About Muddle
A 100-Day Learning Journey: From Zero to Full-Stack Developer
Started: September 30, 2025 • Target Completion: January 8, 2026
The Challenge:
Can a relatively non-technical professional build a complete web application from scratch in 100 days using AI as a learning partner?
The Answer: You're watching it happen in real-time.
What is Muddle?
Muddle is a thought organization platform that transforms scattered ideas into structured outputs. Users capture unstructured thoughts Twitter-style, and AI automatically adds structure through tagging, task detection, and synthesis capabilities.
Think of it as your second brain—dump random ideas throughout the day, then use AI to synthesize them into speeches, presentations, reports, or action plans.
🌍 Live at: muddle.earth
(Infrastructure deployed and tested live - application actively being developed)
How It Started
Day 1 (September 30, 2025): With zero development experience, I purchased a $100 refurbished laptop through my company's Second Life program and installed Pop!_OS Linux. First lesson: basic terminal navigation with ls, pwd, and cd commands.
The Setup: A budget laptop, a Raspberry Pi 5 ordered from a Swiss retailer, and Claude AI as my teacher. No bootcamps, no formal courses—just direct learning through building real infrastructure.
The Learning Journey
Week 1 (Days 1-7): Linux fundamentals on Pop!_OS—file navigation, permissions, Git version control, GitHub integration
Week 2 (Days 8-14): Ruby programming basics—variables, arrays, methods, classes, object-oriented concepts
Week 3 (Days 15-21): Ruby on Rails introduction—MVC architecture, database models, migrations, associations
Week 4 (Days 22-28): Web fundamentals—HTML structure, CSS styling, forms, responsive design
Week 5 (Days 29-35): Rails development—controllers, views, authentication (Devise), deployment preparation
Week 6 (Days 36-42): Server setup—Raspberry Pi configuration, Docker containers, PostgreSQL, Nginx reverse proxy
Week 7 (Days 43-50): Production deployment—HTTPS with Let's Encrypt, dynamic DNS, security hardening, going live
Weeks 8-14 (Days 51-100): AI integration, mobile API, iOS app development, advanced features, optimization
Key Milestones
Day 1 (Sept 30): First Linux commands on a $100 refurbished laptop
Day 4 (Oct 3): Git version control and first GitHub repository
Day 11 (Oct 10): First Ruby object-oriented program (User and Thought classes)
Day 14 (Oct 13): Generated first Rails application with database
Day 19 (Oct 18): Infrastructure configured - Nginx, SSL certificates, domain routing
Day 21 (Oct 20): Production environment deployed and tested live with Docker
Day 50 (Nov 18): (Target) AI integration and mobile API complete
Day 100 (Jan 8, 2026): (Final Target) iOS app released, full platform operational