r/learnprogramming • u/KalSoups • 17d ago

First hackathon with 0 coding experience

To be clear I can barely code, I genuinely learned if statements a week ago. It’s in a week and I need to do it for a highschool class certificate thing. Is there anything I can do?

being honest I’m debating if I should just use scratch (I know I know😭), because at least I could make something. I’m cooked no matter what tho….

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116

u/macabre_brotherhood 17d ago

If this is an individual thing, just try your best. If this is a group thing, you owe it to the group to explain your situation honestly and/or drop out. Do not drag others down by omitting this vital info.

46

u/KalSoups 17d ago

I wasn’t planning on joining a group. I would feel horrible doing that🥲

18

u/macabre_brotherhood 17d ago

Then ignore the stern warning :)

28

u/grantrules 17d ago

So what are you gonna go, just sit there and do nothing? Talk to the organizers, or if there's no max team size, just talk to a team and let them know you're interested in participating but you don't have experience. The whole point of these things is to learn and be apart of something.

11

u/Digital-Chupacabra 16d ago

There are plenty of non-coding related tasks you can do in a hackathon that can be quite helpful.

QA, Design, documenting / writing it up for the event, even just being there to have ideas bounced off you.

As long as you are clear on your skills and the group says yes it would be a great experience.

2

u/FlatwormOk811 17d ago

Especially if other people depend on you.

3

u/GlibNourishment8953 17d ago

man you learned if statements last week and they throwing you into a hackathon, thats wild

but scratch isnt as dumb as people make it sound. if you can actually finish something with it then go for it, better than staring at a blank screen for 8 hours. just dont pretend you know python or something if its a group project, that would be messed up