HackSoc Notts resources, tailored for beginners.

hacksocres.md

Resources

About hackathons

Hackathons (or hack days) are super awesome events where people meet to build cool things. They're usually 24 hours straight programming/tinkering/building. Everybody gets involved, helps make something, then shows it to everybody else. Don't worry if you haven't been to one before, come along and you'll learn tons and have some great fun. Hackathons are pretty lighthearted and everyone's very helpful. Check out some past hackathons HackSoc have been to here: http://hacksocnotts.co.uk/category/news/

Preparing for a hackathon

1. Look up the Sponsors' APIs. Usually the hackathon sponsors will have prizes for people who use their APIs. It's a great opportunity to learn something cool you can add to your apps. Here's a list of tutorials for several common APIs: http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/apis

Essentials to bring to a hackathon

1. A laptop!
2. Don't forget your power cable!
3. Any cables or adapters you might need. Don't worry about bringing too many cables, it's better to have spares.
4. Warm and comfortable clothes. Trust us, you don't want to code while cold. And you're going to be hacking for a long time, so pyjamas or onsies are totally acceptable.
5. Sleeping bag. You probably won't get much time to sleep, but when you conk out for a couple of hours, you want to be comfortable.
6. A bit of money - just in case.

Extra things to bring

1. If you want to bring any electronics like Arduinos or Pis, bring them along. But we'll always have a few spare for you to play with if you don't own one.

Things you don't need to bring

1. Red Bull. There will be plenty.
2. Food. There'll be some of that too. But you might need something for the journey.

Learning how to hack

Tutorials

• Great interactive tutorials on JavaScript, HTML/CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby, and APIs. Perfect for beginners.

  http://codeacademy.com

• Here are some tutorials to learn any programming language in some small amount of minutes.

  http://learnxinyminutes.com/

• Get started with Python, Javascript, or Ruby.

  http://www.learnstreet.com/

• A really nice introduction to computer science and Python. You'll learn how to make your very own search engine.

  https://www.udacity.com/course/cs101

• There are loads of great courses on Udacity. If you want to learn more about Java, HTML5, algorithms, web or mobile development, AI, and more, then chak out the courses they have here:

  https://www.udacity.com/courses

• There are always some good upcoming courses on Coursera or EdX:

  https://www.coursera.org/

  https://www.edx.org/

Books

Here's a huge list of books you can read for free online. If you want to learn more about Python, iOS, C++, or anything else, you can probably find a decent book here. https://github.com/vhf/free-programming-books/blob/master/free-programming-books.md

Git

http://try.github.io/

http://gitimmersion.com/‎

http://git-scm.com/book

http://github.io

Useful resources

Hacker News: For all the latest tech and blogosphere events.

https://news.ycombinator.com/

Some hacking practice

• ICPC style practice:

  https://icpcarchive.ecs.baylor.edu/

  https://www.hackerrank.com

• Number theory challenges:

  http://projecteuler.net/

Finding hackathons and buying tickets

Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

Lanyrd: http://lanyrd.com/