NetworkNow

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  NetworkNow GUI

Inspiration

We were inspired by how college culture embraces dating sites to create connections on the spot, and meet new people on the spot. We wanted to incorporate this convenience into the professional world, while keeping face to face connections the top priority.

What it does

This java program is just a prototype for a potential iOS app that includes more features. For now, it asks the user for information about them, and asks for a short description of what they are looking for. It then analyzes this input to find certain people that match their interest without them having to fill out any lengthy forms. Our AI, "Annette" basically creates a form for you.

How we built it

We created the backend using Java, and stored separate words in ArrayLists and Maps. We organized sample data to create a User Collection object to which we can compare users against. We checked for irrelevant words and recognized if a word is used more than once to create an accurate scoring system and rate their compatibility with a potential "nearby" match.

Challenges we ran into

Originally, we wanted to create an app, so we jumped into Swift although we have no prior experience in iOS development. We realized a few hours in that the learning curve was too steep for a 36 hour challenge. We moved on to something we were more comfortable with, which is Java. Knowing that JavaFX existed, although we have not done any complex programs using it, we decided to design the backend completely in Java, with output in the console before designing the frontend in JavaFX. This proved to be quite a challenge, because our logic was complete but we did not know how to creatively display it. After a lot of research, time on StackOverflow, and trial and error, we figured out a way to create an interactive console in the GUI and it looks great.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As mentioned before, our ability to expedite learning the basics of JavaFX and translate our code to the front end when that is not something we normally do, was very impressive to us and very satisfying to finally complete. We really utilized each other and pair programming to learn and finish efficiently.

What we learned

We learned a lot about working as a team and planning out our ideas in an efficient manner. Teamwork is not something we get a lot of practice in during school, so this was a great practical learning experience for us. We also learned a lot about translating our code fully to the front end and being creative in the process.

What's next for NetworkNow

Version 2 of NetworkNow will have a lot more features. We want to have better login features and ways to keep users coming back, such as endorsements and ratings as well as experiences such as job shadowing sign ups. We eventually want to move it over to iOS once we learn more about that side of development. We would really like to stick together and see it follow through to the appstore, because we genuinely believe this can bring value to the recruiting and job seeking realm.

Built With

• java