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Surviving a Hackathon and Beyond
- 1. Surviving a Hackathon and Beyond Edmund Kwok, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Think in components Don’t reinvent the wheel Focus on MVP / core features Get out of the building Always learn / experiment Comment your code Use a VCS Be part of the community Have Fun! Before During After Always
- 2. About me.. • Started off as Freelance Drupal Site Builder / Developer / Themer in 2004 • Clients in US, UK, UAE, Singapore, India, Malaysia • Studied Psychology for 2 years, dropped out after interning at a Startup • Full time as iMoney CTO, Employee #2 in January 2013 • Email: [email protected] • Twitter: @edkwh
- 3. • #1 Financial comparison site in the region - Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong • Compare financial products and apply online, for FREE! About
- 8. • #1 Financial comparison site in the region - Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong • Compare financial products and apply online, for FREE! • Product, Marketing, Operations / Call Ops, Admin and Tech Team • Tech Team - 4 developers (including me), 2 UI / UX, 1 iOS / Android About
- 9. Think in components Don’t reinvent the wheel Focus on MVP / core features Get out of the building Always learn / experiment Comment your code Use a VCS Be part of the community Have Fun! Before During After Always What should you do before, during and after a hackathon?
- 10. Don’t reinvent the wheel Focus on MVP / core features Before
- 11. 1. Core Features and MVP • What problem are you trying to solve?
- 12. Ask ‘Why’ until you get to the core of your idea
- 13. 1. Core Features and MVP • What problem are you trying to solve? • Focus on core features, must haves VS nice to haves
- 15. Pareto’s Principle Small Problem 20% Main Problem 80%MVP 20% Product 80%
- 16. 1. Core Features and MVP • What problem are you trying to solve? • Focus on core features, must haves VS nice to haves • Skip extra functions - user registrations, email validation, animations, parallax, cron, machine learning, world domination etc • Trim, trim, trim, lean lean lean
- 18. 1. Core Features and MVP • What problem are you trying to solve? • Focus on core features, must haves VS nice to haves • Skip extra functions - user registrations, email validation, animations, parallax, cron, machine learning, world domination etc • Trim, trim, trim, lean lean lean • Build UI later but still focus on UX - deliver a functional product
- 19. Beautiful, but not too practical?
- 22. Which was more functional?
- 23. 1. Minimum Viable Product • What problem are you trying to solve? • Focus on core features, must haves VS nice to haves • Skip extra functions - user registrations, email validation, cron, machine learning, world domination etc • Trim, trim, trim, lean lean lean • Build UI later but still focus on UX - deliver a functional product • MVP = Minimum viable product, not minimum vegetable / value product
- 26. 1. Spend some time to see what’s out there before writing code 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel
- 27. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a FRAMEWORK for that Yo dawg! We so need a real time framework that we can build real time shizzles with. Meteor.js https://www.meteor.com/
- 28. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a PLATFORM for that Yo dawg! What about our own Analytics tool to track visitor behaviour? Piwik http://piwik.org/
- 29. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a LIBRARY for that Yo dawg! Maybe a kick ass tool that creates interactive data visualisations? d3.js http://d3js.org/
- 30. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a SERVICE for that Yo dawg! Gah, we need to setup a backend infrastructure to support our mobile app! Parse https://www.parse.com/
- 31. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s even a THEME for that!! Fundify - The WordPress Crowdfunding Theme http://themeforest.net/item/fundify-the-wordpress-crowdfunding-theme/4257622 Yo dawg! Let’s build a crowd sourcing site for Malaysia!
- 32. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a MODULE for that Yo dawg! I just though of this cool XYZ idea!!
- 33. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a PLUGIN for that Yo dawg! I just though of this cool XYZ idea!!
- 34. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There’s a COMPONENT for that Yo dawg! I just though of this cool XYZ idea!!
- 35. 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel There is an APP for that Yo dawg! I’m sure this is not out there!! An app that tells you when a watermelon is ripe to eat!!! Melon Meter https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/melon-meter/ id450015952?mt=8
- 37. 1. Spend some time to see what’s out there before writing code 3. More time to focus on your solution and deliver a functional app 2. Use and integrate what you need (not everything you want) 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel
- 38. • PHP https://packagist.org/ • JS http://microjs.com/ | http://www.jsdb.io/ • Ruby https://rubygems.org/ • iOS http://cocoapods.org/ • Node.JS https://www.npmjs.org/ • Themes http://themeforest.net/ 2. Don’t reinvent the wheel
- 39. Think in components Comment your code Use a VCSDuring
- 40. 3. Think in components • Separate out components - modules / objects / entities / sections / pages / screens • Common & shared vocabulary when discussion with team, reduce confusion of being vague or ambiguous • Easier to track logic flow Easier to reuse Easier to extend Easier to read code Easier to collaborate
- 43. 4. Use Version Control Systems • Maybe ‘no time’ to use a VCS, but small investment that goes a long way • What if you need to revert back to a code that was working perfectly 45 minutes ago? • Undo undo undo undo undo undo undo undo, copy, redo redo redo redo redo redo redo redo paste or Undo undo undo undo undo undo undo undo, copy, accidentally hit ‘z’ = GAME OVER, redo history gone
- 44. 4. Use Version Control Systems • Very useful for solo developers: MyAwesomeCode-old.php MyAwesomeCode-new.php MyAwesomeCode-newer.php MyAwesomeCode-newest.php MyAwesomeCode-even-newest.php (?!!) • Vital when working in teams - merge code safely with different developers working concurrently • Quicker & cleaner deployment - only changes are brought in with git pull or git-ftp
- 45. • GitHub Flow - branches are cheap and easy • Every new stuff is branched off master • Everything merged to master • git co -b NeedToShower git add .. git commit -m “Awesome code that solved water crisis” git co master git merge NeedToShower 4. Use Version Control Systems
- 48. 5. Comment your code • Helps you remember what you were doing, clarify your intentions • Makes it easier for team members to pick up where you left off • But avoid unnecessary comments. As much as possible, let the code speak for itself
- 53. When you’re a zombie, your code will eat your brains!!! (But your code comments will stop the rot and save you! :D)
- 55. See more comments! • http://stackoverflow.com/questions/184618/what-is- the-best-comment-in-source-code-you-have-ever- encountered • http://stackoverflow.com/questions/143429/whats- the-least-useful-comment-youve-ever-seen
- 57. Get out of the building Always learn / experiment Be part of the community After
- 58. 6. Get out of the building • Get feedback from people who would use your product - especially those who would pay for it • Start with your mum, dad, brother, sister, cousins.
- 60. 6. Get out of the building • Get feedback from people who would use your product - especially those who would pay for it • Start with your mum, dad, brother, sister, cousins. • Then move to neighbours, colleagues, trusted friends who will be honest, critical, opinionated, but above all, supportive
- 62. 6. Get out of the building • Get feedback from people who would use your product - especially those who would pay for it • Start with your mum, dad, brother, sister, cousins, • Then move to neighbours, colleagues, trusted friends who will be honest, critical, opinionated, but above all, supportive
- 65. 6. Get out of the building • Get feedback from people who would use your product - especially those who would pay for it • Start with your mum, dad, brother, sister, cousins. • Then move to neighbours, colleagues, trusted friends who will be honest, critical, opinionated, but above all, supportive • Are you Running a Business or an Expensive Hobby?
- 67. 7. Always be learning / experimenting High rate of learning = exponential gains https://medium.com/@KyleTibbitts/56dddc17fa42
- 68. • Get off the Island - explore other languages, technologies, expand your mind, challenge yourself, go beyond your comfort zone • Examples: Meteor.JS - Real Time framework Puppet / Chef - Provisioning servers Vagrant / Docker - VM for consistent development Leaflets - Open source mapping library Google Prediction API - Machine learning API 7. Always be learning / experimenting
- 71. 8. Be part of a community
- 72. 8. Be part of a community • Get questions answered & know better ways of solving a problem - Stack Overflow, Quora, etc • The more you share, the more you gain • Earn community-cred - build portfolio of open source code, get noticed, gain customers!
- 74. 8. Be part of a community • Get questions answered & know better ways of solving a problem - Stack Overflow, Quora, etc • The more you share, the more you gain • Earn community-cred - build portfolio of open source code, get noticed, gain customers! • Part of a bigger global community / movement • Come for the code, stay for the community
- 75. > 3,000 at DrupalCon Portland 2013
- 76. Have Fun!Always
- 77. 9. Have Fun! • It’s not always about winning and losing • Make sure you learn, meet new people, make connections • Start conversations, joke, laugh, keep the spirits high • Not the end, but the beginning of greater things
- 79. Think in components Don’t reinvent the wheel Focus on MVP / core features Get out of the building Always learn / experiment Comment your code Use a VCS Be part of the community Have Fun! Before During After Always 1. 2 weeks to build an idea. If good, expand idea, if not, move on 2.Use modules, plugins, frameworks 3.Shared vocabulary with Tech, Product, Marketing, Management 4.Git - Bitbucket with 20+ repos 5.Always Be Code Commenting 6.a. CEO gets feedback from mum. Friends comment on Facebook 6.b. Call existing customers to ask them about service, experience, what they like / don't like 7.Learn and use new languages, framework, platforms 8.Join community events, contribute open source code 9.Have team events - Laser Tag, Durian buffet, laughter We run mini Hackathons at 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
- 80. Btw, we’re hiring :D Senior Web Developer (Drupal preferred) • Engineer solutions for pain points, build cool stuff • Continuous learning and growth - AngularJS, Symfony2, Node.JS, Python? • Work on Development, UX, CRM, Architecture, Infrastructure, Scaling, Mobile Integration, Machine Learning, Big Data • Make the world a better place
- 84. 1/6 of our team
- 86. –Steve Jobs “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
- 87. Good stuff! • Sh*t Entrepreneurs Say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZqXA4R2dI • Epic 80's Entrepreneur Training Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcYwtEToZfQ • Entrepreneurs can change the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0
- 88. Email: [email protected] Thank you! Questions? All the best! :) http://im.my/hiremelah