Do coders ever do work for free?

[Zrr]

Before I give up on this whole learning php thing, I'm wondering.. do coders ever work for free?
My entire goal with what I'm making is to make something that doesn't have a cash shop/upgraded accounts/any need to spend money. But hiring staff that are paid in real money would kind of ruin that idea.

Another question is, how do you make it easier on coders? Do you type up everything exactly how you want it to be, do all the layout so they know what you're looking for?

Or am I better off trying to do it all myself?

[Citadel]

Your better off doing it yourself, some people do it for free, but rarely. Either because your a good friend, they do not charge for some reason or another or other ideas. Sadly, people invest their time and want money back, and thats fair enough. It takes time and they would like money for the time given. For some people it is their jobs or their side job. Also, doing it for free you can run into problems and its best to just do it yourself and avoid problems

[Avalanche]

Because there's plenty of work for Coders, most will not work for free. I have to pay the bills and this is how I do it so I can't be taking on free projects.

[Kiara]

Coding is a very time consuming and advanced task if you want things done right. I doubt you'll have much luck finding someone to waste hours upon hours of their time for absolutely nothing in return.

[Tyrant]

I wouldn't have time or could justify working on a project for free; programming takes time and not many programmers have that time to spare for nothing in return. For a lot of programmers (even if its part-time) it just isn't an option to spend your time working hard for no money, as you have to turn away other projects which would pay you.
Keep going with learning it, it's a wonderful skill to have and very enjoyable too!

[Nebula]

Besides that it is a very time consuming job, there are also already tons of free scripts sitting on the internet, for instance the php coding for a simple login system. If you want something custom made, to me it's nothing but fair that the programmer charges a fee for it.

If you're looking for free scripts, try the devnetwork: http://forums.devnetwork.net/. And I know that @design1online is giving away a full game package for free once her FB hits the 850 fans (http://www.facebook.com/design1online).

[bigdude]

I never asked for any money on Nutrinopets. But I was not hired as a programmer. I did some programming work and probably ended up doing more than I imagined I would, but I didn't care that I was not being paid. It was a hobby and programming will probably always be a hobby for me. I don't look at myself and say 'wow, I should be paid' for everything I do. Granted, I was 16-18 at the time and money wasn't all that important to me.

I don't envision myself working for another website again. I loved what I did but a certain part of me felt restricted and disrespected, to an extent, and I don't need that. If I would get back into the industry, it would be creating my own site, programming it from the ground up. I would say you're better off going that route, but it certainly is not an easy task and probably the number one reason why most sites never make it too far off the ground.

[Grotesque]

Do plumbers ever work for free? Do <put in profession here> ever work for free?

[Lewis]

Some coders might work for free but they would probably be doing it to learn. Their code wouldn't be the best and you would waste time having to pay another coder to fix the problems.

[Moof]

I worked for free when I was a beginner because the quality was lacking due to inexperience... but sometimes free scripts from greenhorns like that are more of a curse than a gift. ^^;