Here is my public declaration of my very first attempt at #100DaysofCode.
An accurate representation of my brain as I say those words.
The #100DaysofCode challenge is something that many people take on to help improve and foster impactful skills to become a better developer, worker, and professional.
The great thing of #100DaysofCode is that there is a single rule: Code for at least one hour for 100 days.
Granted the official challenge is a bit more in-depth than that and if you want to read a more detailed explanation of #100DaysofCode you can visit the official website or read through the excellent Essential Guide to the 100 Days of Code Challenge.
I plan on taking a bit of liberties with the “official” rules like many do. For example, I would really like to learn a JavaScript framework during this first round but there isn’t any possible way I can sit in a code editor using React because I have no idea how it works.
I’ll be using various online tutorials to help learn some new technologies but I have a game plan (listed below) of different projects and hacks that I want to build during the challenge.
Why Am I Doing This?
Long story short, I want to become a better developer.
However, I really struggle to make time to practice my development skills once I get home from work. If I don’t have a structured plan in front of me, I am bound to procrastinate indefinitely. I am hoping with the lenient one hour of coding per day, it will allow me to keep projects and learning moving at a reasonable pace. I’m also hoping I can gain some useful skills that will be beneficial to my personal and professional growth.
What I Hope to Accomplish
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Stay Consistent
To see any type of success with this challenge, consistency is key. Of course I will be shooting to do all 100 days but I suspect there will be days where I won't be available at a computer to code. I will be shooting for 90% of days to code, update my daily log, and creating my weekly and monthly reflection blog posts to dev.to.
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Create a major website
I am constantly thinking of different "major" websites that I want to start building. But because the scope of them is so big (but really more just undefined) I never start them. I want to use this challenge to build a website previewing my fantasy football league's 10th annual draft for this upcoming August. Definitely a more fun project rather than one for professional use.
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Learn SASS
I'm slowly introducing frameworks and libraries into my daily use one language at a time. After research, it seems that SASS is a great one for CSS for beginners. I was able to learn Bootstrap decently quick so I do have some confident that I could get pretty familiar with SASS well before the deadline.
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Begin learning Vue.js (or React)
Another goal that I've thought endlessly about but have yet to start. JavaScript frameworks are very necessary to web development, especially if you are looking to land a software development job.
Now that my confidence with JS is getting higher on a daily basis, I feel ready to start learning a framework. I have tentatively selected to learn Vue.js, however, I haven't completely ruled out React quite yet. Mainly because React is so prevalent in the software development community.
Because these frameworks are such an undertaking to learn, and I have other goals on my plate, my expectation is to get as familiar as possible with one, rather than trying to master it completely.
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Complete all challenges in WesBos JavaScript30
I started going through this list back in October 2019, basically pseudo-coding alongside the video tutorials. This time I would like to solve each challenge on my own as much as possible.
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Create websites based off designs found on Dribbble
This is the first backseat goal that I have in case I find myself with extra time. I've historically gotten bogged down on the design portion of web development. Being able to take fantastic designs from Dribbble will allow me to stay in a code editor as long as possible.
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CodeWars for relaxed days
For days where I may lack motivation or creativity I will work through various problems on CodeWars. I can easily spend an hour wracking my brain trying to find the correct answer while sharpening my coding skills.
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Stream the journey on Twitch
I think it would be awesome to record and stream this process as much as possible on Twitch. It can provide an opportunity for others to interact with me on my journey on a live basis.
Plus, I think Twitch is a really great app to connect with others in general.
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Interact with other developers
Whether it's posting comments to other dev.to blog posts, interacting with developers on Twitter, or chatting with people on my aforementioned Twitch stream, I'd like to become more ingrained in the developer community.
That's a lot of goals.
But, I think if I can stick to the little details on a daily basis, I am confident that I can accomplish most if not all of the goals above.
Connect with me on my Journey
Phew! That was a lot more typing than I expected! I’m hoping my weekly and monthly reflections are not as long but regardless I am very excited to have something to work on for the next 100 days. It should be an excellent adventure between now and June 9.
I will now leave you to a really nice tune that I’ve been listening to non-stop.
Happy coding!
Top comments (1)
Good luck!