100 days to better your developer skills

Better together. That’s what a kinda old but very well-known song says. And, actually, that’s what the 100 Days of Code is about: better together with a plan, better together with a community. This challenge, created 6 years ago by Alexander Kallaway, is still trending among programmers that are looking to strengthen their skills and build a community of support during the journey. 100 Days of Code gives you a clear path forward to follow: rules, sharing, guidelines, achieving goals, and improvement. 

In this article, we invite you to explore with us what this challenge is about and why you should join it. But we know that sometimes it’s hard to keep a routine, so we’ll also discover good advice to help you stay on the 100-day track. 

100 Days of Code: A challenge for programmers that want to boost their skills

As we said before, Alexander Kallaway was the bright mind behind this challenge. He wrote it in a popular article on FreeCodeCamp. In that article, he shared exactly what the challenge was about, some common questions with their answers, and the plans he had to improve his programming skills. Spoiler alert: you don’t have to be an experienced developer, you just need perseverance, curiosity, and determination.

100 Days of Code has mainly two important rules:

• You have to code for at least 1 hour for the next 100 days, you don’t get to stop, not one single day.
• Share your progress with others, so you make sure you’re motivated. You can contact other developers, you can share your results on different social networks. There are communities across many different social networks: Gitter, Slack, Discord, Twitter, and more.

Although Alexander created this challenge to get to Free Code Camp’s Front End Certification Projects, you can choose any aspect of coding you want to boost. So think about it: Would that be front-end, back-end, or cloud technologies? Don't forget about data structures and algorithms, it’s your choice.

 

Why should you be planning your 100 Days of Code now?

Training your programming skills is just one of the reasons. But there are plenty. We’ve selected 5 that we consider must be taken into account when deciding to join the challenge:

Taking your programming habits to the next level

Joining the 100 Days of Code challenge is saving time during your day, especially for coding. You’ll not just “train coding when you have the time”. By doing so, coding will become part of your routine, and you’ll be a more consistent developer and a full-time learner. Why? Because you’ll experiment daily with new issues and ways to solve them, you’ll get all the resources you need to do so. Your developer skill set will always be up-to-date.

Learning how to learn

Following what we were discussing and to finally embrace all the skills you need to improve your work, you must first learn how to learn. When joining the 100 Days of Code challenge, you’ll do so by getting in touch and exploring new languages, frameworks, and libraries, and incorporating all the knowledge that they have to offer. Once you do that, you’ll be speeding up your learning pace and, probably, adapting to new technologies will be an easy-peasy job for you.

Discipline and proactivity to be a dream developer

Say goodbye to procrastination. This challenge will be good training for following a plan without wanting to quit or at least, if you want to, having a strong commitment that makes you stick to what you need to achieve your goals. We all know how difficult it is to be motivated during all the stages of a project, that’s why we consider 100 Days of Code a unique opportunity to keep you focused on coding for more than 3 months. 
What’s the secret? You’ll have a clear objective and a clear timeline to follow, and you have a structured and thrilling challenge in front of you. Plus, being incentivized and trained, will open your mind to new development ideas. 

Your portfolio will thank you

By completing the projects that the 100 Days of Code challenge comes with, you’ll create or improve your portfolio. And if your portfolio looks stronger certainly your job proposals will do too. Make sure that your portfolio shows the variety of technologies you can use and proves your developer skills, Plus, you should have an active profile on GitHub, which is an extra point for job seekers. 

Get to know other programming lovers like you

As we said before, there are plenty of forums on social platforms to participate in and get involved with. Share your progress and look for support from other developers. This will keep you motivated and help you find the solutions when you get stuck. 

 

Need some advice? Check out 5 tips that will help you stay on track

Lack of motivation, feeling lazy, or just procrastinating. Many factors might make you want to leave this challenge for the next day. Here are some tips that we gather to help you overcome those situations:

• Commit in public. Discover how other developers are doing that on Twitter by using the hashtag #100daysofcode. Plus, seeing others complete the challenge can give you extra motivation.
• Make a plan. Consider what technologies you want to learn and the projects you want to complete. Your plan must be created before you jump into the challenge but if you need to change it during the journey, you can. We suggest you do some research before setting up the plan. 
• Create a journal. Complete it day by day and fuel it with an open GitHub repository or blog, so others can check out your daily progress and your work. 
• Measure your challenge. This can help you stay motivated and be more accountable. You can measure your 100 Days of Code by just using a timer, so you’re certain about coding for at least one hour per day. 
• Choose your pace. If you feel like 100 days is a lot, start with a number that makes you feel comfortable but still challenges you.

 

Want to start planning your challenge? Discover technologies and best practices in the programming world. Explore our blog.