#3 Developer Mindset – Don't Hide Your Code

Hi Reader,
Hope you're starting the week on a good note!

I usually write to you on Sundays, but honestly? This weekend, I was completely involved in the first weekend of Build With Me. We were coding live, fixing bugs, and figuring things out in real time.

And you know what struck me most? How much faster we moved when everything was visible. Every mistake, every "wait, that's not working," every moment of figuring it out, it was all out in the open. No hiding behind perfect commits or polished demos.

Which brings me to something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Don't Hide Your Code

We do this thing as developers where we keep our work hidden until it feels "ready enough." I know I did this for years. That messy branch sitting on my machine? Not pushing it. Half-working feature that almost does what I want? Nobody needs to see that yet. Side project with rough edges? Let me polish it first.

But here's what I've learned through countless projects: hiding your work actually slows you down.

When I kept things hidden? All I got was my own overthinking, endless "what if" scenarios, and honestly, not much progress.

The developers who grow fastest aren't the ones writing perfect code in isolation. They're the ones who surface problems early, ask for help when they're stuck, and let others see the messy, real process of building things.

This Week's Challenge

Share something before you think it's ready.

Push that draft pull request you've been sitting on for days. Show a friend your half-working side project over coffee. Tell someone about that idea you've been keeping to yourself.

It doesn't need to be perfect. Actually, it's way better if it's not, messy work invites collaboration in a way polished work never can.

Dev Tip: Train Your AI Copilot Like a Fellow Developer

Speaking of getting better help, here's something: Your AI copilot works way better when you give it clear instructions, just like working with a teammate.

Think about it. When you're pairing with another developer, you don't just sit in silence and hope they read your mind. You explain what you're trying to build, share context about the codebase, and mention the edge cases you're worried about.

Copilot is the same way. You can create a `.github/copilot-instructions.md` file in your project root. This is like having a conversation with Copilot about how your team works.
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More details on https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/configure-custom-instructions/add-repository-instructions
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​What this does is amazing. Instead of getting generic JavaScript suggestions, Copilot now knows your project uses TypeScript. It knows to suggest Tailwind classes instead of custom CSS. It knows to use your fetchWrapper instead of basic fetch calls.

Update: What I'm Building

This whole "don't hide your work" thing is exactly why I'm doing Build With Me. In Weekend 1, we started building PureSignal, an app that helps cut through digital noise and focus on what actually matters.

We set up the entire stack live, connected the database, deployed it, built the user API, and added an AI playground. Nothing was hidden. Every bug, every "hmm, why isn't this working?" moment, every decision about what to build next all of it was visible.

Weekend 2 is coming up, and there are still spots if you want to build along. All the recordings from Weekend 1 are available too, so you can catch up and see exactly how we approached everything.

Check it out: www.sahildavid.dev/build-with-me​

So here's my question for you: What's one thing you've been hiding that you could share this week?

Hit reply and tell me about it. I genuinely love hearing what everyone's working on, and honestly, your "unfinished" project might be exactly what someone else needs to see to get unstuck on their own work.

Remember: the best progress happens when we stop hiding and start sharing.

Code your way forward. 🚀​
– Sahil