Overview

At TOHacks, I joined a team to build a web platform for electronics donations. The goal was to help people who needed devices to access the internet during the pandemic and into the "post-COVID" age.

Donors could offer laptops, tablets, and other electronics, while recipients could request devices that matched their needs.

Backend Architecture

• Firebase Backend: I implemented the backend using Firebase, leveraging its NoSQL database and authentication.
• API & Data Model: Designed collections for donors, recipients, and donation requests so the front end could easily match available devices with requests.
• User Authentication: Integrated Firebase Authentication so donors and recipients could sign in securely and manage their submissions.

Data Sharding Strategy

To keep the NoSQL data scalable and responsive, I implemented a simple data sharding approach:

• Partitioned donation and request data by categories such as device type or region to avoid single hot collections.
• Structured queries to hit specific shards instead of scanning all records.
• Kept index and query patterns aligned with common access paths (e.g., finding nearby available devices for a recipient).

Outcome

The project demonstrated how a small hackathon team could quickly deliver a social impact platform using Firebase:

• Donors could easily submit available electronics.
• Recipients could request devices needed to access online resources.
• The backend was structured to handle growth through sharded NoSQL data and predictable query patterns.