Because you “worked hard” on something doesn’t entitle you to be free from harsh criticism of your public work. An observer is entitled to form their own opinion of your work regardless of how much sweat you poured into something. Scolding the public to “be nice, because they worked hard on this” is rather infantilizing.

When beginners set out training, they often look for a safe environment in which they can display their nascent skills and expect to be judged only against their personal progression. Within such a supportive incubator, it is perfectly reasonable to expect that one’s work be judged kindly, with a focus on personal improvement.

But when you display your work in public and without qualifications, you must expect people to cut you no slack. They are entitled to evaluate your public work against all other public work, past and present, and give their unvarnished opinion, even when it hurts.

Your public work must stand on its own merit. And you must deal with it.

tl;dr: “But I worked hard on it!” is not a legitimate defense against “That sucks.”

• #FridayDevAdvice