I'm joining #100DaysOfCode (and why you should too)

#100DaysOfCode is a public commitment that you’ll spend at least 1-hour coding every day for 100 days. You’ll swear to your followers on Twitter that you’ll code 1 hour outside your work in your own project, learning a new language, a new framework or something code-related.

It’s not just some empty thing like “Yeah I’ll learn Laravel anytime soon”.

We always swear we’ll do it.

And never happens.

So committing publicly will push you yourself to learning and creating something new. And that only helps yourself.

How to do it

Saying “I’ll commit to the #100DaysOfCode” and getting 5-6 followers thanks to using the hashtag is not enough and not the point of the challenge. You need a plan.

Think in something you want to do but you’ll never find the time: An async chat in React, a website for your husband job or learning how to create Android apps (Or even something that is not programming)

For example, I am a Full Stack Developer that uses Django/Django Rest Framework on the BackEnd and Angular or jQuery on the FrontEnd.

I’m not quite happy with Angular ( I don’t feel it like it’s second nature for me, unlike Python) and my workmates use Vue. I love how it looks and how it works.

Also, what’s the point of creating REST APIs with Django with only one site using it? I want to learn how to create mobile apps, but I don’t have the time to learn Swift and Java for Android. Or Kotlin. Or the new iOS language.

After investigating, I decided for Flutter, a new and hot Framework created by Google that uses Dart. I don’t know the framework nor the language, but I’ll learn.

Do the same and do a little research on what you want to learn on 100DaysOfCode. Learn a new language, framework or become an advanced user on a technology you already know.

Are you a FrontEnd programmer that uses React and Vue and SCSS but never uses tests? What about packages to speed up development?

Or maybe you are a BackEnd developer that finds CSS a scary place?

Find something you want to learn and commit.

Extra points if you tweet each day about what you have learn, publish the results to your blog or push your code to GitHub.

What I want to learn and why

As I’ve said, I use Python, Django and DRF in the Backend and Angular or jQuery alongside Bootstrap and Materialize in the FrontEnd.

I want to have more tools on each side of web development: Two Frameworks on the BackEnd (at least) and one in the FrontEnd. Knowing this, I can decide which one to use depending on the use case.

I’ve used Angular in my job, but I didn’t really like it, so I want to learn Vue.

I also would like to learn how to do mobile apps. I want to create non-complex apps, strap some adds and see if I can do some cash on the side in a passive way (also, not using CSS. I’m a BackEnd programmer at heart).

So I’ll be spending 50 days learning Vue, then 50 days learning Flutter.

15/07/2019 update: No, I won’t! I learnt Flutter on my second 100DaysOfCode challenge

#100DaysOfCode - Learning Vue and Flutter — *My choice for this challenge*

Why I am doing this?

I felt in the “I need to learn everything and every language” beginner trap. I’ve dabbled with C#, Java, Python, Angular, Vue, Java for Android, Node.JS, Django but never focused on anything, as losing a possible job because you didn’t know that language scared me.

Months passed, and I had a superficial knowledge of many languages, but I wasn’t employable in any of them. I did tutorial after tutorial then moved onto the next one.

Yes, I can read code in C#, Node.JS, Java, etc etc. But building something in my own? I was lost.

So one year ago I committed to becoming a good Python developer ( I love the language ). I took a job as Django developer and I’ve learned a lot. Sadly sometimes interest switched and I tried to learn so many things. A new week a new language or framework.

So by doing this, I’ll learn what I want without switching every week (I hope!)

What I expect

I know that 100 days are not enough to learn a framework completely. 50 days (2 frameworks) even less.

But I don’t expect to be an expert after this.

You know about 20/80?

I just need to learn the 20% that makes up 80% of the code. The exceptions, the special cases, etc I can learn with the documentation, blogs and, of course, StackOverflow.

If I can set up a project in Vue, learn about components, how to pass data, how to login/logout, and how to create a simple app that fetches info from an API REST and displays it in a cool way, I’ll be happy (well, using animations would cool too!)

15/07/2019 update: I finished the challenge, here’s what I’ve learnt: #100DaysOfCode learning Vue: My Five Ws