A list of helpful tools, frameworks, libraries to get you started! (These are not required tools, just suggestions!)
Web Dev
Frontend
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React - Popular JavaScript library for building interactive UIs (react.dev)
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Next.js - Framework built on React for routing, APIs, and server-side rendering (nextjs.org)
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Vite - Super fast development environment for modern web apps (vitejs.dev)
Styling & UI
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Tailwind CSS - CSS framework for fast and responsive styling (tailwindcss.com)
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Bootstrap - Beginner-friendly CSS components and grid system (getbootstrap.com)
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Shadcn/UI - Prebuilt, customizable React components (ui.shadcn.com)
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Framer Motion - Easy animations for React apps (framer.com/motion)
Backend & APIs
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Express.js (Node.js) - Minimal backend framework for REST APIs (expressjs.com)
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Flask - Lightweight Python web framework (flask.palletsprojects.com)
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FastAPI - Modern Python API framework, great for AI integrations (fastapi.tiangolo.com)
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Supabase / Firebase - Backend-as-a-Service (authentication, database, hosting) (supabase.com, firebase.google.com)
Mobile Dev
Cross-Platform
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React Native – Build mobile apps using React (reactnative.dev)
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Expo – Makes React Native development easy and fast (no native setup required) (expo.dev)
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Flutter – Google’s UI toolkit for mobile, web, and desktop apps (flutter.dev)
Native Tools
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Xcode (iOS) and Android Studio (Android) - for native builds if needed
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Firebase SDK - Add authentication, push notifications, and real-time data
AI, Machine Learning, and Data
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Hugging Face Transformers - Pretrained NLP and vision models (huggingface.co)
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TensorFlow.js / PyTorch - Machine learning in JavaScript or Python
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OpenAI API - Natural language, image, or code generation (platform.openai.com)
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scikit-learn / pandas - For data processing and analysis
(Make sure to read each API’s usage policies and rate limits.)
Other Tools
Figma - UX/UI Design, wireframing, and prototyping
Piskel - Sprite maker (https://www.piskelapp.com)
Unsplash / Pexels - Free stock images
Postman - Test and debug APIs (postman.com)
Github - Version Control
Beginner’s Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Hackathon Experience
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Don’t forget to plan first. An hour is a good amount of time. Come up with a couple ideas, break them down into features needed to achieve your vision and what technologies you need. In reality, you may not be able to complete as many of these features as you may want. Narrow down your choices into feasible ones and delegate tasks among your team. If you have extra time, you can try to implement the extra features!
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Let your creativity shine - new ideas and personal twists are what make hackathons so great. We have come together to see a wide variety of perspectives, so think out of the box!
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Learn something new from it! - This hackathon welcomes people from all experiences. Show that you have learned and grown from this experience. Do something out of your comfort zone.
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Try not to get stuck on the small things. It is easy to be stuck on a small element of your project. Remember that there is a time constraint (judges know this too). Try it for a bit, ask for help, but if it is not important, adapt your project to go without it.
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This is cliche, but have fun with it!
Moderator’s contact details:
Vincent Philavong: vphilavong@wisc.edu
Madi Lin: mblin@wisc.edu
Eric Vang: evang4@wisc.edu