Inspiration
As participants of this CunyHackathon, we were faced with challenges in what our ideas would be. We wanted to create something that would be beneficial to all New York City residents. Being born and raised in New York City, we all are aware of how hard it is to find parking, especially when parking garages themselves can be pricey. We are also aware of how difficult it is to park on the streets as well, either due to construction, street sweepers, or overall traffic problems. Therefore, we wanted to create an app that would help users who prefer vehicular transportation.
What it does
This application allows users to search for parking spots within their designated location. They are able to see other users who are offering parking spots for a certain price on a Google Maps interface. They are also able to see how reliable the user is based on previous reviews left by other users.
How we built it
We used Google Maps API to first get the maps portion of our application. Then we used HTML and CSS to add other functions to the website for design and informational purposes, such as tabs that give an overview of the application, the clients that are involved, and more. We also used javascript to create markers so that users would be able to exactly pinpoint where their parking spot would be located.
Challenges we ran into
As beginner coders, we faced many challenges. Our idea included a lot of scrapping and restarting because we were unsure how to go about a lot of things, starting with the Google API interface. We were also confused in which API to use, since we wanted to use FourSquare, however we determined that the API wasn't what we were looking for. Our limited or unknown knowledge of certain languages that were used to create this project also hindered us in completing certain aspects of the project we would have liked to implement, such as transaction information and user registration. We also had trouble formatting the page, as well as formatting the markers on the map to exactly distinguish the current user from other surrounding users. Another big challenge we faced was essentially data storage as well, since we have to take into consideration the user's information.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Since it is our first time using Google API, we are proud of implementing the API, figuring out which API to use, working with multiple languages at once, and overall getting a somewhat functioning website.
What we learned
We learned that it is good to have high expectations, but we should also be aware of our knowledge and the time frame that is presented to us. We should also look into tackling one problem at a time and assigning certain parts of the project.
What's next for Cash Me Parking
We hope to add in user input, databases, incorporating pathways to points, transaction methods along with security followup, establishing criteria for ratings for customers, validation of customer's information, and hopefully a way to secure the parking based on images.
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