To improve as a software engineer, you must build development projects. It also aids in the shortlisting of your CV.

I've put up a list of simple project ideas to get you started, followed by larger ones that can help you learn and acquire a job.

Let's start with the things you should not do. The majority of students do the following, and their resumes are never considered for further consideration. Most popular tasks don't contribute anything to your CV and may even make a negative impression.

• Do not use someone else's code from GitHub to present as your own.
• Do not create a project that contains 10 lines of library code. For ML/AI projects, the majority of students do this.
• Look for initiatives that aren't "resume-worthy." To be considered for a position, you must have projects that distinguish your CV from those of other applicants. Creating a generic project will not help you stand out.
• Undertakings using machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) are not the most exciting projects to have on your CV. It's gotten much too commonplace to help you stand apart.

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How to decide which project to pick up?

Instead of listing common projects, I'm going to list some generic ideas with real-world examples. Based on these concepts and examples, you should come up with specific ideas and products.

You can either come up with original ideas or create a clone of a popular product. Simply ensure that you complete the entire process, from conception to construction to deployment.

Most of the suggestions below can be implemented as a website, an Android/iOS mobile app, or a combination of the two. Any of the projects listed below can be completed as a final-year project.

Start with one or more of the basic ideas, then move on to larger project ideas based on your time constraints.

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Basic Project Ideas

These suggestions are excellent if you're studying development or if you're working on a tight deadline and need something to put on your CV. These are the tasks you should begin with before progressing to larger ones.

If you know the essential technologies, you should be able to construct this in 3-4 days. If you're still learning, you should continue to develop while you're learning.

1 . Portfolio Website

First and foremost, you should develop this website. Everyone in the field of engineering should set up and maintain a personal website for their work. To construct this, you'll need to know HTML, CSS, and JS. Don't overcomplicate things. GitHub Pages or Netlify may host your portfolio website.

2 . Personal Blog

Create a personal blog on your website after you've finished your online portfolio. Get to work crafting some articles depending on the information you've gathered. It is possible to utilize an open-source solution and incorporate it into your website, or you may construct your own.

3 . Utility Web Apps or Mobile Apps

You can create useful web and mobile apps that you or others may desire to utilize. Simple websites and programs that you or those around you use on a regular basis might serve as a starting point.

The following are a few examples:

• Online Calculator
• Online Timer
• Conversion Tool
• JSON Parser, URL Encoder/Decoder, Escape Tool, etc
• Speed Test
• URL Shortener (Requires Backend as well)
• To-do list

4 . Basic Games

• Board games like Sudoku, Tic-Tac-Toe, 2048, etc.
• Card games like BlackJack, Solitaire, etc.
• Basic number or word games.

5 . RSS Reader/Data Visualizer

• RSS Reader which reads and displays from different RSS feeds (articles, news, podcasts, etc).
• Fetches data from public APIs and displays it with a good UI. Example: Developer Profile using GitHub data.
• You might explore adding recommendations and personalization to create a bigger project.

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Big Project Ideas

In addition to the elements listed below, you may choose to add more functionality to your basic projects. It's possible that the tools you and others use to generate new ideas might assist you.

1 . Education Apps

Course website/app. Example: Courses made from Youtube videos. Quiz Application or another evaluation platform. Example: Duolingo

2 . Rating and Review Application

Build a website or mobile app where users can rate and review certain products.

Examples:

• IMDb: Movies
• Goodreads: Books
• Zomato: Restaurants
• Practo: Doctors
• Tripadvisor: Hotels/Destinations
• Glassdoor: Companies
• Google/Facebook/Yelp: Businesses
• Amazon: E-commerce products

3 . OTT (Over-the-top) Platform

Create an OTT Platform like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, etc.

Ideas:

• You can use Youtube or other free videos on the platform.
• Add ratings and reviews.
• You can add movie trailers instead of full videos.
• OTT for short movies can be a good idea.
• Optionally add recommendations.
• Real-Time Communication

4 . QnA Platform

Create a real-time communication tool that can be used for communication or collaboration.

Ideas:

Chat (1:1 or Group) like WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord Video Calling like Zoom, Conference Calls, YouTube Live Interview Collab Tools (Chat, Video, Whiteboard, Editor)

5 . Social Media

Build a social media platform like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Follow this order for adding features. Doing just the first one is good enough.

Start with a sharing platform where people can share media (image, video, text, links, etc) with buttons to share them.

Example: Product Hunt, Hacker News, early days of Instagram, and Pinterest.

• Add a way to like/react.
• Add a way to comment.
• Add a way to send notifications on engagement.
• Add a common news feed.
• Add a way to follow others or add as friends.
• Add a personalized news feed.

6 . E-commerce

To a large extent, our online experiences are shaped by platforms for selling products. It is an e-commerce website if it allows you to buy things from it. E-commerce is one of the best projects that you can do.

Examples:

• General Shopping: Amazon, Flipkart
• Food: Swiggy, Zomato
• Flight Tickets: MakeMyTrip
• Movie Tickets: BookMyShow
• Hotels: OYO
• Grocery: BigBasket, Grofers
• Courses: Coursera, Udemy, etc

This is the sequence in which new features should be added. Even completing the first three steps is sufficient.

To build a digital product's landing page, you need to create a product detail page. Include a free trial option for users to test out the product. Use a payment gateway such as Razorpay to accept payments. Add products to a product page. Filtering and searching have been added. Add comments and ratings. Recommendations are welcome.

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Other Good Project Ideas

1 . Expense/Account Management

Ideas:

Personal Expense Management like Walnut Collaborative Expense Management like Splitwise Business Account Management like Khatabook You could read SMS or email for automation.

2 . Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Sports Application like Dream11 for any sports.

3 . Project Management

• Build a project management application like Trello, Jira, etc. This will help you learn a lot about UI design and backend code design.

4 . Algorithm Visualizer

• This project will generally require you to write a lot of code to create visualizers for different algorithms. Try to create reusable components to do this. This will help you get hands-on with a language and might also help you revise DS/Algo.

5 . Content Management System

• Build a content management system where anyone can set up their blog.

Ideas:

Using an MD Editor or a WYSIWYG Editor will make the experience very good. Allowing subscribing and sending newsletters like Substack can make it a great product.

6 . Note-taking Application

Build a note-taking application similar to Notion, Roam Research, etc. You do not need to add all the functionalities. Just a few core ones and it would be a pretty good project.

7 . Matchmaking Application

• Create a matchmaking app (dating, job-search, etc). Idea: Tinder Clone.

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As you can see, I have used a few ideas across multiple product ideas. Once you can build a basic version of the common ones, you can use them across multiple projects without much effort.