Diversity.Hack report

7–8 September saw Waves sponsoring Diversity.Hack, one of the largest and most far-ranging Moscow hackathons. We held this event alongside Phystech.Genesis, a project launched three years ago by MIPT graduates.

The 30-hour hackathon brought together more than 200 participants, including both students and experienced developers. Members of Russian Hack Team also joined the contest.

Participants were offered three tracks, provided by Waves, Dostavista and New Cloud Technologies. Our track was the most popular, and required hackers to implement a user-friendly mobile dApp using the Ride programming language and Waves client libraries.

Before the start of the event, we conducted two workshops to help participants engage with their tasks:

1. ‘How to use Waves blockchain’
2. ‘Ride Syntax Details’

Winners

We are thrilled to announce the winners and their projects. A total of around USD $1,500 and 400 WAVES in prize money was divided between the teams:

1. ‘On the wave’ made a decentralized marketplace with tokenized event tickets. Prize: $760 and 150 WAVES.

2. ‘EasyChain’ developed a mobile marketplace with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and auctions. Prize: $450 and 130 WAVES.

3. ‘MoreJust’ implemented a payment system for Auchan, a multinational retail group, using QR codes and WAVES. Prize: $290 and 120 WAVES.

We want to thank all the participants for the extraordinary energy and interest they contributed to this competition!

To encourage three more promising teams, we awarded runners-up prizes of 100 WAVES each.

Common mistakes & tips

There were a number of widespread mistakes that several teams repeatedly made. In some cases, this prevented them from completing their projects. Based on these, we have prepared some useful tips for future hackers:

• Several teams forgot that Ride exists within the Waves blockchain. The programming language does not have access to the world outside the network, and so must be used with Oracles to engage with external information.
• Some participants did not engage with the workshops provided before the hackathon. They started to code without fully understanding the technology. Whenever possible, attend the workshops and read the documentation to help prepare — it will give you a competitive advantage!
• Do not forget to mention which of the given SDKs or APIs provided for the hackathon you have integrated into your product, and why.
• Discuss any concerns you have with the mentors. They will help you to implement the technology and give you advice on how to modify your product.
• Don’t spend too much time planning and trying to work out every detail in advance — just get building! You’ll find that new ideas and solutions frequently arise in the course of actually implementing your project.

The most important point to remember is that at the end, you must present a fully working prototype. Only if you do so will you be eligible to claim a prize.

Upcoming events

We are conducting a workshop in Zurich, scheduled for 19 September. You will learn how to design and deploy your first smart contract using the Ride programming language and Waves blockchain.

All levels of expertise are welcome, although it would be helpful if you have some programming experience. You can read about the event here.

We will also be holding a hackathon during the SF Blockchain Week 2019. Feel free to join the competition and put the tips above into practice. Good luck!

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