
We are thrilled to announce the DigitalOcean App Platform Hackathon on DEV! 🎉
From now through January 10th, you’ll have the opportunity...
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Hey everyone! My name is Chris and I'm the founder of scotch.io and a Developer Advocate at DigitalOcean.
Excited about this hackathon and the things we'll all build! Let me know if you have any questions here or catch me on Twitter.
Hey Chris, huge fan of scotch.io, the JS introduction particularly! I've got a question for you - is a game project considered "truly silly" for the random roulette? Is it worth giving a shot, or should I go for something else in your opinion?
I mean - I have an idea for a game, which is not silly (I can, of course, try to make it such with funny drawings and so on) and I am thinking if it's worth going for that or
should I choose something else?
A game is a great idea! 100% go for it! Random roulette is very much for stuff like this that doesn't fit cleanly into the other categories.
Thank man! And good luck to all participants, HACK ON!
Hey Chris, I would like to ask if it's possible to enter multiple times with separate projects?
Definitely! Highly encouraged to do so. I will be!
I'm trying to use digital ocean from many months but I live in india. Students don't have a credit card nor a PayPal account. Missing this hackathon too :(
PayPal became available in India as of 2017, so I'm not sure why you can't use it with a bank account + PAN. DigitalOcean requires a prepayment of $5 USD to start the DO account via PayPal even with the $50 in credit for this hackathon.
$5 goes through payment or is it deducted from $50 credit that they are giving?
Hey,
The $5 will be used to top up your account, this mainly applies to PayPal. Here are the two messages for each payment method again:
Credit card:
“We won’t charge your card. You may see a temporary pre-authorization charge to verify the card, which will be reversed within a week.”
Paypal:
“To confirm your PayPal account, you need to make a $5 pre-payment. This pre-payment will apply to any future bills.”
You mean if I use PayPal I am going to be charged $5?
Is there any other alternative if I don't wish to pay?
Currently, you could choose only between PayPal and Credit card payments.
Same here, but I will try risking $5 for learning something new!
Hey Chris! Does moving existing sites over to the app platform count towards the hackathon, or no?
Hi there 👋
I believe that it should be ok as long as you deploy the site on the App platform and the project is opensource. Also make sure to add the Deploy to DigitalOcean button for some extra points.
I have a doubt regarding how routes are setup for a static sites and it's corresponding web service.
My specific use case is to implement GitHub oauth on my react/express/GraphQL application.
Locally everything works fine, I have a button which redirects my react app to localhost:4000/auth/GitHub , which gets redirected to GitHub oauth page and then successful login redirects back localhost:3000 (react app).
But on my app platform, I can see only a single APP_URL. I'm confused which goes where and GitHub oauth requires app url & callback url ( localhost:3000 & localhost:4000/user/signin/callback ) this works well in my local env. But not sure what should I put when in production.
It appears you need two separate apps for the frontend and backend. In that scenario, simply create 2 apps in the app platform.
But the straight forward way seems to be just adding a static site component and web service component, and most probably they were meant to be used in that manner. (and not creating separate apps for client and server ).
Also, if I add a http route let's say /api on my web service component. I can access GraphQL endpoints by ${APP_URL}/api/graphql
Yes, thanks. That seems to be a much cleaner way!
i need a help with this
if i added my credit card to DigitalOcean how many applications i can host with help of 50$ credit
According to the official documentation, the App Platform has three pricing tiers:
For more information you can take a look at the documentation here:
digitalocean.com/docs/app-platform/
Hey I'm developing an application as a part of this hackathon.
I see a strict credit card requirement while signing on digital ocean. Is there any workaround for this, at least for students?
I can't wait to see what everyone builds for this hackathon — especially for the
Random Roulette
category 🎉Good luck everyone 🙌
What are you gonna build Bobby?
I'm planning to build a website for the opensource Introduction to Bash scripting eBook!
I'm planning to use TailwindCSS 🤘 and also the site will include an interactive training section based on Katacoda. 😁
What about you Chris?
Personal site/portfolio. Next + Tailwind + Strapi or Statamic.
And streaming it all!
That’s awesome! I’ll definitely make sure to join those streams 👏
Let's do this
Right on! I'm planning on building my personal site (finally!)
This is exciting.
Here is a post I wrote recently that describes some of the cool things you can do with App Platform:
DigitalOcean App Platform talks at the deploy conference
Raman Sharma ・ Nov 16 '20 ・ 2 min read
This is going to be EPIC! 🤩. 🥳
:party-parrot:
:party-shark:
And I thought the Slack spirit won't haunt me when I change the company (using Teams now)...
OMG finally let me join this hackathon and win this one hopefully let's go everybody!!!
Good luck to you too! 🙌
lets go my man!!
Hey guys I'm a full stack developer in MERN stack if someone needs help, let me know I might like the proyect and help you to develop it
Just published my blog post about building a website status monitor using DigitalOcean's App Platform for the #hackathon!
Good luck everyone 🥳
On to my second hackathon💻
That is great! Good luck!
What are you planning to build?
Thanks Bobby, I haven't planned yet, thinking of something that can be build in the time I get after my work.
Sounds good! Excited to see what you build! 🙌
I'm gonna try to come up with an idea to participate 🤞
Personal site/portfolio is a great one if you don't already have one
That will be my fallback idea if I can't come up with something more interesting
If you want an example of how to deploy a backend + frontend app to App Platform, here's a video doing a Laravel API + Database + React: youtu.be/1T3d7P_V2t4
That video is absolutely amazing!
Hey everyone!
Super excited to see what everyone will build!
Hope to make such a fun event with appliku.com in future!
Good luck, and have fun building!
Good luck to you too!
The appliku.com looks pretty cool! I will make sure to give it a try! 🙌
Thanks, Bobby.
By the way, JUST rolled out a new landing page and logo :)
I would be super happy if you have a couple of minutes for taking a look and telling me what you think!
Thanks so much and have a great day!
Looks awesome so far! Keep up the good work!
What software did you use for the logo creation? Looks great!
Thanks for kidn words.
I used credit card to buy Ipad Pro + Pencil + MagicBoard and gave the purchase to my wife and waited for a week :D
You had me at "Random Roulette".
I'll check it out! I've been wondering what other options existed for deploying apps (static and rails) so I'll have to dig into the docs to see what I can do with DO.
That sounds great! Good luck with that and happy building! 🙌
Important Question
Can you use another app building platform like Heroku, Repl.it, of Github pages to submit your entry or does the specific app building platform have to be specifically digitalOcean's?
Hey 👋
The main objective of the Hackaton is to build an app that is deployed to the DigitalOcean App Platofrm specifically.
Okay. It's just that I'm fifteen and don't have a credit card yet so I can't get access to the digitalOcean app platform.
I'll just wait for another hackathon to appear.
Thanks.
It looks like that according to the official rules you need to be +18 in order to participate:
dev.to/page/official-hackathon-rules
Oh sorry, I didn't see that.
Thanks for telling me.
Just Created a Simple Quiz Application using Vue. You can try and deploy it in just a click. Feel free to contribute. Here is my post dev.to/arpan45/simple-quiz-applica...
Just adapted this tutorial:
How to put your Java application into Docker container
Wojtek Krzywiec ・ Dec 6 ・ 9 min read
to create this sample of a containerized Java app that can be deployed to App Platform with a single click:
Single-page application which display NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day
This sample demonstrates how to run a Dockerized Java application on DigitalOcean App Platform. Since App Platform doesn't yet support Java, this sample shows how to accomplish this using Dockerfile.
This sample has been adapted from github.com/wkrzywiec/Nasa-Picture
Getting Started
These steps will get this sample application running for you using DigitalOcean.
Note: Following these steps will result in charges for the use of DigitalOcean services
Requirements
Forking the Sample App Source Code
To use all the features of App Platform, you need to be running against your own copy of this application. To make a copy, click the Fork button above and follow the on-screen instructions. In this case, you'll be forking this repo as a starting point for your own app (see Github documentation to learn more about forking repos.
After forking…
Great post! I can't wait to participate! Is there anything to take into account if you are working on a project with another person?
We both have dev.to accounts but what do we need to do to both get the badge? :)
Hi there 👋
I believe that only one submission post is needed from the team. But you need to include all participant usernames within the post and you'll all receive badges!
Easy enough! Thank you!
No problem! Good luck and have fun building 🙌
I'm so excited about this Hackathon.
Personal site/portfolio. django+javascript+html+css
That's awesome! 🙌 Good luck and have fun building! 🎉
Thanks ❤️
how much amount will be charge for credit card preauthorization?
Source
Is the commons clause license considered permissive enough? It lets you access and use the source as you see fit, but not base a business on it. I think this would be extremely useful for the business category.
Hi @_bigblind ! That will be just fine for the business category. Thanks for asking! Feel free to drop all other questions into the help thread. Happy coding!
Very, very interesting prize.
Alright! My first Hackathon, let's do this!
That's awesome! Good luck with this! Have fun building your project! 🙌
Excited to see what you build!
Can't wait to jump into this hackathon! Finally get to build that astrology + self love app that I've had on my mind.
Looking forward to seeing the creativity shared!
I'm adding my card via Paypal but the card doesn't add.
Please add a credit or debit card to complete your purchase
.after clicking the add button it will give this message only. Can anyone please tell me how to add a card to the first droplet of $5 on Digital Ocean?
also, I've no credit card I've got a rupee debit card.
I would love to join it but Paypal isn't available in my region. There are so many students in my college who wants to join it too.
It's a humble request to the Hackathon authors to consider the situation and allow students to create an account without restrictions valid during the hackathon period only.
Hey @chris__sev 👋
I along with my friend made a game on phaser.js during a hackathon on 12th Dec'20. Can I publish that project under Random Roulette #dohackathon ?
We started working on that on 11th Jan'20, it was at an unfinished state so we couldn't submit in there, but now the game is ready :D
My entry for hackathon
dev.to/milindsingh/adapttive-com-a...
Looks great! Well done 🙌
Thanks
Is there any way to compete without having credit card?
Currently, you could choose only between PayPal and Credit card payments during sign up.
Here are the two messages for each payment method again:
Credit card:
“We won’t charge your card. You may see a temporary pre-authorization charge to verify the card, which will be reversed within a week.”
Paypal:
“To confirm your PayPal account, you need to make a $5 pre-payment. This pre-payment will apply to any future bills.”
Too bad when I use PayPal and process the 5$ payment and redirected to the control panel with the account locked. I think this time hackathon is not my time to shine.
For any account or billing-related issues, I could suggest reaching out to the DigitalOCean support team who will be more than happy to assist you with your account issue! :)
Hope that helps!
I did reach out to the support of cloudsupport.digitalocean.com, but they replied and it's not possible to restore my access.
But I'm relieved that I got my 5$ back.
Winners are announced?
Hi there 👋, not yet, but it should be done soon.
Roger that🤟🏼
Can we participate in a team
Hey there 👋
Yes, you can participate in a team as well. However, note that you will need to split the price.
For more information make sure to check out the official rules here:
dev.to/page/official-hackathon-rules
Thank you Bobby for clarifying.
No problem at all! Good luck and have fun building 🙌
Hi, my project MediDoc requires the admin credentials in order to explore all the features. I am wondering whom should I share the credentials with after submission?
I see there are videos for Laravel and React, I was wondering if there's a tutorial or a video for deploying MERN app on Digital Ocean's App Platform. I tried to deploy it, but I get this error 'Cannot GET /' on jobamatic-oftsr.ondigitalocean.app/. I was wondering if someone can help me with it.
Hi, even though I am not a MERN stack developer, I would like to point out that you can get some debug info in the apps platform

logs
which can aid in fixing the issue.I don't have a credit card 😭
During the registration, you need to provide either a credit card or have a PayPal account. This is a security step for many providers and a way to verify your account.
Also, note that in the post it is stated that the Hackaton is open only to 18+:
Additional Rules
Yeah I am 18+ and yes I don't have a credit card 😅😂. Things are a bit different here in India.
I believe that a debit card will also be ok or instead you could use PayPal as well.
How will the team of DEV contact us for swags and stuff after we have submitted the article ??
We will be emailing participants over the next two weeks!
Hi!
Is it still possible to attend?
Yep! Be sure to publish your submission on DEV between December 10 and January 10 (Midnight PT/8 AM January 11, UTC), and provide your app’s URL, screenshot, description, and source code.
Use this post template to officially submit your application for the hackathon:
dev.to/new/dohackathon
Hi, Can i submit by today January 11 PST 11:59 PM ?
Hello! The submission window is now closed. Keep your eyes out for future hackathons here on DEV!
Can we participate in the team? If yes how many members can a team have?
Hi there 👋
Yes, you can participate in a team as well. However, note that you will need to split the price.
Also, I believe that only one submission post is needed from the team. But you need to include all participant usernames within the post and you'll all receive badges!
For more information make sure to check out the official rules here:
dev.to/page/official-hackathon-rules
How to take part as a team ?? And how many members are allowed in a team??
Hi there 👋
Yes, you can participate in a team as well. However, note that you will need to split the price.
Also, I believe that only one submission post is needed from the team. But you need to include all participant usernames within the post and you'll all receive badges!
For more information make sure to check out the official rules here:
dev.to/page/official-hackathon-rules
Thanks Bobby 🙏
One last question : Is valid to take part with already built app by myself with some changes ?
Yes, I believe that this should be ok as long as the app is deployed to the DigitalOcean App platform!
Also, make sure to include the Deploy Button for some extra points!
Can new app platform allow me to do full stack app?
for example: I am using docker. Can i use docker-compose with this new feature?
if not, correct me if i am wrong.
seem like this new feature is one app for one thing.
for example, my app is for express and if i want to add db i need to pay extra or using my existing db. what if i don't have that. Can somebody help?
Absolutely. My entry had 3 components. 2 using docker files and 1 using a buildpack.
dev.to/circa10a/the-mcbroken-dashb...
Can I host my backend on a DigitalOcean VPS, provided that I do host my frontend on App Platform? I do prefer docker, so please say yes :) 🙏
Hey there 👋
I believe that as the main objective of the hackathon is to host the applications on the new App platform, it is best to deploy both of your backend and front-end services on the App platform.
You will still be able to use Docker actually. You can provide a Dockerfile for DigitalOcean to use in the build process.
Right! I just did that. Works like a charm! Thanks
No problem! Happy to hear that you've got it all working!
i need a help with this
Cool.
This is the first time I will use Digital Ocean. I am very excited!
Super excited to see what you will build!
Good luck with that and have fun building 🙌
I will try out my already existing PHP project turn in into python.
That's great! Good luck! 🙌
I've been planning to brush up on my Python skills lately as well.
Cool, I really want to participate.
I'm building a challenges platform to help new developers to improve their skills.
That sounds like an amazing project! 🤩
Good luck and have fun building!
Can anyone explain to me this series: [“series name”] stuff? How do I add this in my posts?. Thanks
Hey there! Here is an example of how to add a series name. You'll want to use the basic markdown edits which can be configured in your UI settings :)
Thanks a lot, Gracie! It seems that you are part of the DEV team, can you help me with something? I can't do any changes on my account because of this imgur.com/a/09x25JY including the UI settings for this markdown edit. Thanks again!
I just released an open source project this week. Will I be able to submit it for this hackathon?
I believe that this should be ok. You could test your application by deploying it to the App Platform and you you could also get some bonus points by implementing the "Deploy to DigitalOcean" Button to your repository as described here:
digitalocean.com/docs/app-platform...
Thank you!
No problem! Good luck 🙌
Can we also use the digital ocean hackathon for making discord BOT for the
random roulette
category ?Yes, that sounds like a great project! You should go for it! The
Random roulette
category is very much for stuff like this that doesn't fit cleanly into the other categories.You just need to make sure that you are running the bot on the DigitalOcean App Platform!
Thank You, Yes I will host the BOT on the digital ocean! 👍