100 Days of Code, Curiosity, and Crashes: My Journey into .NET and MAUI

A hundred days ago, I was standing at the edge of a mountain I wasn’t sure I could climb. I had goals that felt just out of reach — mastering .NET backend development, building real mobile apps with .NET MAUI, and understanding systems like authentication, file uploads, real-time communication, and payment integration. The only thing I had going for me was a decision: I would show up every day.

And I did.

What started as a crash course turned into a discipline, and that discipline turned into transformation.

The Decision to Learn Loudly

I didn’t want to be a passive learner. Watching videos and bookmarking docs wasn’t enough. I needed to break things, to rebuild, to fail fast, and to document every step. So I created a daily checklist and treated every day as a sprint. My only rule was: do something that breaks my brain a little — and fix it.

Each morning, I picked a problem. Some days it was about integrating a payment gateway. Some days it was debugging why my file upload system broke for multiple files. Some days it was figuring out how to send messages to a specific user using SignalR. Other days, it was just battling MAUI's quirks and finding out why static JSON wasn't parsing right. Every challenge became a puzzle I wanted to solve — and solving it became an obsession.

My Progress in a Nutshell

Over these 100 days, I’ve built a fully functional backend from scratch using .NET, complete with authentication, dynamic role-based access control, file upload handling, email integration, Stripe and SSLCommerz payment systems, and even real-time chat with SignalR. I didn’t just skim the surface — I explored core concepts like dependency injection, custom middleware, Redis caching, GraphQL integration, cron jobs with Hangfire, and robust testing with xUnit.

On the mobile side, I built a full-fledged music application using .NET MAUI. It has real UI/UX with gesture recognition, music playback, playlist management, SQLite storage, and custom MVVM architecture. When MAUI gave me trouble, I went native with Kotlin just to understand what was happening under the hood. I learned how to structure cross-platform apps and make native features like camera, notifications, and file access work seamlessly.

The Frustrations, Failures, and Fixes

There were countless days where things just didn’t work. Firebase moved behind a paywall when I was ready to test cloud uploads. My Mailtrap integration failed without reason. Scoped authentication didn’t work as expected on minimal APIs. My seeder refused to run. And SignalR? It broadcasted to everyone — until I finally figured out how to target specific users.

At one point, my authorization system was so tangled I couldn’t even decode the JWT token. But every failure taught me something deeper than the docs could. Every error was a teacher in disguise. And perhaps most importantly, I learned how to ask better questions — to the community, to ChatGPT, and to myself.

Why This Journey Mattered

This wasn't just about tech. It was about building momentum, about showing up even when I was tired, confused, or stuck. I didn’t just learn .NET and MAUI — I learned how to teach myself. I developed the confidence to tackle large systems, the curiosity to explore new tools, and the resilience to keep going when things didn’t make sense.

Looking back, it’s surreal to see how far I’ve come. I now see code not as syntax, but as structure — something you can architect, shape, and evolve. I understand the why behind the how. I no longer panic when I see a stack trace. I trace it.

What Comes Next

This is only the beginning. My goals now are to refine what I’ve built, learn more about cybersecurity, continue diving into systems programming, and keep pushing toward building world-class apps and platforms. And I want to share more — not just what I learn, but how I learn, and why it matters.

If you’re reading this and thinking about starting your own learning journey, let me tell you what I’ve learned: You don’t need to be ready. You just need to be consistent. You’ll be amazed by what’s possible in 100 days.

Because the truth is — the code didn’t change me.

The commitment did.