Announcing the StepZen GraphQL Challenge Hackathon
Published: 2022-06-27 16:20:09

We're announcing our 6-week hackathon, "The StepZen GraphQL Challenge"! The challenge brings developers together online to learn and uplevel GraphQL skills. Starting from June 6th 2022, you have six weeks to hack, can participate from almost any location, and the only requirement is using a GraphQL API you create with StepZen. While the challenge is an opportunity to build something cool and uplevel GraphQL skills and know-how, there are also fantastic perks and a prize pool of over $14,000!

> Sign up for the hackathon on [stepzen.devpost.com](https://stepzen.devpost.com/)

Why participate?
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Hackathons are a great opportunity to learn new technologies and have the chance to win prizes for the project you create. You might be new to StepZen and looking for a use-case to build a cool GraphQL project, or already experienced with StepZen and want to put that knowledge to use. We invite both new and experienced developers to participate in this hackathon, individually or as a team. See [here](https://stepzen.devpost.com/rules) for all rules.

You can win up to $6,000 for the winning submission, get exposure on all our social channels and meet the StepZen leadership team. Sign up now via [stepzen.devpost.com](https://stepzen.devpost.com/) and submit your project on or before July 26 2022.

What can I build?
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For your project to qualify for the hackathon, you must use a GraphQL API you create using StepZen in the application you submit. You can use your StepZen GraphQL API inside any application you want to build, whether in a backend programming language (like Python) or a front-end application (React, Vue, JavaScript, etc.).

You can get a StepZen GraphQL API by:

*   Using the StepZen CLI to create your GraphQL for any backend data source.
*   Using StepZen GraphQL Studio and find GraphQL APIs pre-built by StepZen.

With this GraphQL API, you can build a project in your programming language of choice. To get inspiration for projects, have a look at our [examples repository](https://github.com/stepzen-dev/examples) on Github or recent blog posts with fullstack projects:

*   [Stock Trading App](https://stepzen.com/blog/building-a-stock-trading-app-with-stepzen-and-alpacadb) (JavaScript, Svelte & StepZen)
*   [Weather App](https://stepzen.com/blog/build-weather-app-using-vue-stepzen) (JavaScript, Express, Vue & StepZen)
*   [Spotify Music App](https://stepzen.com/blog/working-with-remix-graphql-stepzen) (JavaScript, Remix & StepZen)
*   [Web3 App](https://github.com/stepzen-dev/stepzen-web3-app) (JavaScriot, Next.js & StepZen)

Need more inspiration? Look at our [Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/StepZen/videos) to find more tutorials. Or join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/9k2VdPn2FR) to ask questions and join our weekly Hackathon office hours.

How can I win?
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We rate the projects on originality, technical difficulty, and schema design criteria. We even have a bonus prize for people building with web3, for example, by using our [web3 starter application](https://github.com/stepzen-dev/stepzen-web3-app).

To win the hackathon, you need to submit your project via [stepzen.devpost.com](https://stepzen.devpost.com/), including a project description, a short demo video or blog post, and a link to the source code.

Where can I sign up?
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Head over to [stepzen.devpost.com](https://stepzen.devpost.com/) to sign up for the hackathon. Want more information? Ping us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/stepzen_dev) or join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/9k2VdPn2FR) to get in touch.