I had code on HN (on a different handle) and really, people never nitpicked code. Nobody cares about that one misnamed function or that global variable or that useless abstraction layer.

People, however, do like the one-note replies. "Why isn't this in Rust instead." "Why isn't the license GPL instead of MIT" (or vice versa). "The name is immature." "Will this be on Mac OS X too? Why not?"

Why would you care what others think about your code? Nobody knows anything in this industry. There is so little important criticism, that even finding it if you really want to is super hard.

I know that on the surface, but it does something to me as a person when I see it.

I can tell myself it doesn't matter I can tell myself that they don't know the details or the trade offs that were made, but regardless it still takes the steam out of my willingness to work on it.

It helps me to remember the following:

- I am not my work.

- All software sucks. Some suck less than others.

- I have simultaneously been catastrophically wrong and full of confidence in the past. Be open minded to the possibility there's a very different way to do things that will make you a better professional. Be similarly open to the possibility the other guy is full of shit.

- Developing a thick skin will make your life (in general) easier. It's better to do it in a short, intense period of time than prolonging the pain over decades of your life.

Did you make these discoveries when someone complained about "mixed casing" in your code? :-)

Seriously though, well put! Thanks for the reminder.

I found the opposite to be true. I am often surprised at how friendly and constructive comments on my projects are. After sharing them on /r/webdev, /r/react, or HN, I've had multiple messages with people helping me fix bugs, teaching me how to do things better, or just encouraging me to do more.

You are lucky. Some projects have difficulty because everyone wants to use it but no one wants to contribute to it. The inbox of the maintainers may be full filled with bug reports and they have to spend one or two hours to handle these problems. They are tired.