I post my daily updates right after I finish working really late at night.

So, in case you missed it, I hit 200 consecutive days of working on my little side project SaaS app last night.

https://twitter.com/iamdavidhill/status/1385019963489099785?s=20

Here's what I've learned so far...

Making software is hard.

As a designer I thought I knew how to think through edge cases and possible user journeys, but as a developer you REALLY have to think about this, and more importantly build for it. Accept that this is difficult, and just get on with it.

Knowing what you want to do, and knowing how to do it, are two very different things.

There are so many details and patterns I want to implement, but just don't know how yet. This is ok it's to be expected when you're developing something and learning as you go. Accept it.

You probably don't need that feature.

I started off by learning Laravel and building my backend first. I got carried away and built in features that are not core to my product. I built features as if this was a popular social app. Surprise, it isn't. Strip out bloat.

Keep momentum high.

This is true for everyone, but especially when you're learning and time is limited. There are many areas that I don't know how to implement, instead of losing time on them, I focus on what I can do to keep momentum high. I loop back as knowledge increases.

Ask for help.

I've broken out so many little problems into @CodePen's and shared them on Twitter. Every single call for help has been answered by the community. Even by people I don't know. Ask for help, it's there.

Make time.

Make time, whenever and wherever you can. Old me would have been up early each morning. New me, with a baby and responsibilities, finds that late night when everyone is in bed is my best opportunity for deeper work. Work, even if you only achieve one small task.

Build in public. Or don't.

I've been "building in public" without sharing what I'm working on. Why? Mainly because what I'm working on isn't that important. To me, the fact that I'm working is. I'll share more when the time is right. Sharing is trendy, but it's up to you.

The journey can be more important than the outcome.

Learning how to become a better developer is my goal with this challenge. The outcome, the "SaaS", is secondary. If I can learn how to build a great app then I can build many great apps. Know your why.

I don't know how many more days it'll take to ship this, but I know I'm not quitting until it's shipped. It could be another 200 days, it could be tomorrow*, follow along if you're curious to find out what I've been tinkering on for 200 straight days.

*It's not tomorrow