C4C, in Kansas City, is always a fun event. At points it gets to be a pressure cooker as you zone in trying to crank out some fantastic code in just a few hours, but it is always fun. A great challenge of your skill as a software developer and for a good cause. This year my team helped The United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Kansas City organization to add online job applications and a database for tracking internal training.

I keep finding that there is one key rule to pulling off a successful C4C weekend project, and that is “Keep It Simple”. Each time you want to add that one cool little feature you have to ask yourself.. Is it really necessary? and Do I have time for that? And if you are going to learn something new you should ask yourself if you’re really going to be able to learn that AND finish the project in the given time. Sometimes the less elegant code is the better code if it works.

That said… You get a great amount of freedom to build the solution the way you want. Typically, the software we build for the charities will save them a lot of money and time and make their jobs easier. You are able to build the software you know you are capable of creating from your own ideas.

I highly recommend any developers in the area to signup next year and show off your skills. I know I will!