Why You Should Join the #100DaysOfCode Challenge (And How to Succeed)
Do you want to seriously level up your programming skills? Are you looking for a focused way to finally start building your own projects? Have you struggled to make coding a consistent habit?
If so, joining the #100DaysOfCode challenge might be exactly what you need. In this article, I‘ll share what the challenge entails, major benefits you can expect, tips and best practices gathered from successful participants, and resources to help you crush the challenge yourself. Let‘s dive in!
What is the #100DaysOfCode Challenge?
The #100DaysOfCode challenge is a commitment to coding for at least one hour every day for the next 100 days. It‘s a public pledge where you share your progress online each day to keep yourself accountable.
The challenge was created by Alexander Kallaway in 2016 to help people build a lasting habit of coding regularly and improve their skills through deliberate practice. Since then, hundreds of thousands of developers have taken part, supporting each other and celebrating successes along the way.
To officially take on the challenge yourself:
- Fork the 100DaysOfCode GitHub repo
- Code minimum an hour every day for the next 100 days
- Tweet your progress every day with the #100DaysOfCode hashtag
- (Optional) Keep a log of your progress in a GitHub repo or journal
While the challenge is individual, joining the vibrant #100DaysOfCode community provides vital support, encouragement, and accountability to help you succeed.
Worried you‘re not ready or wouldn‘t be able to finish? Don‘t be. The point is consistent practice, not perfection. You‘re allowed to miss a day occasionally (but never two in a row). And it‘s not about quantity, but focusing on deliberate, quality coding time.
5 Major Benefits of the #100DaysOfCode Challenge
Committing to the challenge and sticking with it through the full 100 days provides a range of powerful benefits for your development as a programmer:
1. Rapidly improve your coding skills
The #100DaysOfCode challenge is fundamentally about becoming a better developer through consistent, deliberate practice. By focusing on coding every single day, you push yourself to keep learning and improving. Over the span of 100 days, those incremental gains compound into massive progress.
Just consider – assuming you put in 1 hour per day for all 100 days, that‘s over 16 standard 40-hour work weeks worth of extra coding time. Few things will grow your skills faster than that level of concentrated practice.
2. Build rock-solid coding habits
We become what we consistently do. By coding every day for 100 days, you reprogram your default behaviors and make focused coding time an automatic part of your daily life.
Building lasting habits like this has a range of positive side effects beyond just improving your skills. You train yourself to show up and put in focused work even when you‘re not in the mood. You learn to manage your time and motivation over the long-term. The challenge instills the work ethic needed to reach your goals.
3. Launch your own projects
It‘s easy to spend forever in "tutorial hell," jumping from course to course but never applying your skills to real projects. The #100DaysOfCode challenge pushes you to finally start building.
Working on your own projects is vital for cementing your skills, practicing problem-solving, and creating a portfolio to show to potential employers or clients. With the momentum and concentrated time of the challenge, you can launch multiple meaningful projects over the 100 days.
4. Learn in-demand, cutting-edge skills
One fantastic thing about the #100DaysOfCode challenge is there are no limitations on what you can learn. You‘re in the driver‘s seat.
Want to explore an in-demand specialty like machine learning, cybersecurity, or cloud engineering? Go for it. Interested in trying out the latest JavaScript framework or diving into a new programming language? The challenge is the perfect opportunity. You have 100 days to focus on learning whatever excites you the most.
5. Join a supportive, motivational community
While you take on the #100DaysOfCode challenge as an individual, one of the greatest benefits is joining a global community of developers working toward the same goal. By tweeting your progress every day, you become part of a positive, supportive group who are there to cheer on your successes and help you through any struggles.
Knowing there‘s a whole community in it with you is incredibly motivating. Seeing others‘ progress pushes you to stay focused and keep putting in the work. The collective momentum and accountability makes a huge difference, especially on those tough days when your motivation is low.
Beyond the challenge itself, these connections can blossom into friendships, collaborations, and professional opportunities that continue delivering value long after your 100 days are up.
Tips to Succeed with the #100DaysOfCode Challenge
Over the years the #100DaysOfCode challenge has been running, successful participants have shared their best advice for not just finishing the challenge, but maximizing the benefits. These tips will help you conquer the challenge yourself:
1. Set clear goals
While the overarching objective is to code for at least an hour every day, having more specific goals will help you stay focused and motivated.
Before starting the challenge, think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to learn a particular language or framework? Complete a certain number of projects for your portfolio? Grow your professional network?
The more concrete and measurable your goals, the easier it will be to keep making consistent progress. Write down your goals somewhere you‘ll see them regularly.
2. Plan ahead
Once you have your goals in mind, break them down into smaller milestones. Plan out what you‘ll focus on each week or month of the challenge.
For example, if your goal is to learn full-stack development, you might devote the first few weeks to front-end skills, the next couple weeks to backend, then tie it all together with a full-stack capstone project.
Having a roadmap like this keeps you on track and prevents wasted time figuring out what to work on each day.
3. Set a consistent coding schedule
Finding at least one free hour to code every day can be tricky, especially if you have a busy schedule. Set yourself up for success by creating a consistent routine.
Look at your current commitments and figure out when you can carve out dedicated coding time each day, like in the early morning, on your lunch break, or before bed. Treat this time as non-negotiable, and do everything you can to protect it.
You don‘t need a perfect streak, but try to maintain your routine as much as possible. The more consistent your practice schedule, the easier it will be to keep showing up day after day.
4. Focus on building projects
The #100DaysOfCode challenge isn‘t about speeding through tutorials or reading technical books – the key is writing code. Make sure the majority of your time is spent actually building projects.
Working on your own projects is the best way to apply what you‘re learning and gain hands-on experience solving real-world problems. Building projects for your portfolio also gives you something tangible to share with potential employers.
If you‘re not sure what to build, browse project ideas online, find open-source projects to contribute to, or ask for suggestions from the #100DaysOfCode community.
5. Engage with the community
The #100DaysOfCode community is one of the most valuable resources at your disposal – take advantage of it!
Share your progress on Twitter every day and interact with other participants. Seeing everyone‘s successes and struggles humanizes the challenge and reminds you that you‘re not alone.
If you have questions, need motivation, or want to collaborate, don‘t hesitate to reach out. The community is full of developers of all experience levels who are happy to help however they can.
6. Don‘t neglect your wellbeing
Diving into an intensive challenge like this can make it easy to put your physical and mental health on the back burner. But ironically, ignoring basic self-care will make the challenge harder and less sustainable.
Throughout the challenge, keep your wellbeing a top priority. Get enough sleep, eat well, stay hydrated, and make time for breaks and non-coding activities you enjoy. Your health comes first.
Also, be kind to yourself. The challenge isn‘t meant to be easy, and everyone has days where things don‘t go according to plan. Celebrate your successes, no matter how small, and don‘t beat yourself up over any missteps. What matters is that you keep showing up and putting in effort.
You got this.
100 days from now, you could be a significantly better developer. You could have new projects in your portfolio, a range of cutting-edge skills, and a collection of new friendships all because you committed to the #100DaysOfCode challenge today.
The tips and best practices above will help you make the most of the challenge, but the only way you can really succeed is to dive in and start.
Remember: the challenge is individual, so you‘re only competing with yourself here. This is your journey. Even if some days are harder than others, what matters is that you keep making progress and pushing yourself to grow.
So fork that repo. Block off time in your schedule. Think about those project ideas that get you excited to code. And send out that first #100DaysOfCode tweet.
Your future self will thank you.
Ready to join the challenge and skyrocket your development? Connect with the #100DaysOfCode community below!
[CTA with link to 100 Days GitHub repo]