78 Solutions is a mindset for deliberate practice in software — choosing the right challenges, solving them well, and building momentum without burning out.
About 78 SolutionsSome problems aren’t worth solving. This method helps you spot the ones that matter — the ones with long-term payoff and deep learning.
Write, test, improve. Then do it again. You’ll build skill through repetition and code reuse, turning your codebase — and your career — into a perpetual training ground.
Every solution is a seed. Let your past solutions guide (or help solve) your future problems, and let your systems evolve with you over time.
Each week, you choose 1.5 problems to solve. Perhaps you will choose one problem worth solving and one small improvement to your toolkit. Or perhaps you will solve three problems over two weeks. The goal isn’t just to ship — it’s to learn while you build, and to build things worth keeping.
Define a problem clearly and tie it to a bigger purpose. Even small problems can unlock big growth if chosen wisely.
Work with focus, using habits that sharpen your thinking — like writing tests, reflecting on what’s hard, or reusing past solutions.
Document your progress. Save what works. Each solution becomes a tool in your belt — for next week, next project, or your future self.
Recent articles and submissions from contributors — or technically, just one (for now). Want to publish something on 78solutions.com? Visit the contributors page to learn how.
Greg Hluska pushed fitnesstracker.ca live three hours ago and is full of nervous energy, so he's taking the time to reflect on the experience of building that site and the experience of launching. Fundamentally, launch is an amazing feeling but it is when the real work begins.
Publishing void (n) - A state of existence that occurs roughly one month after launch when you realize that you have nothing to say so start repeating things you have already said. The void lasts for about two months and if publishers survive (meaning, repeat themselves) they enter the publishing glut stage where nothing gets published because nothing is as good as anything else. What does any of that have to do with that article? Read on to find out.
While I was building 78solutions.com, I ran into a few occasions when my colour combinations looked good but didn't have enough contrast. So I roughed out this tool and today, I released it to the public.
This article from The Walrus explores the slow erosion of sustainable careers in music, particularly for artists who once occupied the middle ground between struggling and stardom. As streaming payouts shrink and touring becomes increasingly costly and unstable post-COVID, the dream of making a living from music is slipping further out of reach. It's a thoughtful, heartbreaking read for anyone who loves music and values the people who make it.
Dave Winer will be speaking at WordCamp Canada in Ottawa in October. I still have a lot of friends in the wider Wordpress community and hope that a lot of you make it out to WordCamp and have an excellent time.