Hackathons are the most enthusiastic and challenging platforms for any beginner! Although you might fail badly or just qualify to submit a valid project in some of the hackathons, you will learn an important lesson in each of them. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner in a particular field, just step your foot in and start hacking!
I am a frontend developer who recently stepped into web3 and started exploring the space. Interestingly, it was pretty easy to start coding the frontend for blockchain using packages and dependencies like ThirdwebProvider, Alchemy, and Ethers.js. After a month of developing on web3, I decided to start participating in hackathons to find like-minded developers and sharpen my skills. I came across the Circle hackathon on hackerearth. I immediately applied and joined their discord server. Until now, all I knew was to create a server-less frontend webpage using React or Next.js. But, I knew that I was good at my skills and I am a fast learner.
After a few days, a fellow developer on their discord server said that he was looking for a frontend developer to join their team, and their idea was finalized. So let me brief you about the common approach to any hackathon. Generally, the 2 main components for a successful project submission would be the idea behind the project and the execution of the idea. We were a team of four, 2 backend developers, a blockchain developer, and a frontend developer(myself). My teammates briefed me on the idea of creating a lending system on the circle API. The idea just fuelled my spirit to do more for this hackathon!
I gave my best, learned how to make frontend API calls, and set up the router system. I tried to make the UI look clean, though I am not so good at it. When I met my teammates on a virtual call, we were pretty sure about the idea and connected on other topics too. I learned that teaming up with new people, gives you an opportunity to increase your network and helps you find like-minded people with whom you might, later on, collaborate on your own projects.
We ran into several errors while trying to make the whole project work, integrating the frontend, backend, and the blockchain contracts, but we managed to pull it off and submit a valid project.
My key takeaways:
- Don't self-doubt yourself. You might be inexperienced, but you aren't incapable.
- Don't wait to learn something completely, or don't get stuck in a black hole of tutorials.
- Dive right in, and start building, you will learn things faster.
- If you can code anything, that's the next thing to magic!
- Increase your network, and reach out to other developers to collaborate and connect.
If you are a beginner and don't want to participate in hackathons, start by trying to build a small project, maybe you want your own portfolio page, or you want to build a blog page for yourself, anything. But remember to document everything you do and share it with your friends and ask for their feedback too. This will help you understand your audience better.
All your insecurities aside, if you are ready to dive in and participate in hackathons, here are a few resources to search for upcoming hacks you can participate in!
- Devfolio is great to find well organized, developer-centric hackathons
- Hackerearth has a wide range of competitions and internship hacks
- Unstoppable/Dare2Compete lists hackathons across various fields.
I agree that all these resources will spam your email every day, but I guess it's worth the opportunity they give you!
I hope this blog fuelled the coder in you. If you want to connect with me, you can connect me on Twitter
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