Inspiration
We were inspired by our interests in investments. Since one of our members is a finance major, we figured we could create a program that could track the momentums of markets and formulate algorithms for stocks with their guidance. We decided on the name Magpie, because they collect shiny objects over time, something we aim to replicate by allowing our users to maximize their profits.
What it does
By receiving input from users, Magpie creates a personalized financial portfolio. Users can put in the stocks that they are currently holding, and by using a MACD Oscillator, we can analyze the movement and momentum in markets. This, and checking moving averages, will allow us to recommend the user when to buy or sell.
How we built it
We used react, node.js, and material-ui in order to create the html of the website. We used prisma to create databases for storing user data. For the database, it was based in Heroku with a Postgres framework. NextJS was the website framework that we decided to use, and we handled user login using Google OAuth.
Challenges we ran into
Most of the team were new to hackathons, so formulating an idea and tying that idea to a challenge was an issue. We spent the first 2 hours brainstorming topics we could focus on that we could all have some part in doing. Our second problem, deciding on a coding language, stemmed from our inexperience in coding. Our most experienced member recommended javascript to us for this project, and so, some of us had to learn new libraries such as react and material-ui for the front-end of the website. This was the area we struggled with the most since the majority of our team had to pick up new tools.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Overall, we gained a better understanding of the React libraries as well as a general understanding of how REST APIs work. It was a lot of work, but an excellent learning experience. Connecting the Python script to the web application was also satisfying, and watching the project come together was amazing to see.
What we learned
We learned how to use react in order to create html for the website. We also learned how to use github to combine our individual pieces of code while we worked separately.
What's next for Magpie
We could add a feature that would help users find the cheapest prices for items that they are looking for. We can add tags in order to make this feature easier for users by allowing them to narrow down what they want, in case they don't know the exact item. We wanted to create another program that could potentially lower spending. It would include a budgeting function where the user can input a tentative monthly budget. We create weekly budgets with caps that change based on how much the user wants to spend monthly, which will allow for users to stay within their budget for the month.
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