What You Want To Know Going Into A Hackathon

There’s nothing fairly like strolling right into a campus cafeteria, a big convention room, or countless halls stacked collectively for a weekend-long hackathon. Builders of all ability ranges, with varied backgrounds in numerous programming languages and areas of experience, all coming collectively for one function: to construct one thing new. That is precisely what we talked about in Episode 3 of the Tech Stack Playbook, Are Hackathons Only for the Execs?

In a world of fixed innovation, hackathons are a breath of recent air for many who dare to create what hasn’t been created, to strive one thing new and totally different, and to interrupt out of 1’s shell and push the envelope of 1’s expertise. Occasions like these are so necessary for builders, whether or not you’re a newbie or a complicated software program engineer, hackathons are the nice equalizer and ability democratizer.

You may kind a crew with builders who’ve totally different expertise than you, who’ve labored or are working at firms you would possibly wish to work at at some point, or who might have experience within the areas you hope to have. You would possibly find yourself studying extra from the competitors within the span of 48 hours than a boot camp, course, or yr of education. The teachings you acquire, each in software program growth, entrepreneurship, and in working as a crew pays dividends down the street.

Once you’re in a position to be taught cyclically — strive, be taught, fail, be taught, succeed, be taught, repeat — over and over, you expose your self to the gamut of what know-how allows: a willingness to strive first and be taught every step of the way in which.

Issues to know going right into a hackathon

There may be rather a lot to consider going to a hackathon…a number of the questions that may be racing by way of your head could possibly be…

• Who’re the judges?
• Who’re the companions?
• What are the cut-off dates?
• What are the restraints/limitations/constraints/necessities?
• The place is the hackathon?
• What kind of hackathon will I be collaborating in?
• How do I kind a crew?

And on and on…

There’s an countless quantity of questions that may be swirling by way of our heads, however the principle inquiries to ask ourselves is, will I be attending a Growth-Centered Hackathon or a Proof-of-Idea Hackathon. Every comes with its particular necessities, wants, and processes, that are important to know how you can crush every kind of hackathon.

What we at HackerEarth learnt by conducting 200 distant hackathons in 2020! Learn right here…

Whereas this isn’t an inclusive listing of every thing you will have to know for a hackathon, it’s hopefully a useful information on what to know going into each kinds of hackathons so you may crush it and make an influence!

Prime 3 languages to know for a development-focused hackathon

I outline product-focused hackathons as ones the place you’ll have to construct one thing technically distinctive with code that will probably be evaluated by varied deserves, from how correct the information mannequin is, how superior the computation is, or how novel the use-case is. That is when you’ll be constructing a full-stack utility that should accomplish a particular aim or set of targets and be presentable for the judges to overview and probably use. You’ll want to put in your inventive developer hats and take into account what might X {industry} profit from ABC companions’ know-how or what use-case might I implement ABC companions’ know-how for? Take time at first to construct up an thrilling, necessary, and related know-how system you could exhibit.

So what can be useful to know for a hackathon like this?

#1. Git & GitHub — these expertise, whether or not you might be working with a crew in real-time or working nearly, will make it easier to and your crew keep in sync throughout all modifications to the repository and make it easier to collaborate extra effectively, shortly, and precisely.

For those who’re working with a worldwide crew at a digital hackathon, how will you be capable of sustain with code modifications all through the occasion, particularly if you happen to and your crew are in numerous components of the world and in numerous time zones? GitHub will probably be your greatest buddy, linking your teammates collectively as if you happen to had been in the identical room. You don’t should be a git knowledgeable, however realizing how you can do pull requests, department your code, and code evaluations, will probably be essential.

#2. A front-end framework like React, Angular, Vue — realizing how you can construct a fully-packaged utility the place every thing is packaged and compiled for you is essential. React, for instance, is wonderful for this since you’re in a position to run code from a startup script, construct a package deal and deploy that on the cloud, like AWS, and there are such a lot of advantages from realizing React.

Understanding this front-end framework as a result of now you may operationalize your code, you don’t need to have totally different repositories and codebases linked collectively in items. React will allow you to put your entire code collectively and bundle it up seamlessly, which is fairly unbelievable as an development of progressive net purposes and making software program for the online.

There’s additionally an immense quantity of documentation round front-end frameworks like React, in addition to YouTube movies, Medium weblog posts, and StackOverflow discussion board posts about React as nicely. You’ll by no means run out of assets to drag from, and having a really well-documented front-end framework like React that the majority builders will probably be educated about will assist to make the hackathon expertise as seamless throughout your crew as attainable. There are additionally so many nice assets, like TeamTreehouse, that present fast and environment friendly trainings that will help you bounce begin your React/front-end growth expertise very quickly.

#3. A back-end language like AWS (cloud providers), Node.JS or TypeScript (native server), Python (algorithmic code) — will assist you to work with information, endpoints, and construct the logic spine of your software program utility.

Maybe you need to have the ability to predict information sooner or later or visualize some type of data because it is available in. Your back-end language or back-end providers will probably be important for serving to help the front-end construct of the positioning.

Prime 3 instruments to know for a proof-of-concept hackathon

The sort of hackathon is a bit totally different than a development-focused one as a result of right here, the aim is to mission and imaginative and prescient your technique to success.

#1. A design instrument like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD — realizing how you can wireframe and construct out the UI/UX (person interface/expertise) of the person journey all through the software program is a strong ability. Much more highly effective is having the ability to construct out a wireframe in a hackathon with a restricted period of time and assets to construct.

By creating mockups, that is vital for sharing this with the judges who wish to see what you could have visioned and the place you wish to go. Mockups assist to make the software program actual and promote your imaginative and prescient to an exterior viewers. Design ability units are so useful in locations like this.

#2. Understanding a presentation software program like Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Keynote — having fairly savvy presentation expertise will assist to promote your mission and imaginative and prescient much more. Google Slides is commonly the default for sharing displays, particularly with judges.

#3. A front-end framework like React, Angular, Vue — at the least having the ability to construct out a front-end mockup will assist to impress them together with your imaginative and prescient of what you could have constructed up to now and the place you may scale this concept. Judges are additionally making judgments about your capacity to hold this ahead, so that you’ll wish to be sure you can present some growth expertise, even when it isn’t required, as a result of it’s going to add credibility to your imaginative and prescient, past stand-out designs and visuals.

All it takes is one, or two, strong steps ahead…

The whole lot is achievable with the precise plan. It simply takes the precise steps and a few braveness to push previous the imposter syndrome, the self-doubt you is likely to be feeling, or the uneasiness of “not being ok simply but.”

Typically being thrown into the thick of it’s how we find yourself studying probably the most, and that is what makes know-how and programming so particular — everybody continues to be attempting to determine the reply too. If everybody had all the solutions, software program engineering wouldn’t be a profession as a result of every thing can be constructed already.

What if you happen to could possibly be the important thing to unlocking the answer to an enormous industry-wide downside? What if you happen to could possibly be the wanted substances to a crew that desires to assist the world with a particular use case?

The one technique to discover out what’s out there may be to join a hackathon and get began testing the boundaries of your private innovation engine. The longer term is there for many who dare to consider, dream, and construct. I hope you are taking these first steps and go on to construct transformative tech in your communities and the world!

Let’s digitize the longer term!

Try the complete listing of upcoming hackathons at HackerEarth right here!

This submit has been contributed by Brian Hough, Chief Expertise Officer and Co-Founding father of Airblock Applied sciences, AWS Group Builder, Host of Tech Stack Playbook, and five-time International Hackathon Winner.

As somebody who’s very lively on the hackathon scene, Brian is aware of a factor or two concerning the arsenal of instruments and methods builders want with a view to win one. Hope you discover his suggestions useful!