How I Built a To-Do App in 4 Hours at a Mini Hackathon

Have you ever tried building a full app in just a few hours?
Recently, I participated in a mini hackathon organized by DevWengi, led by Clinton Odhiambo and Flovian Atieno. The challenge was simple but intense: build a functional application in just 4 hours.

It turned out to be one of the most exciting and educational experiences I’ve had so far.

The Challenge
We were tasked with building a To-Do App with these core features:

1. Store data locally
2. Edit tasks
3. Update tasks
4. Delete tasks

At first glance, it sounds simple… but doing all that within a limited time really tests your focus and problem-solving skills.

What We Built
I teamed up with Ibrahim, and together we built a mobile-friendly to-do application that met all the requirements.
Even better — it worked smoothly and did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Going Beyond the Basics
We didn’t just stop at the required features. We added:

• Task filtering (Completed tasks)
• Active/Pending tasks view
• All tasks overview These additions made the app more practical and user-friendly.

Tech Stack
We kept things simple and focused:

1. HTML
2. CSS
3. JavaScript No frameworks, no backend — just pure frontend. And it still delivered!

What I Learned
This hackathon taught me:

1. How to build fast under pressure
2. The importance of planning before coding
3. How small features can greatly improve user experience
4. That you don’t always need complex tools to build something useful ** What’s Next?** This is just the beginning. I’m planning to:
5. Improve the UI/UX
6. Add more advanced features
7. Integrate a backend for better data handling

Check Out the Project
You can explore the full project on my GitHub, where I’ve shared a clear illustration of how the app works.