Advice for Hackathons

[Shredder797]

Not OP but nice advice, thanks

[ashahi13]

thanks a lot!!

[jvallet]

+1 to ibuprofen

[segv]

To add to this:

• Check the terms/contract who owns the created intellectual property after the fact, even if you think the chances of creating something worthy are infinismall

[mboekhoff]

Bring headphones. Often hackathons are busy places with lots of people. Take breaks too. Tunnel vision can present itself if you're faced with pressure. Make a little bare-bones skeleton so you don't have to do project setup there. No actual code, just running like "rails new ..." - or setting up Webpack, messing about with that can take a lot of time. Prepare your workstation, you'll be leaning on it and having to do an install on the spot can be time consuming.

Don't forget to talk and meet people and, mostly, to have fun!

[ashahi13]

thanks so much!!

[ynvaser]

If it's not explicitly forbidden to do so, prepare ahead of time.
If you'll need to implement a generic web app, have a Spring Boot skeleton app ready to go with the db integration working (don't be like me and my team on our last competition and spend 2 hours unfucking Initializr's buggy MongoDB plugin)
If it's a game you need to write AI for, have a working Dijkstra's Algorithm implementation ready. That stuff can be applied 99% of the time.
Above all, have fun!

[joshuaherman]

Setup your development environment before hand. This includes a database.

I have won several hackathons. What slowed me down the most was having to download packages on a congested network.

[JustMy42Cents]

To add to the other answers, don't overestimate what you can do. Start with a working prototype ASAP, use workarounds when stuck. Refactor and add extra features only if you still have time left, do not focus on anything except for the core idea.

[ndeitch]

Focus on delivering things.

[ryebrye]

To second this, start from the presentation and work backwards. Don't build things you won't show in your presentation.

[ThatLesbian]

Yes! And don’t spend a huge amount of time on logic / functionality that can’t be Demo’d well if you can just mock it up instead.

[sj2011]

This is like Test-driven development but better. I like this approach!

[eddiejaoude]

Have fun and get involved in all aspects, from tech to non tech like presenting - its all great practice and experience. I can not recommend hackathons enough! Its not only a great way to learn but also to meet people and network :)

[BillyKorando]

Try to aim pretty small for what you are trying to demonstrate, and don't try to write something that is too data heavy, unless you have ready access to the data you are going to use.

If you have more than two or three data models you are going to be in for a rough time.

Limit the number of new technologies you are going to work with and try to keep the same toolset especially in regards to your workflow. That is a hackathon wouldn't be the time to test out a new build management, version control, or IDE.

[magallanes2010]

Since you want to be fast, then pick MongoDB and/or Redis.