letsHack

learn to code by working together to solve problems.

letsHack is a collaborative coding web app that pairs users up randomly with another coder, to work together to solve a hacking challenge.

letsHack is written in JavaScript using Node, Express, Sequelize, Handlebars, and Socket.io.

Application overiew - powerpoint presentation

Live application

Authors:

@jesseharold @billbitt @ehirshfield

Project Highlights

• Wrote entire front and back end of this full-stack application utilizing MVC structure

• uses MySQL database with Sequelize ORM
• uses Node Express for the server
• uses Handlebars to render the View
• Uses passport.js for user authentication
• Uses socket.io for realtime chat and codesharing
• Uses codemirror frontend library for javascript code formatting and color hinting

Application flow

• The user can create a new profile or log in to an existing profile
• Upon logging in, the user enters a public lobby with all other letsHack users

• Users can chat while they wait in the lobby
• When ready to do a coding challenge, the user can place him or herself into the queue and will automatically be paired with another user from the queue

• Paired users are taken to a challenge page. On this page they each complete a portion of the challenge by writing code.

• In order to pass the challenge, both users must write code that satisfies their portion of the challenge.
• Users can use the chat feature to help their partner

• After the users complete their challenge, they are returned to the lobby
• Each user has a profile page which shows their profile data, profile picture, and challenge history
• Users can edit their own profile, and can view the publicly available elements of other users' profiles as well
• Users can report other users who are engaged in abusive behavior
• Administrators have a protected view where they can edit and create challenges and view users' reports

Libraries & Frameworks

• bcrypt

• body-parser

• connect-flash

• cookie-parser

• express

• express-handlebars

• express-session

• handlebars

• method-override

• morgan

• mysql

• passport

• passport-local

• sequelize

• socket.io

• CodeMirror

• Bootstrap

• jQuery

Screen Shot