Have you ever wondered what a hackathon is? Maybe your university or another university nearby is hosting one, or you overheard your classmates talking about attending one. This article will go over what a hackathon is, what you can expect, and how to make the most out of your hackathon experience!

What is a Hackathon?

Hackathons are a place for you to learn new skills, meet new people, network and connect with professionals and companies, test your skills, earn prizes, be creative, and so much more! Most hackathons have something called tracks. Tracks are categories that you can compete in. There are often different judges, prizes, and judging criteria for each track, but some tracks have a little bit of overlap. You can find which tracks are available on your hackathon’s website but note that some hackathons hide the track information until the day of the hackathon to prevent individuals from getting an early start.

Hackathons are meant for you to have fun and explore, so don’t feel pressured to perform! It’s the best opportunity to learn. Hackathons usually last anywhere from 12 hours to 24 hours, to 36 hours, 48 hours, and some even beyond! Although you are on a time crunch, try your best not to stress out. People are there to help you and you can always look things up online. During the hackathon, there will be workshops you can attend to learn new skills, such as mobile development, UI/UX design, using certain APIs and frameworks, and so much more. You can go into a hackathon with zero experience and come out of it with a few new skills. The workshops will also guide you to where you can find documentation for the tools you are using so you can reference them whenever you are stuck.

What should I do before a hackathon?

Firstly, it’s best to work with a team during hackathons, so find people ahead of time if possible. You can ask some friends or classmates if they’re interested. If you can’t find anyone before the hackathon there’s always team building sessions where you can make a team with others who don’t have one. Don’t be shy! You can alternatively work on your own, but I don’t personally recommend it.

Secondly, you should practice any technical skills you think you might use at a hackathon, even if you’re not sure about it yet. If you don’t have any technical skills, learn a programming language! For hackathons, I recommend learning either Python or Java. Those two languages are relatively common for hackathon projects and have many resources available online to learn the language.

Lastly, you should do research on what previous hackathon winners submitted. You can do this by going to DevPost, the website most hackathon organizers use for their participants to submit their projects. Click here to see one of my submissions for a hackathon I won.

What should I do at the start of a hackathon?

Once you get your team assembled, get together and spend time planning out what you want to do. You can do this anyway you want, but I made a list below on how I do it personally:

1. Talk about experience
   • What languages/frameworks do you know? What do you prefer working on (like mobile, web, game, etc.)? Think of other questions you can ask to find common ground between you and your teammates.
2. Pick a track
   • Take a look at the list of tracks available. Talk to your team to see which one(s) will be the best fit for you. You can submit your project in multiple tracks!
3. Brainstorm ideas
   • Keep in mind how much time you have, the resources available, what you’ll need, etc.
4. Pick an idea and break it down
   • You have around 2-4 team members so break down the work. Talk about what you’re comfortable doing and what you’re comfortable learning to do. The goal of the hackathon is to learn so get out of your comfort zone a bit!
5. Get started!
   • Ask for help when you need it. Be sure to communicate with your team often. Make a list of workshops or events you’d like to attend and start planning out how to use your time wisely.

Are hackathons for me?

This is a question I get asked a lot. The truth is you’ll never know until you try it out. Don’t let one hackathon experience determine your overall hackathon experience. The first hackathon I attended wasn’t very hands on. I went alone and joined a team who needed another person and they took over all of the work. I contributed a little to the UI of our app, but I wasn’t given the opportunity to learn. However, I was able to attend a few workshops to gain experience for myself.

I tried for a hackathon again my first year of college. If you can, get some friends or classmates together and try one out together. We were able to meet other teams at the hackathon, students from our university we have never met before, and discuss ideas and projects together which helped all of our teams create better projects. Remember, hackathons are supposed to be fun experiences where you gain knowledge so don’t be scared to go around and see what other people are doing. Some people would want to keep their work a secret to prevent you from stealing their ideas, but others may be open to sharing. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Winning prizes is a huge part of hackathons but they aren’t guaranteed. It’s okay if you don’t win your first hackathon. If you keep trying them out and continuing to learn and gain experience you could win prizes as well! There’s hundreds of hackathons that occur every year, so you have so many chances of winning one. You just have to put your head into it.

Where can I find hackathons?

Most hackathons are sponsored by Major League Hacking. They run a ton of hackathons worldwide. Most hackathons are in-person. If you live close to one, it’ll be a great opportunity to visit another campus to participate. Additionally, some hackathons are hosted by companies. You can just look “hackathon” up on google to find some! DevPost also has many hackathon opportunities on their website that are virtual.

What are some resources you think I might need?

I have a number of resources! These resources don’t only apply to hackathon, but are useful all together so check these out:

• Visual Studio Code: This is my favorite IDE. You should find one that works for you! There’s a ton of posts around the internet that talk about the different types of IDEs, the pros and cons, and debates over which one is “the best,” but it all depends on your own preferences so try one out!
• Git Cheat Sheet: I received a physical copy of this cheat sheet at my first hackathon and I’ve held on to it all these years. It’s my absolute favorite! Git is a version control system that lets you sync your code across multiple devices and users.
• GitHub: You’ll most likely create a project on Github with your team. With Git and Github, you’ll be able to keep your code in one place and post your updates and pull your teammates updates without needing to send files to each other.
• OverAPI: OverAPI has cheatsheets and resources for a variety of languages and frameworks. It’s useful if you need a quick reference for how to do something.
• Draw.io: Draw.io is a place where you can create flowcharts and diagrams. If you are developing a complicated project with many parts, such as an app, you might want a flow chart to get a visual on how you want your program to work. You can then save these files to your computer or on the cloud.
• W3Schools: This is a website that has many tutorials and exercises for a range of programming languages. I revisit this website often and always recommend it to people who need more resources when first learning a language.

If you are still looking for more help with hackathons, be sure to join my Discord server! There’s a category for coding-related discussions and events. Previously, we had a Discord server open strictly for KiindaKodiing, but I have decided to merge it with my community server due to lack of moderators available.

Happy hacking!