While Week 10 of term 2 is almost over, it's time to give another update on this blog. Even though I've been very busy lately, I attended the White Day Hackathon hosted by A Thinking Ape and Silicon Sisters. In the past, with all of my Ultimate commitments (weekend practices and tournaments), I never had a chance to go to a hackathon. Being a hackathon rookie, I learned from a few mistakes that I've made during the event.
Since the theme was "White Day", Bessie (my friend from UBC), along with Candie and I decided to make a Chocolate Shops/Restaurant review web application using Google's GWT framework. We decided to name the app "Chocolate Lovers Unite". One of the first mistake was that I didn't choose a framework that I was familiar with. I've heard of GWT a few times but I've actually never used it before. During the day, I spent a lot of time doing all the front-end stuff which made development slow. With that, I've learned that it would be smart to work with people that know similar technologies (languages, framework, platform) and people that have similar goals. Second of all, because this is a one day event and there are judges judging the application based on a short presentation, I should have made a better first impression of the application during the presentation and have made the app more fun. Thinking back, during the planning phase, I should have spent extra time in coming up with more creative ideas and theme instead of rushing straight to development because of time constraint.
Nonetheless, I had lots of fun at the hackathon. I've got to meet and talk to quite a few other developers and artists and the food provided was amazing! A Thinking Ape also has a very nice office. For example, there were meeting rooms with glass walls, bean bags couches and etc... The overall layout/style of the office made it feel unique. I can't wait to get another chance to hack at another hackathon!
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