem: Someone emails you and you don't recognize them from their emailSolution: Create a Chrome extension where you can highlight their email address and up pops their picture (by connecting to the Fullcontact API - where you send an email address and it sends back a profile picture)The best resource for getting started with building a chrome extension is my favorite book by Stephen Foote - Learning to Program(He builds a chrome extension that switches out all of your Facebook pictures for kittens)But there are other free getting started with Chrome extensions guides too How to Create a Chrome Extension in 10 Minutes FlatYou get to practice JavaScript without having to build and design an application from scratch - it just plugs into something you already use