7 Years of The Weekly Challenge
Today marks seven years since we began The Weekly Challenge mission. It all started with just a handful of us tackling challenges in Perl. Soon after, Raku joined the gang, and we began to grow steadily thanks to the incredible support from both the Perl and Raku communities.
A few months into the journey, someone shared a solution in Python for the first time. That was a lightbulb moment for me; I decided right then to open the challenge to all programming languages. Today, we host solutions in over 100 different languages. While Perl and Raku remain our foundation, Python has climbed the ranks to become the most popular guest language.
Over these seven years, we’ve been fortunate enough to have sponsors reach out to us without being asked. I’ll admit, I’m not the best at “the pitch”, so I’m lucky they found us! Since I still run this project individually, there isn’t a formal company structure yet. Perhaps one day, if the budget allows, we can set up a formal entity to manage everything.
Technical Makeover
The website is currently hosted on GitHub Pages and built using Hugo. For years, I used a standard free Hugo theme, but last month I finally decided it was time for a fresh look. This makeover wasn’t just aesthetic; it was also technical. We’ve historically used Highcharts for our data, but since they are no longer free, we’ve successfully migrated everything to ChartJS.
The Next Frontier: Mobile
With the website updated, I set my sights on a mobile app. The catch? I had zero experience with mobile development. I took the plunge with React Native, and I now have an Android version ready for testing!
This is where I need your help. Google requires a minimum of 12 testers to use the app for at least 14 days before they will approve it for the public store.
If you have an Android device and are willing to help me get my first app off the ground, please send me the email address linked to your Google Play Store account privately to mohammad.anwar@yahoo.com. Once you accept the invite, you just need to keep the app installed for two weeks. You don’t need to spend hours on it - just a few random clicks throughout the day is plenty.
