What we learned from a hackathon with IBM’s Bluemix
What we learned from a hackathon with IBM’s Bluemix

What we learned from a hackathon with IBM’s Bluemix

Enter Bluemix, IBM’s new hybrid cloud development platform that enables a quick and easy way for developers to create, deploy and manage applications. The cloud offering allows developers to choose pre-developed components (boilerplates, runtimes and services) for their application straight from an online catalog. Bluemix then goes straight to Cloud Foundry to create an instance of the code, saving time and energy for developers.

This feature lets engineers avoid the hassle of creating infrastructures, domain names and routers.  We’re always thinking about the technologies of the future and that’s why we have taken it to the next level, by developing its CodeBricks_TM library of reusable components, as part of the BlitzDev framework, which will be released open source next year. We’re excited to introduce our work with IBM Bluemix, which is the perfect time for a QUALITANCE and IBM hackathon.

Three teams were given one goal: use the IBM Bluemix platform to create a brand new Internet of Things (IoT) prototype in 16 hours. Bluemix’s developer-friendly nature and enterprise-level services has made it one of the most compelling Platform as a Service (PaaS) in the market and a great tool for the hackathon held at QUALITANCE.

After 10,000 lines of code, 93 cans of soda and countless coffee mugs, the QUALITANCE team got up close and personal with Bluemix and learned several new lessons.

Two Rapid Days of Rapid Prototyping

The goal of a Hackathon is to practice, learn and create. The methods for how these are done vary and the outcomes are not always the same. But at the IBM Hackathon we utilized this fast paced setting to do what we do best: rapid prototyping. In this case, integrating Bluemix proved to be a valuable asset as we collaborated intensively to hack out a quality application in 16 hours. With Bluemix technology and instruction from the IBM team, QUALITANCERS built an IoT Foundation platform and pilot system that involved attaching beacons to persons in order to track their movement along a defined space.

Technology working in tandem with rapid prototyping is not always easy to find but we discovered that Bluemix is one of the best platforms to keep an engineering team moving at Formula 1 speed. That addresses a critical need in today’s software market: businesses need to move quickly if they are going to win over their target market. It’s time to use tomorrow’s technology to win on today’s race track.

 

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