Inspiration
The inspiration for our project stemmed from our own experiences as first-year students at The University of Sydney. Like many others, we came to university with high hopes of meeting new people and forming lasting friendships. However, we found that the reality often fell short, with social engagement opportunities feeling limited and the overall social scene lacking vibrancy. This gap between expectation and reality sparked the idea for Friendify—a website designed to enhance social connections among students and help create a more engaging campus community.
What it does
Friendify is a web application that simplifies the process of making new friends for students. It allows users to create profiles, search for other students based on shared interests, and send friend requests. The app provides users with an easy way to manage their friend requests, either accepting or rejecting them based on their preferences. Friendify aims to foster genuine connections by matching users who have similar interests or activities, making it easier for students to form meaningful relationships and feel more connected to their university community.
How we built it
Frontend: Developed using HTML and CSS, ensuring a clean and responsive user interface.
Backend: Implemented with Python Flask, which served as the backbone, orchestrating the seamless flow of HTML pages and defining the application’s workflow.
Web Scraping: Utilized Python to scrape relevant data from external websites, enriching the user experience with up-to-date information.
Challenges we ran into
Merge Conflicts: Navigating and resolving code merge conflicts, which were particularly challenging in a fast-paced development environment.
Environment Clashes: Addressing compatibility issues between the base Anaconda setup and global environments.
Integration Hurdles: Ensuring smooth integration of web scraping features with the main application while maintaining performance and security.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
First-Time Success: Despite it being our first hackathon, we successfully developed a fully functional website that met all the core objectives we set out to achieve.
Outstanding Frontend Design: We take pride in the visually appealing and user-friendly front-end design, which greatly enhances the overall user experience.
Effective Collaboration: Our ability to work harmoniously as a team, overcoming technical and logistical challenges without major conflicts.
What we learned
Collaborative Development: Gained invaluable experience in working collaboratively on a technically complex project, managing coding tasks effectively within a team.
JavaScript Mastery: Developed a deeper understanding of JavaScript’s nested structure, which was crucial for our front-end development.
Python Flask Proficiency: Enhanced our skills in using Python Flask, which played a central role in our backend development.
What's next for Friendify
We envision expanding Friendify to include more advanced features such as:
- Event coordination tools, integration with university systems for real-time notifications
- Chatting features (mimicking a social-media element on our webservice)
- AI-driven recommendations for potential friends based on user behavior and preferences
Our goal is to continue evolving the platform, making it an indispensable tool for every student looking to enrich their social life at university.
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