One of the greatest personal challenges of mine with respect to code (or anything over which I feel ownership) is that of letting go and allowing others to edit, enhance, or in any way modify it.  This is not a quality that I find attractive or endearing, but more of a hurdle.  I do have the experience (many times over I might add) of working in a team environment on a product - but that's different at some level.  In that scenario there's more of a feeling of 'team ownership' despite the fact that I 'own' an area or an aspect of code.

I have several personal side projects that I (along with a friend) have been working on for quite some time.  I have 'ownership' of about 95% of the code - that is, I wrote it, I designed it, I conceptualized it - it's my baby.  Recently, my friend and I extended an invitation to three other mutual friends to join us in developing this software...this was great in concept.  I've always tried to be an includer, so no problem.  However, my heart stops or occasionally skips a beat when these other associates start dabbling in this code that I've had almost exclusive ownership of for the past millenium.  I'm really working hard at overcoming this perceived weakness and feel that I'm conquering it - but it's hard.

What can I do to convince myself that these other contributors will surprise me and write great code without my meddling?  I believe I need to educate them on the initial ideas and concepts and direction and then simply have a degree of trust and confidence.  It's mostly a matter of trust and learning to let go.