Inspiration
Some of our team members struggle with college affordability and textbooks are a significant factor, especially since they aren't covered by financial aid. We all have old textbooks, and selling them is a hassle unless you go through a middleman who marks up the price substantially. Instead, we can swap them for the new ones we need!
What it does
This app lets you list textbooks you're willing to swap, and textbooks you need. It matches you with people who have textbooks you need and need textbooks you have. It can also match you with groups of more than 2 people in which everyone will receive a textbook they need from someone and give someone a textbook they have ('cycles').
How we built it
We used Node.js, React, firebase, and google cloud platforms.
Challenges we ran into
We started trying to make a react native mobile app, but we didn't know how, so we switched to a react web app.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We built a thing! It works! It solves a real problem that we face.
What we learned
None of us had ever used firebase or google cloud platforms before, so we had to learn those, and how to integrate them in our app. We invented and implemented a new algorithm for cycle detection.
What's next for TextbookMatch
Build a nicer UI, campus-based targeting, global rollout!
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