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Gracie Gregory (she/her) for The DEV Team

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Announcing the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon on DEV!

Update: We have increased the participant prize from $12 USD credit to the DEV Shop to $25 USD! Now, by simply sharing a submission to the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon, you will earn enough DEV shop credits to get your choice of a free beanie, two sticker packs, a mug, etc.! 💰


We are thrilled to announce a brand new challenge on DEV in partnership with our friends at MongoDB: the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon!

From now through January 13th, 2022 (or January 14th if you're following UTC time), MongoDB is offering you the chance to use your ingenuity and creativity to build an application using MongoDB's library of tools like Atlas Search. In addition to getting the chance to participate in a community event, show off your skills, and learn something new, everyone who submits a project for the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon will be automatically entered to win some seriously amazing prizes.

Now, let's get into the granular details of this challenge so you can start building and winning 👀

The Challenge

If you've been a member of the DEV community for a while, you've likely encountered articles by the talented team over at MongoDB (many members of their team have been using DEV for years).

But while you might be familiar with MongoDB, it's possible that you haven't used their modern database platform for yourself — this hackathon is the perfect opportunity to explore it! MongoDB believes that working with data doesn't need to be hard. In fact, it can be an intuitive experience for all developers.

For this hackathon, we're offering you the chance to build an application within the guidelines below by utilizing MongoDB Atlas: a collection of cloud database and data services that helps you accelerate and simplify how you use data in your work, including but not limited to:

  • Atlas Search: Build fast, relevance-based full-text search in your applications in minutes.
  • Atlas Serverless Instances: Deploy a serverless database that can scale on-demand with minimal configuration.
  • Time Series Collections: An efficient way to store sequences of measurements over a period of time.
  • Realm Functions: Define and execute JavaScript functions to build APIs, integrate with cloud services, and lots more.
  • Realm Triggers: Automatically run functions in response to database changes, user events, or preset intervals.

  • To view documentation for each tool listed, please click on the hyperlinks above.

DEV and MongoDB are challenging you to choose a category (from the list below) and build an application that utilizes Atlas and other MongoDB tools as described within that category.

Once your app is complete and follows all the requirements (see "How to Submit" below), you'll be publishing a post on DEV that describes what you created. That post will serve as your official submission.

We’re excited to see what you build for the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon using MongoDB's ecosystem of tools built for developers, by developers.

Categories

  • E-Commerce Creation: Build an e-commerce store using MongoDB Atlas Search.
    (Sample use-cases: product catalog, food ordering/delivery service)

  • Prime Time: Build an application using MongoDB Time Series Collections.
    (Sample use cases: IoT, financial analytics, climate observations)

  • Action Star: Build an event-driven application using MongoDB Realm Functions and Triggers
    (Sample use cases: inventory monitoring, logistics apps, alerts/notification apps)

  • Automation Innovation: Automate a task that you perform on a weekly basis using MongoDB Atlas Serverless Instances.
    (Sample use-cases: Payroll/ billing, reporting, scheduling, email responses)

  • Choose Your Own Adventure: Create an application using MongoDB Atlas that doesn’t fit into any of the categories above.
    (Note: the winners we select in this category will be the ones that got super creative and wacky! Feel free to go as random as possible.)

Sounds like fun, right? The great news is that this hackathon provides you with more than just fun and a chance to learn — all participants with valid submissions will also be entered to win a part of MongoDB's exciting prize package 💰.

Prizes

5 Grand Prize Winners (one in each category):

  • $1,500 USD gift card or equivalent
  • $300 USD credit to the DEV Shop
  • MongoDB Swag Pack
  • DEV Sticker Pack
  • DEV “Atlas Hackathon” grand prize winner profile badge

Runner-Up Prizes (10 Total):

  • $250 USD gift card or equivalent
  • $150 USD credit to the DEV Shop
  • MongoDB Swag Pack
  • DEV Sticker Pack
  • DEV “Atlas Hackathon” runner-up profile badge

Participants (with a valid project):

  • A $25 USD or equivalent credit to the DEV Shop
  • DEV “Atlas Hackathon” participant profile badge

In order to submit a valid project, please follow the submission process, and rules below...

How To Submit

1) Create a MongoDB account if you don't already have one.

2) Fill out this form to receive a special code for $100 USD worth of MongoDB credits to create your project._

Note: By filling out the form above, you should receive an email containing your special MongoDB code within one hour. If you don't see it within that timeframe, please check your spam folder.

3) Select your category and refer to MongoDB’s documentation for each service used as you build your application
4) Share your app's code in a repository on GitHub and include a README
5) Ensure that your application's code is licensed with the Apache-2 permissive license
6) Publish an overview of the app on DEV using this post template between December 13, 2021 - January 13, 2022 (PT).
Note: You must ensure that you provide your app’s URL, category, screenshots, a description, and source code in your submission post.

Additional Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to 18+. Contest entry period ends January 13, 2022 at 11:59 pm UTC/7:59 AM UTC on January 14, 2022. Contest is void where prohibited, or restricted by law or regulation. For Official Rules, see Contest Announcement Page and General Contest Official Rules.

Community Help and Support

Hackathons are all about community and this one is no different! If you need help at any stage in the process of building and submitting your app, please share all questions in the MongoDB Atlas Hackathon Help thread. The thread will be monitored by members of the DEV team and MongoDB teams.

Looking for some motivation or brainstorming? Don't miss the Community Discussion Thread where you can bounce ideas about your submission off of others, lend or get some encouragement, and share updates about your project.

Important Dates 🗓

  • December 13, 2021: Hackathon Begins!
  • January 13, 2022: Hackathon Submission Due at 11:59 PM PT (2:59 AM ET on January 14/7:59 AM UTC on January 14).
  • January 28, 2022: Hackathon Winners Announced

Have fun with this challenge from our friends at MongoDB!

Top comments (123)

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graciegregory profile image
Gracie Gregory (she/her)

This is going to be such a fun one! Good luck to all participants. Our team will be eagerly awaiting your wonderful submissions ⭐️

parrot partying

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grantrocks profile image
Grant McNamara

Im 15 years old and i would like to do this. I was reading and it said i needed to be 18. I was getting really excited until i read this and i was wondering if i could submit it under one of my parents. If not could i still submit another way?

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lilkedus profile image
Kedus Leji Yared

Sameeeeee! But sadly, I don't think that's possible.

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michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

lol, this GIF!

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chetan_atrawalkar profile image
Chetan Atrawalkar

@graciegregory but which repo used to publish project or how please share details.

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joellord profile image
Joel Lord • Edited

Hi @chetan_atrawalkar !

You can create your own repository on Github (github.com) and publish the code there. When you are ready to submit your project, create a post with the #atlashackathon using the provided template (dev.to/new/atlashackathon). In this post, you will provide the URL to your repository so we can look at your amazing creation.

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zaahmednisumcom profile image
zaahmed-nisum-com

What about the code license if i am using GitHub
Ensure that your application's code is licensed with the Apache-2 permissive license

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xinnks profile image
James Sinkala

Kudos to whoever made the gif 😅.

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kube_nerd profile image
KubeNerd | Vinicius P.

Very criative!! :-D

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fly_away profile image
简·多伊

Why do I love this GIF so much 🦜 😂

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nickytonline profile image
Nick Taylor

Super pumped to see what all you wonderful DEV members create! Let’s go!

Dwight Shrute from the Office screaming fireball as he throws an imaginary fireball from his hands

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rajvirsingh1313 profile image
Rajvir Singh

This is gona be wholesome month, full of enjoyment! Thank you Dev Team & MongoDB Team

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sahilpabale profile image
Sahil Pabale

you participating rajvir?

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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rajvirsingh1313 profile image
Rajvir Singh

Yeah I will, If only I get some time and a good idea to work on

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suhailkakar profile image
Suhail Kakar

Wow, I love both DEV and MongoDB and this hackathon is going to be a great one :)

Count me int!

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aritdeveloper profile image
Arit Developer

Looking forward to seeing all the COOL submissions!

GIF of llama with sunshades

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steminstructor profile image
STEMInstructor

This will be lit

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graciegregory profile image
Gracie Gregory (she/her)

Excited to see your submission!

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andrerpena profile image
AndrĂŠ Pena

I like this for 2 reasons:

  • MongoDB is usually frowned upon but, if used for its intended purposes, it's actually an extremelly powerful database. For example: If you need a wildcard index on arbitrary JSON (index all property paths), MongoDB is much more suitable than Postgres. I know about GIN indexes, but everytime I tried to implement them I stumbled on some limitation.
  • Amazon is growing way too powerful. Because you are already their customer, you tend to favor their solution over everything else (like a platform effect). I Think MongoDB atlas is doing a good job fighting against this trend.
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redhoodjt1988 profile image
Jonathan Reeves

Are we required to use all of the features that are listed with the hyperlinks? Or as long as one of them is implemented or that we just use MongoDB Atlas for our project we are able to submit an entry?

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joellord profile image
Joel Lord

You can pick any category. Each category focuses on one feature. However, feel free to be creative and use as many features as you'd like!

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redhoodjt1988 profile image
Jonathan Reeves

Last question, are we limited to only using JavaScript to create our app?

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joellord profile image
Joel Lord

Any language works! The article mentions JavaScript for Realm functions, as this is the supported languages for the platform. However, your application can use anything you'd like.

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redhoodjt1988 profile image
Jonathan Reeves

Awesome. Thank you.

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sahilpabale profile image
Sahil Pabale

i have a question though. I'm 19 yrs old so can I collab with someone under 18 to participate in this hackathon?
Will this be counted as a valid entry?

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sahilpabale profile image
Sahil Pabale
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joellord profile image
Joel Lord

In this case, as long as you are the one to publish the post and you handle any prize splitting amongst yourselves, this is fine!

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bytrangle profile image
Trang Le

There are a lot that go into building an ecommerce store. Off the top of my head are admin interface for managing products, authentication, credit card charging, role and permission management etc, to name just a few. Can anyone point me to an example of a bare minimum ecommerce store?