almost 3 years ago
Did you know?! Fun Hack Fact Friday Tips from a fellow dev team
Did you know?!
The QuikRelief team was the winner of the Best Disaster Preparedness & Relief Solutions using DocuSign in the DeveloperWeek 2020 Hackathon. The team consisting of Tyler Barkey, Chi Huynh, and Indya Dodson wanted to share their following tips they learned from using the HERE API and their hackathon participation:
“When we created QuikRelief, we really had no idea how relevant it would be in the age of COVID-19. Our app allowed users to visualize a disaster/outbreak and the need for different kinds of aid in those areas (using the same HERE maps technology that the Johns Hopkins tracker would be using less than a month later), and quickly direct aid to those municipalities with a DocuSign product.
If you’re working with pure JavaScript, the HERE API is well documented and intuitive. It’s super easy to implement location markers with a simple address using the Geocoding API, and you can customize just about every aspect of the appearance of your map. Our best advice is to take a good chunk of time to read through the documentation and the guides that HERE posts on their blog. They have a tutorial for most any application out there, including how to implement HERE maps with React, which requires a little finesse (namely creating the variable H and setting it to window.H...trust me, we just saved you a headache). More on Implementing HERE maps with React can be found here https://developer.here.com/tutorials/react/.
Aside from technical advice, we have a couple tips for a successful hackathon: Create a solid mission statement at the beginning, and be realistic about what you can accomplish in this short time, given your collective skillset. This helps you define the app you’re making and the steps you need to take to get there. It can also help break up and distribute tasks. It’s super important to be a cohesive team. You’re working really hard to create an app from scratch in one day. That requires excellent communication so everyone knows what’s being worked on and what needs work, who needs help, and how you can help them. Teamwork will get you through it and will make the process a lot more enjoyable. Most of all, have fun with it!”
Do you have a tip you’d like to share with your fellow devs? Be sure to share it in the Challenge Slack Channel, we know they’ll appreciate it!
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.