Week 1 #100DaysOfCode: The Journey Begins
I'm 20 years old. I dropped out of university after a year and a half of studying computer science, and I've been teaching myself to code for the past seven months.
That sounds dramatic, but the honest version is simpler: university wasn't working for me. The pace was slow, the curriculum was outdated, and I learned more from a weekend on freeCodeCamp than a semester in a classroom. So I left, and I kept going on my own.
Seven months of Udemy bootcamps, Codecademy tracks, YouTube tutorials. I picked things up, but I also felt the gaps. I could build things, but I couldn't always tell you why they worked. The fundamentals — computer science fundamentals — were fuzzy in a way that bothered me.
That's why I started the #100DaysOfCode challenge.
What is #100DaysOfCode?
It's a commitment: code for at least one hour every day for 100 days, and share your progress publicly. Alexander Kallaway created it as an accountability structure, and it works because the public commitment changes how you treat the habit. You can't skip a day quietly.
I'm following P1xt's "Web Development and Computer Science" guide — a structured curriculum that mixes real projects with foundational CS material. It felt right because it doesn't let you ignore the hard parts.
What I'm doing in Week 1
My setup: Ubuntu Linux, VS Code, GitHub, CodePen, a Trello board to track progress.
Days 1–5 were about getting the basics solid:
- GitHub — how version control actually works, not just memorizing git commands
- Command line — navigating the filesystem, understanding what's actually happening
- You Don't Know JS: Scope & Closures — Kyle Simpson's series, starting from the first book
The YDKJS books are dense. Kyle Simpson doesn't explain JavaScript the way tutorials do — he explains how the engine thinks. Reading "Scope & Closures" is slower than watching a video, but I understand more at the end of a chapter than I ever did after a 2-hour tutorial.
The goal
A job. A real web development job. I want to build things professionally, not just as a side project. And I want to actually understand what I'm building — not just copy patterns until something works.
I'm going to code 4–8 hours a day, post updates on Twitter, and write a weekly review here. I'll keep going until the habit doesn't need an external structure anymore.
Week 1 done. 99 to go.