Practical Course (Informatik): Blockchain Hackathon

Bachelor/Master

The practical course "Blockchain Hackathon" aims to teach students the basics of developing socio-technical information systems in the context of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in a practical way. For this purpose, students will be introduced to DLT and the development of DLT applications in a kick-off event. Subsequently, students should implement a software artifact (e.g., desktop application, mobile app, or web application) in group work that solves a given problem. Further focuses of the practice course are quality assurance (e.g., by implementing tests) and documentation of the implemented software artifacts.

Educational objectives

• Understanding of the basics of DLT and DLT application development
• Independent and self-organized realization of a software development project
• Use of current development methods
• Selection and evaluation of development tools and methods
• Planning and execution of design, implementation and quality assurance of software artifacts
• Preparation of documentation for a software project
• Preparing and presenting project results in an understandable and structured way

Registration for

Practical Course (“Praktikum“)

Registration period

Mo. 10/09/2023 00:00 – Fr. 11/17/2023 23:59

Registration procedure

Manual allocation

The lecturer manually issues acceptances and rejections and assigns topics if necessary.

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on registration.

Topics

Topic assignment will take place after the launch event.

Program

Format: Practical Course

Important: The practical course takes place during the semester break. Please keep the following provisional dates free if you want to participate in the internship

• We., 11/22/2023
  • 09:00 –10:30: Lecture: The Ethereum Blockchain
  • 10:30 – 11:00: Break
  • 11:00 – 12:30: Lecture: Smart Contract Development
  • 12:30 – 13:00: Break
  • 13:00 – 14:30: Lecture: Presentation of the Topics
  • 14:30 – 15:00: Break
  • 15:00 – 17:00: Lecture: Frontent Integration
• Th., 11/23/2023
  • 09:00 – 09:30: Assignment of the topics
  • 09:30 – 11:00: Set-Up example Docker project
  • 11:00 – 11:30: Q&A
  • From 11:30: Independent treatment of the topics in groups
• Fr., 11/24/2023 until Mo., 02/12/2024
  • Independent work on the topics in groups
• Mo., 01/15/2024
  • 13:30 – 14:30: Interim presentation of developed DLT applications (duration depends on the number of groups)
  • From 14:30: Final discussion and conclusion
• Mo., 02/05/2024
  • 10:00-11:00: Final presentation of the developed software artifacts (duration depends on the number of groups)
• Submission of the documentation of the software artifact: Probably on 02/28/2024 (the final date will be announced at the event).

These appointments may still be postponed. Further information on the procedure will be announced on the first appointment. Depending on the number of participants, the individual sessions may have a shorter duration.

Control of Success

The control of success takes place in the form of an examination of a different kind. The following aspects are included in the evaluation:

• The software artifact in terms of functionality, and code quality. Meaningful tests must have been developed to show the functionality.
• A presentation to introduce the software artifact
• The written documentation

The lecturer determines the points scheme for the evaluation. It will be announced at the beginning of the course. The problem to be solved can be worked on together in a group of a maximum of four students. The individual partial performances must be marked. 

The documentation (and the presentation) can be done in English or German.

This practical course will be credited as a „Praktikum Informatik“.

Recommendations for the Preparation for the cii Blockchain Hackathon

To successfully participate in the cii Blockchain Hackathon, we recommend the following:

• You should have a basic understanding about programming and blockchain technology. You should use a computing device with more than 4 GB RAM and at least 3 GB free storage.
• You should have basic knowledge about React or ReactJS.
• You should be able to use Git and Node Package Manager (NPM).

To practice smart contract programming and prepare yourselves for the hackathon, we offer the following example projects:

• Smart Contract Patterns: https://github.com/KITcii/smart-contract-dev-support
• Example Project in Docker: https://git.scc.kit.edu/tf2000/drizzle-with-events

If you have any questions regarding these applications, please contact niclas.kannengiesser@kit.edu