Plan and Build

From Idea to Code

You have a great idea for the hackathon. Now what do you do with it? The most important thing is to not jump straight into code. First, plan.

Planning Steps

1. Define the Goal

Write in one sentence what your project does. For example:

• "A number guessing game with difficulty levels"
• "A class manager that keeps track of grades"
• "An interactive quiz on geography topics"

2. List the Main Features

What does the project need to do? Write a list:

• Feature 1: The user can register with a name
• Feature 2: They can choose from a menu
• Feature 3: They can see a leaderboard

3. Identify What You Learned

Think about what Python concepts you need:

4. Break it Into Small Steps

Don't try to do everything at once. Example for a quiz game:

1. Create a list of questions and answers
2. Display a question and receive the answer
3. Check if the answer is correct
4. Keep score
5. Add more questions
6. Add a main menu
7. Save scores to a file

Hackathon Tips

• Start simple - Get the MVP working before adding extras
• Test often - Run the code after each small step
• Collaborate - Talk to your team, divide the tasks
• Don't panic - If something doesn't work, take a short break and try again
• Have fun - Hackathons are about learning and fun, not perfection

Project Examples

Here are some project ideas that use everything you learned:

• Quiz Master - A question and answer game with different categories
• Digital Agenda - Manage contacts with names and phone numbers
• Text Adventure Game - An interactive story with choices
• Grade Calculator - Calculate averages and display statistics
• Guess the Word - A game similar to Wordle but in the terminal