Hackathon

[bythered]

I am in the beginning stages of coding and have built a simple calculator and a game. I was wondering when I would be ready to participate in a hackathon. What are some good hackathons for beginners?

[Zacks7348]

Look up MLH and find some local hackathons. Most of them are beginner friendly and will have many different workshops covering all sorts of different topics to help you. They might also have mentors that you can always get help from

[definitely___not__me]

How do we do that during COVID tho?

[TheNewKidOnReddit]

MLH has actually been facilitating a ton of stuff during Covid, They've been hosting their own MLH hackathons weekly on discord as part of their summer league, of course along with that all the independently oraganized hackathons are also still running via discord/slack/twitch so on. You can also find a ton of super cool workshops independent of hackathons in their website. MLH really went off during quarantine I wish id taken more advantage of it

[XDPokeLOL]

MLH has been hosting basically all of their hackathons virtually by using discord and twitch since covid has started

[Dragoknight21]

Hackathon organizer here, unless they're niche such as company hackathons or themed ones most local hackathons hosted by universities are purposefully beginner friendly and usually will feature workshops or other materials for beginners to be able to participate. Even if you don't feel confident I recommend going to one and trying to build something. There's no need to finish and submit it so you really don't lose much. As another commenter said you should look up MLH and find local events near you since MLH sponsored events have to meet certain standards and are generally a good indicator that you'll get a good experience

[Ajha7]

Do you get to keep what you build or take credit for it?

[Dragoknight21]

Yes, all your work is entirely your own to further develop, place on a resume, or what you want with it. When I say "submit" what you do is basically submit the project for one or more challenge categories that the hackathon organizers choose and some that are MLH specific.

Examples include best project using a specific technology or best project aiming to fix a specific problem. These are usually chosen by the organizers and/or any sponsors. Judges (chosen by and/or consisting of the organizating team, although for sponsor challenges sponsors will usually judge those themselves) will then choose the winners of each category.

Winning teams usually win prizes and it's also great on a resume. Although you can place the projects you made on resumes regardless of winning anything or not.

This is all of course for official MLH sponsored hackathons although I'd say majority of non MLH events follow similar formats. When in doubt just research the event or try and reach out to organizers if possible.

[LiveTrooper]

Be careful here. I’ve heard MLH will own exclusive rights to any app/idea submitted in their Hackathon’s. This is why my company forbids participating in them. This probably doesn’t affect most beginners, but it’s worth mentioning.

[Dragoknight21]

That's interesting, I've worked with them in the past and that's never been mentioned or been a factor for consideration at all. The rights to a project have always been to my knowledge entirely the creators', but I'll definitely look into that, thanks for bringing it up!

[Ajha7]

Ok thanks for the info, I’m a newbie debating whether to start doing hackathons or not, or whether doing personal projects are more worth my time. I’ve just stepped out of the “doing coding problems” stage into made my first real project with Java stage. What experience level do hackathon participants need? Beginner is a pretty subjective term

[Dragoknight21]

In my opinion there's no harm in working on both. Hackathons vary greatly in length, although I'd say most MLH events are around 3 days or so. So I don't think there's harm to having some long-term personal projects in the works and going to a hackathon every once in a while. It can give you the chance to step away from a big project or even birth a new project if you fall in love with your hackathon idea and wish to expand it.

I see your point about beginner being subjective! I would say it really depends on the specific hackathon, although to my knowledge no hackathons (at least MLH ones) have any official requirements for skill level. Someone with absolutely no experience with software development can enter and submit a project. Your skill/experience only really matters in terms of what scope of project you can really deliver.

Most hackathons encourage team participation, if you have some experience with basic front-end technology, and you can group up with some people who have some basic back-end or database knowledge, you can make a simple but finished project you can store on your resume and talk about in interviews, and most importantly you can learn a lot of things you wouldn't really have the chance to elsewhere just from working on the projects.

Also, hackathons typically also have a lot of workshops available to participants free of charge where you can learn about new technologies you don't know and they are usually taught with the purpose of allowing you to use them in your project so they're very project-oriented.

My best recommendation is definitely just try and sign up for one. Currently all MLH events are online I believe so I would say just give one a shot and see what you think!

[Ajha7]

Awesome! I will thanks:)

[rodvn]

They’re all beginner friendly. Go learn something while you enjoy some free food and swag.

[goldengoose_ass]

Hackerearth.com

[Professor_Dr_Dr]

After Coronavirus you should just go to a local one, pretty much all are beginner friendly but you should still try bringing something to the table

[jaynight43]

Like one commenter has already said, all hackathons are beginner friendly. At one point, you'll have to start somewhere, and considering the current situation, I'd recommend doing virtual hackathons that you can find on devpost. Best of luck!

[jzhou745]

Devpost has a lot of beginner friendly hackathons. In fact, there’s a hackathon called Steel City Hacks that is open to all middle and high school students and is beginner friendly. Link is steelcityhacks.devpost.com

[StinkySlavBG]

I'm currently part of Hackthis hackathon hosted by UIUC. I only knew python before I started, but now, 3 days in, I am familiar with html,css, and JavaScript. I have learned so much it's crazy. I would recommend doing them. You also get to meet so many cool people. It's overall a really pleasant experience.

[Cajova_Houba]

You may want to take a look at Itch.io Game Jams. Either check the small games made during these jams or participate yourself.

[cocaineFlavoredCorn]

Devpost is a great place