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Top 8 Projects Every Developer Should Try Without Fail [2023]

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6th Oct, 2022
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Top 8 Projects Every Developer Should Try Without Fail [2023]

Top Projects & Topics For Every Developer

Interview preparation is one of the most stressful things a developer has to do. To make sure you’re fully prepared for an interview, you should practice your skills on projects. They are also a great way to show you skills and experience in using different technologies and your problem-solving abilities. In this article, we’re talking about vital projects for developers that you can work on to hone your skills. These projects will also prepare for technical interview questions that you might encounter in major organizations such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Flipkart. 

Companies are always on the lookout for skilled Developers who can develop innovative projects. So, if you are a programming beginner, the best thing you can do is work on some real-time top projects for developers. Before you begin, ensure that you’re well-versed in the programming languages you use. This way, you wouldn’t face any problems while working on the projects.

We, here at upGrad, believe in a practical approach as theoretical knowledge alone won’t be of help in a real-time work environment. In this article, we will be exploring some interesting top projects for developers which beginners can work on to put their programming knowledge to test. In this article, you will find top projects for developers to get hands-on experience.

Amid the cut-throat competition, aspiring Developers must have hands-on experience with real-world top projects for programmers. In fact, this is one of the primary recruitment criteria for most employers today. As you start working on top projects for developers, you will not only be able to test your strengths and weaknesses, but you will also gain exposure that can be immensely helpful to boost your career.

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Let’s start looking for top project ideas to build your very projects.

So, here are a few top projects for programmers:

Top Projects Every Developer Should Try

This list of top projects for developers is suited for beginners, intermediates & experts. These projects will get you going with all the practicalities you need to succeed in your career.

Further, if you’re looking for top projects for final year, this list should get you going. So, without further ado, let’s jump straight into some top projects for developers that will strengthen your base and allow you to climb up the ladder.

Here are some top project ideas that should help you take a step forward in the right direction.

1. Build a Graphic Calculator

One of the best ideas to start experimenting you hands-on top projects for developers is working on Building a graphic calculator. It is both fun and challenging. Creating a graphical calculator takes a little more effort than making a simple one that’s why we’ve added it in our list of most important projects for developers. There are many possibilities in this project, and you can try out various things. For example, you can add the option of using user-defined functions. Working on this project will help you get familiar with the GUI and its relevant concepts. Interviewers tend to ask questions about GUI, so being familiar with it would undoubtedly be helpful. 

Make the Project More Challenging

If building a simple GUI calculator is easy, try out some of these things:

  • Make a scientific calculator 
  • Add an option to switch between a simple calculator and a scientific one
  • Enable the use of complex expressions in the input field (you’d have to use expression trees in this regard)

Additional Tips

Start with the basics. If you haven’t worked on a GUI project before, make sure that you’re familiar with its concepts before starting this project. 

2. Create a Text Editor

One of the best ideas to start experimenting you hands-on top projects for developers is creating text editors. Text editors are probably the most popular tools among developers. From web developers to programmers, everyone uses text editors sometimes, so you might already be familiar with the working of one. If you haven’t studied the functionalities of a text-editor before, now would be a good time because they are among the most common interview questions in major companies. 

Some crucial concepts include finding and replacing text in a text-editor, performing undo-redo with the unlimited stack, performing pattern-based searches, and adding stylized text. 

If you’re a beginner, start with building a simple text editor. 

Make the Project More Challenging

Try to add different functions to your text editor. 

Additional Tips

Study popular code editors and see what features they offer to developers. Chances are, you’re already using a popular code editor. Try to implement the essential functions of a code editor in your newly created text editor. Mentioning top projects as developer can help your resume look much more interesting than others.

3. An Unbeatable AI-based Tic Tac Toe Game

This is an excellent projects for developers. We all have played Tic Tac Toe in our school days. It’s a fun little game of Xs and Os. In this project, you’d have to build an AI agent that can beat it all the time. Sounds difficult? It isn’t. You have to incorporate alpha-beta pruning and the MiniMax algorithm while keeping the game theory in mind. 

If you’re preparing for a systems-design interview, there’s a significant chance that you’d face this question. 

Make the Project More Challenging

Tic Tac Toe isn’t the only game where you will have to implement alpha-beta pruning and use the MiniMax algorithm. You can take it a step further and create a game of Connect 4, which has a similar premise to Tic Tac Toe but with a larger grid and more winning strategies. 

Additional Tips

Get familiar with game theory. It’ll help you in answering other game-related questions you might face in an interview. Make sure that you test your project after its creation, so you know it works. 

4. A Game of Sudoku with an AI Agent

This is one of the interesting projects for developers to create. Created by Leonard Euler, a Swiss-born mathematician, Sudoku is probably one of the most popular games on the planet. Creating a sudoku generating program is also a popular interview question, and it’s among the most exciting projects for developers. Building a program that makes Sudoku can be quite challenging, but when you add an AI-based agent into the mix, things get a little more complicated. 

In this project, you have to create a program that generates a game of Sudoku. The rules of Sudoku are simple:

  • You play Sudoku on a 9×9 grid
  • You can only use the numbers 1-9
  • You can’t repeat any digit in a row, column, and square
  • Sudoku is based on logic and reasoning so the player shouldn’t have to guess

Keep these rules in mind while working on this project. After you have created the Sudoku generator, you can easily create an AI-based agent that solves the puzzle. 

Make the Project More Challenging

You can add difficulty levels to your game. In every game of Sudoku, some numbers are already present in the grid. And their quantity determines the difficulty level of the game. Apart from that, you can also focus on restricting the number of available solutions. You would have to use backtracking to do that. 

Additional Tips

Here’s a sample program of a Sudoku generator in Python, use it as a reference:

def sudoku(size):

    import time

    start_time=time.time()

    import sys

    import random as rn

    mydict = {}

    n = 0

    print ‘–started calculating–‘

    while len(mydict) < 9:

        n += 1

        x = range(1, size+1)

        testlist = rn.sample(x, len(x))

        isgood = True

        for dictid,savedlist in mydict.items():

            if isgood == False:

                break

            for v in savedlist:

                if testlist[savedlist.index(v)] == v:

                    isgood = False

                    break

        if isgood == True:

            isgoodafterduplicatecheck = True

            mod = len(mydict) % 3

            dsavedlists = {}

            dtestlists = {}

            dcombindedlists = {}

            for a in range(1,mod + 1):

                savedlist = mydict[len(mydict) – a]               

                for v1 in savedlist:

                    modsavedlists = (savedlist.index(v1) / 3) % 3

                    dsavedlists[len(dsavedlists)] = [modsavedlists,v1]

                for t1 in testlist:

                    modtestlists = (testlist.index(t1) / 3) % 3

                    dtestlists[len(dtestlists)] = [modtestlists,t1]

                for k,v2 in dsavedlists.items():

                    dcombindedlists[len(dcombindedlists)] = v2

                    dcombindedlists[len(dcombindedlists)] = dtestlists[k]

            vsave = 0

            lst1 = []

            for k, vx in dcombindedlists.items():

                vnew = vx[0]

                if not vnew == vsave:

                    lst1 = []

                    lst1.append(vx[1])

                else:

                    if vx[1] in lst1:

                        isgoodafterduplicatecheck = False

                        break

                    else:

                        lst1.append(vx[1])

                vsave = vnew

            if isgoodafterduplicatecheck == True:

                mydict[len(mydict)] = testlist

                print ‘success found’, len(mydict), ‘row’   

    print ‘–finished calculating–‘

    total_time = time.time()-start_time

    return mydict, n, total_time

return_dict, total_tries, amt_of_time = sudoku(9)

print ”

print ‘–printing output–‘

for n,v in return_dict.items():

    print n,v

print ‘process took’,total_tries,’tries in’, round(amt_of_time,2), ‘secs’

print ‘——————-‘

Looking to challenge yourself or expand your portfolio? Check out our curated list of computer science project ideas to inspire your next groundbreaking project.

5. Work on a Node Editor

Node editors is one of the trending projects for developers. Node editors have become increasingly popular thanks to modelling software and game engines. Nearly all engines and modelling solutions have a node editor built-in. So working on one would surely be useful in understanding how they work. 

A node editor allows the user to work with nodes, where every node has a pin that must connect to the pins of other nodes. The software uses wires to connect the pins of a node with another one. Your node editor should allow you to modify the existing nodes and add new ones in the network. 

Make the Project More Challenging

Try out different wires to connect the nodes. You can use elliptic curves, like those used in Twine, or use simple lines like in Blender. 

Additional Tips

Learn about the Bezier curve if you’ aren’t familiar with the concept. If you’d be using JS for this project, try using Rete.js, a JS framework for visual programming. You can build a node-editor in your browser by using Rete. 

6. Create a Snake Game

The Snake game is another childhood classic. However, apart from being a part of everyone’s childhoods, it is also a part of the interview questions. We have discussed multiple games on this list, and the snake game is among the most critical projects for developers here. This is one of the trending projects for developers. Why is it so important? Well, for starters, it has numerous possibilities.

Questions like, “Can you give the snake a health bar and make it lose a point when it bites itself?” or “How would you make an animated Snake game with different sprites for body and head-tail?”. Making a Snake game while following the last question’s guidelines is challenging because of the rendering method. That’s why you should work on this project in multiple iterations and try out different things. 

Make the Project More Challenging

If you’re bored with the simple Snake game, try out some of the following implementations:

  • Give the snake a health bar and make it lose one point when it bites itself
  • Add more obstacles and rewards in the game
  • Make the animated Snake game with different sprites for its body and head-tail

Additional Tips

Take inspiration from Google’s Snake game. It is also an animated one, and you can study it to see how your project should turn out. You can build a Snake game by using HTML 5 Canvas. 

7. Build a Chatting App

Chatting apps are in trend, and you can create one as a project. Working on this project will help you understand GUI and UX properly. Your chat app should allow users to send text messages by using an input field. The application should be responsive, i.e., it should modify itself easily according to the screen size. It’s a unique project of work on if you’re a beginner. You can use the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, and Node.js) to complete this project. 

Make the Project More Challenging

You can add more features to your chatting app, such as the facility of sending media, audio recordings, or taking pictures. 

Additional Tips

For the UI of your chat app, you can take inspiration from the customarily used chat apps. Start with building the server. 

8. Have a Portfolio Website

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, having a portfolio website is vital for your skillset. First of all, working on a portfolio site is quite entertaining, and as you’ll complete the project, you’ll test the various implementations of HTML, CSS, and JS. While this is an excellent project idea for beginners, advanced developers can work on this project too. 

A portfolio site is a place to showcase your previous projects. You can add links to your past projects and give brief introductions to every one of them neatly. Make sure that you know about web development before you start working on this project. 

Add a small section of your bio, and structure the website like your CV. This means you must also add parts for your past qualifications, work experience, and achievements. 

Building a simple website would only require the knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JS, but if you want to add more functions, you’d have to learn about more advanced concepts of web development. 

Make the Project More Challenging

Try to be creative with web design. You can add progress bars to show skill levels, or add a slide for displaying your images. 

Additional Tips

If you haven’t worked on a web development project before, make sure that you are familiar with the basics. You can check the portfolio websites of freelance developers to see how they showcase their skills and experiences. 

Learn More about Development and Programming

These are a few top projects for developers that you could try out! 

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Now go ahead and put to test all the knowledge that you’ve gathered through top projects guide to build your very own projects!

Completing different kinds of projects can help you discover many new things. For example, there could be a concept you thought you understood well, but you didn’t. Similarly, they also help you expand your skillset and enhance your problem-solving and creative thinking abilities. 

If you want to work on more projects, check out these resources:

On the other hand, if you’re interested in learning more about development and programming, you can take our PG Diploma in Software Development.

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Rohit Sharma

Blog Author
Rohit Sharma is the Program Director for the UpGrad-IIIT Bangalore, PG Diploma Data Analytics Program.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1Why is it important to create a Text editor?

Text editor is one of the most popular tools which is used by most of the professionals. It is always a good idea to start with a frequently used tool to check the working of your software. Earlier it was a simple tool where users can edit their text, add and format text, and also save their text, but now it is also important to add a rich set of powerful editing features. It has evolved over time to include additional features such as being able to insert images, tables, and other types of formatting to make it different and better from other available editing tools.

2Which games should a developer primarily focus on?

There are various games which users often play in their free time. As a developer one should focus on the Snake game and the classic Tic-Tac-Toe to enhance knowledge of varied topics. Knowledge of Minimax algorithms, HTML, Python, and more such softwares is necessary. It allows a developer to use their theoretical knowledge and apply it practically. There are more such developmental tools which are used in making a game. It is not an easy task to do but it makes a lasting impact on the interviewer.

3What are the benefits of making a website portfolio?

Making a website portfolio is one of the few things which impacts the developer as well as the viewer. It is exciting to watch the portfolio especially if it is made in a unique way. Apart from qualifications, the portfolio speaks about the creativity and efforts of the developer. It makes use of the CSS, HTML, and JS languages, which can make these concepts clearer for the interview process. Advanced knowledge of other web development concepts can be beneficial to add more functions in the website portfolio and hence can have better chances in getting selected.

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