Building a project at a hackathon is hard, especially when many of the other hackers are telling you that using the cloud isn’t something that ever crossed their mind. Fair enough. Contrary to popular belief, using the cloud for a hackathon project isn't difficult. If anything, it affords an opportunity to elevate coding skills and try something new.

Read on to learn how to best utilize the cloud for your next hackathon:

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Use the Cloud for Your Next Hackathon By Hosting A Web Application or Website

By the end of the hackathon, you’re exhausted. You probably even feel a bit burned out. You and your first-time hacker friends have put all your energy into your HTML/CSS website, and it feels as if you’ve done everything you can do.

A project can be hosted on the cloud in under half an hour. That would give your team an extra boost in terms of being eligible for further prizes.

  • Sample Use: The website SafePlace, which connects domestic violence survivors with volunteers who need mental support to exit their situation safely. The website is built with Javascript, CSS as well as HTML. The forum was built with React, leveraging Azure (Cosmos DB, Functions, Static Web Apps) for an API that's serverless.

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Use the Cloud for Your Next Hackathon For Machine Learning API Access

Going into a more advanced hackathon project since this isn't your first time? Cloud APIs can help bring your renewed vision to life. Machine learning can then be used for detecting emotions, faces and objects in pictures as well as transcribing both video and audio files. It can also go a long way in helping to read texts from documents.

Want to learn about collaborating with APIs? Need help finding the right API to use? Worried about getting your API setup working? Head to a hackathon and connect with a mentor. It's one of the best things about project-building amidst an event.

  • Sample Use: The software Iris, which allows visually impaired people to explore coding. It lets users hear what they type given the voice feedback feature and downloadable keyboard configuration. The "text to speech" function was added through Azure cognitive services.

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Use the Cloud for Your Next Hackathon To Analyze and Store Data on the Cloud 

When you're ready for analytics or data management, there are many cloud tools that can help. It can get dashboards or quick visualizations situated properly. It's a great way to qualify for hackathon trophies.

  • Sample Use: A social platform, ShareEats, is used for recommending delicious food and to create a wish list of eats. It has a Node.js server with a separate MySQL server made from scratch. Part of it is deployed on Microsoft Azure.

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Win Hackathons With the Cloud

There's enough to stress out about when it comes to hackathons. Many hackers tend to overlook just how helpful the cloud can be in these situations. Don't make the same mistake; utilize it at your next hackathon. Host a web application or website on the cloud, analyze and store data on it and access machine learning APIs.

Need help with your hackathon checklist? Hackathon.com can help! We cater to the biggest online hackathon community worldwide. Get more tips from our blog today!

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