Top Reasons to Love Codewars for Learning Code

Being a self-taught/community-taught beginner developer means I sometimes struggle with imposter syndrome. It’s not that imposter syndrome doesn’t affect developers from formal backgrounds—it absolutely does. But as a self-taught developer, there’s this constant voice asking, “What do I even need to know to call myself a developer?” or, even worse, “Am I a fraud? Am I just faking this whole thing? How can I call myself a developer?”

It’s a tough battle, one made even harder by external factors like unsupportive family members. (Shout out to those who can relate!) These doubts even led me to enroll in a computer science program. While I’m technically still enrolled, I’ve taken a hiatus because it wasn’t the best experience for me. However, during my enrollment, I learned something from #100Devs, a program that has been a total game-changer for me. This tool became my wooden stick to beat imposter syndrome into submission.

That tool? Codewars.

And why does it help? Simply because it works. And when something works, you don’t ask questions—you just roll with it.

If you’re struggling with self-doubt, maybe my experience can help you too.

Learning Coding Challenges the Hard Way

Leon Noel, the creator of #100Devs, teaches us early on about the power of coding challenges. I’ll be honest—I already knew about Codewars when I started #100Devs in April 2023. And I’ll also be honest—I was terrified of it. I had tried to sign up for Codewars back in 2022 when I first started learning to code, but I couldn’t even get past the signup problem.

Fast forward to May 2023, and Leon is telling us to do Codewars challenges every day. All I could think was, “Oh God, that site I wasn’t even smart enough to sign up for!” But I followed his advice. I signed up, and this time I completed the signup in mere seconds. I knew some JavaScript now, and that was huge for me! I felt silly getting so excited over something so small, but it was still progress, and it felt great.

You might think that after signing up, everything was smooth sailing. Not quite. It was hard—really hard. I struggled for months. But Leon’s teaching gave me something invaluable: confidence.

Changing My Mindset

Instead of approaching Codewars with a “Jeez, I suck, let’s go fail some more” mindset, I now approach it with excitement: “This will be fun! Let’s go learn something new.” This change in perspective has been life-changing for me.

I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem and confidence, but Codewars has helped. It’s not a magic solution, but it’s part of the healing process, and here’s how:

1. A Challenge a Day Keeps the Syntax Fresh

When you use something every day, even for just 20-30 minutes, you get used to it. You get familiar with patterns and start to feel more comfortable with the language. The same goes for JavaScript—or any other language for that matter. (I also dabbled in Python during my computer science stint!)

Using JavaScript daily has given me a feel for the language. I’ve reached the point where I can look at code and know something is off, even if I’m not sure what exactly is wrong.

This daily exposure helps me feel like I belong in the coding world.

2. Tackling Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a sneaky enemy. When you feel like you’re part of the language, though, it becomes a little easier to fight off. Coding challenges force me to confront the fear that I don’t know enough. Instead of running from it, I face it head-on by trying new challenges, even if I feel unqualified.

When imposter syndrome flares up, I hop on Codewars and tackle a few challenges, often focusing on a specific category like strings or arrays. This gives me a small, but powerful, sense of accomplishment. And sometimes, that’s all you need—a boost to keep you going.

3. Always Learning

One of the things I love about Codewars is that I never know what I’ll need to solve a challenge. This keeps me in a constant state of learning. Maybe I’ll discover a new method I’ve never used before. Or maybe I’ll find a solution that works but could be optimized.

That’s the fun—always learning something new, always growing.

Just the other day, I learned about `Map.set()` while working on a challenge to remove duplicates. I had never used it before, but I was okay with that. Abstraction is no longer something that terrifies me. I’m okay with working through challenges and learning as I go. In fact, I’ve found that I learn coding best when I use new techniques immediately, rather than waiting to fully understand them before trying them out.

This approach to learning—use first, understand later—has been one of the biggest takeaways I’ve gotten from #100Devs. I’m so grateful to Leon Noel for teaching me this.

Conclusion: Why I Love Codewars

At the end of the day, here’s why I love Codewars:

1. It forces me to use the language, keeping my skills sharp. No more boring theory from tutorials that leave me confused. I get hands-on practice, and that’s what matters.

2. It challenges me daily, keeping me in a constant state of learning and growth. Some days I spend 20 minutes on Codewars; other days, just five. But no matter what, I’m learning.

3. The learning never stops, and that’s what keeps me coming back. ❤️

I hope my experience with Codewars was enjoyable to read, and I’d love to hear about your own experiences! Are you a Codewars fan, or do you prefer LeetCode? Either way, let me know what keeps you motivated to learn.