Recapping MYTOMMY’s React Native HackJam
Written by Merle Stadhouders
In partnership with Hackages Learning Platform, the MYTOMMY team organized the Digital Hub’s very first Tech Meetup in the form of a HackJam! Fabio Paiva, MYTOMMY’s Tech Lead, previously attended a few HackJams, and was very enthusiastic about the coding challenges assigned, the new skills learned and the interesting people met during the process.
All in all, this sounded like the perfect opportunity to have a fun evening full of tech, and to meet talented, potential new colleagues. In line with Tommy Hilfiger’s vision of becoming a fashion technology company, we hope to plan another Tech Meetup as soon as possible. But for now, read on to learn all about this successful event.
What Is A HackJam?
To organize a HackJam, all you need are burgers, beers and an interesting subject like React Native. Next, invite around 30 enthusiastic developers and you are good to go!
In all seriousness, much like traditional hackathons, HackJams are coding workshops, typically intended to be very challenging. Fortunately, the Hackages mentors and our own React Native expert, Fabio, were there to help the participants during their paired programming assignment. With a bit of guidance, HackJams allow participants to showcase their development abilities, ideally by completing the assignment in a creative and innovative fashion.
Programming With React Native
Since the MYTOMMY app is built with React Native (a JavaScript development framework), it was very easy to choose this as the subject of our HackJam. For those unfamiliar with React Native, this framework uses the React library to build native mobile apps for both platforms (iOS and Android) simultaneously. Using React Native, developers can easily create app components with a rich mobile UI. With this Meetup as a first step, we decided to join the React Native community in Amsterdam, where we hope to continue growing and learning from each other moving forward.
Dividing and Conquering
After a first drink and some bites of pizza, the Hackages mentor split the attendees into two groups: developers interested in Apollo/GraphQL and React Native fanatics. The GraphQL teams learned how to create queries to handle a movie list (called Hackflix), while the React Native teams experienced how Flexbox works by copying the Tommy Hilfiger logo (even considering the exact color codes). In the end, all participants worked together and learned how to connect React Native with GraphQL.
Learnings For Future Events
The event was organized in close collaboration with Talent Acquisition, Digital Hub Communications and the MYTOMMY Product Team. We learned that by joining forces, clearly dividing roles and maintaining strong communication, it is very fun and easy to set up an event! It was also clear that these events show guests the endless possibilities when combining fashion and tech, all while demonstrating Tommy’s potential in this field. And as you may have guessed, we once again proved that developers love pizza, burgers, stickers and beer!
Come One, Come All
Are you interested in participating in the next Digital Hub Tech event or Meetup? If so, make sure to keep an eye on this blog, and subscribe to the MYTOMMY news bite. Registration is always free, and all Amsterdam-based techies are welcome to join in on the fun.
