Vanilla Web Hackathon 2025: Security, Creativity, and Performance Excellence Under Extreme Constraints

The Vanilla Web Hackathon 2025, organized by UK Community Interest Company Hackathon Raptors (CIC #15557917), concluded on September 1st with results that challenge conventional assumptions about modern web development. The 72-hour constraint-driven competition—requiring participants to build applications using only pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without frameworks or external libraries—produced three exceptional projects demonstrating security implementation, creative problem-solving, and performance optimization within severe technical limitations.

The competition’s evaluation framework weighted technical mastery at 30%, creativity and originality at 25%, performance and efficiency at 20%, user experience and accessibility at 15%, and documentation at 10%. This scoring matrix emphasized that constraint-based development requires balancing competing concerns rather than optimizing single dimensions.

First Place: Cyber Guardian Demonstrates Security Implementation Without Dependencies

Team ZAVA’s Cyber Guardian secured first place with a score of 4.36/5.00, demonstrating that meaningful security applications can function within extreme bundle constraints. The project addressed practical cybersecurity education and protection through an approachable interface that makes complex security concepts accessible to non-technical users.

The technical achievement lies in implementing security functionality—typically requiring substantial JavaScript libraries for cryptography, authentication, and threat detection—using browser-native APIs. Modern browsers provide the Web Crypto API, offering cryptographic primitives like SHA-256 hashing and AES-GCM encryption without external dependencies. This approach aligns with security best practices: leveraging platform-provided capabilities reduces attack surface while eliminating dependency vulnerabilities.

Denis Saripov, software engineer at TikTok’s Monetization team with previous experience at Yandex (serving 12M+ monthly users on Yandex 360) and VK (5M+ users on Customer Experience Hub), brings an enterprise-scale performance perspective to evaluating constrained applications. His published research on “Enhancing Customer Service Automation and User Satisfaction” within CRM systems emphasizes that applications serving millions must balance security, performance, and usability—the same priorities Cyber Guardian demonstrates at smaller scale.

Oleksandr Shvaikin’s background as a 6x Certified Salesforce Developer with 13+ years of experience and IEEE Senior Member status provides insight into enterprise security architectures. His published research on “Information Security of Digital Life Expectancy Prediction Systems Under Cyber Risks and Resource Constraints” directly addresses how security systems must function effectively despite limited resources—precisely the challenge Cyber Guardian solved by leveraging browser-native cryptographic capabilities rather than importing heavy security libraries.

The project’s well-structured codebase indicates architectural discipline often obscured by framework abstractions. Without React’s component lifecycle or Vue’s reactive properties, developers must implement state management, event handling, and DOM updates explicitly. This constraint forces understanding of fundamentals that remain relevant regardless of eventual technology choices.

Second Place: ASCII Dungeon Adventure Explores CSS-Only Interactivity

ASCII Guys’ ASCII Dungeon Adventure achieved second place with 4.28/5.00 through radical constraint exploration: building an interactive game using pure HTML and CSS without JavaScript. The approach demonstrates how far CSS capabilities have evolved beyond simple styling into genuine application logic through branching storylines, atmospheric sounds, and ASCII graphics—all delivered in a lightweight package that runs instantly.

The technical methodology likely leverages checkbox inputs for state management combined with CSS selectors responding to state changes. Modern CSS provides :checked pseudo-class for conditional styling, sibling combinators for propagating state, and ::before/::after pseudo-elements for dynamic content generation. This creates applications where the DOM itself becomes the single source of truth—impossible to desynchronize because state and presentation couple at the lowest level.

Dmytro Boichuk, Solutions Design IT Specialist at TD Bank with over 13 years of mobile development experience, understands the importance of architectural decisions under constraints. His background building stable, scalable mobile apps using Kotlin and Java across healthcare, fintech, and smart infrastructure provides perspective on how thoughtful architecture enables functionality within limitations. The CSS-only approach, while creating accessibility challenges for screen readers, demonstrates innovative thinking about state management patterns that apply across development contexts.

The approach reveals interesting accessibility trade-offs. Pure CSS implementations struggle with screen reader compatibility because assistive technology interprets the accessibility tree derived from HTML semantics, not visual CSS presentations. However, the architectural pattern—explicit state through form inputs, deterministic rendering based on state—demonstrates principles that scale to production applications using JavaScript frameworks.

Third Place: TheTerminusProject Balances Polish with Constraint Adherence

TheTerminusProject secured third place with 4.25/5.00, delivering a polished user experience with strong technical reliability and excellent vanilla constraints adherence. The terminal-aesthetic project demonstrates that constraint-driven development needn’t sacrifice user experience quality—clean UI design and technical execution can coexist within severe limitations.

Terminal interfaces present unique development challenges: text rendering with monospace fonts, cursor simulation through animation, text wrapping and scrolling, and input handling through contenteditable or form elements. Implementing these features without framework assistance or UI libraries requires deep understanding of browser APIs and careful optimization to maintain the instant-load performance that characterizes lightweight vanilla applications.

Igor Kiselev, Principal Director at Accenture with PhD in optimization, CFA designation, and Forbes Technology Council membership, specializes in digital twins and business applications for industrial process optimization. His academic background in optimization theory provides perspective on constraint-based problem solving: creative solutions often emerge from limitations that force reconsideration of default approaches. TheTerminusProject exemplifies this principle—terminal aesthetics naturally align with minimal dependencies and efficient rendering, turning constraints into design advantages.

The project demonstrates that vanilla JavaScript applications can achieve the polish typically associated with framework-based development. Smooth animations, responsive interactions, and intuitive workflows don’t require React or Vue—they require thoughtful implementation of browser-native APIs combined with disciplined code organization. This contradicts the common assumption that frameworks are necessary for professional-quality user experiences.

Expert Evaluation Framework and Industry Applications

The judging panel included technical experts who applied systematic evaluation criteria across multiple domains. The assessment framework emphasized understanding how constraint-driven development reveals fundamental architectural principles applicable beyond hackathon contexts.

Oleksandr Shvaikin’s experience migrating enterprise systems from legacy architectures to modern platforms informed his evaluation approach. His work transforming Visualforce applications to Lightning Web Components—achieving $20 million in annual savings for one client—demonstrates how architectural modernization delivers measurable business value. His published research on “Experimental Analysis and Mathematical Modeling of the Impact of Architectural Decisions on Long-Term Supportability of Large Salesforce Applications” emphasizes that early architectural choices compound over time, either enabling or preventing future requirements.

Denis Saripov’s transition from VK’s Customer Experience Hub to Yandex 360’s productivity and collaboration tools, and currently TikTok’s monetization platform, provides perspective spanning consumer applications, enterprise collaboration, and ad-tech systems. His experience across these domains reveals universal patterns: performance matters regardless of application type, component-based architecture enables parallel development, and leveraging platform capabilities outperforms custom implementations. His research on AI-powered chatbot implementation within CRM systems explores how automation enhances user satisfaction—insights that apply to evaluating how constrained applications deliver functionality efficiently.

Dmytro Boichuk’s 13+ years building mobile applications across multiple platforms and industries—from social media and consumer apps to healthcare and fintech—inform his understanding of how architecture scales. His experience leading Android teams at organizations like TD Bank, Mapsted, and Howdoo demonstrates how architectural decisions impact team productivity and long-term maintainability. Mobile development’s emphasis on performance optimization, memory management, and offline functionality parallels constrained web applications’ challenges.

Igor Kiselev’s work at SAP and Accenture on enterprise implementation and optimization provides context for evaluating whether hackathon projects demonstrate principles that transfer to production systems. His academic research background enables rigorous evaluation of whether constraint-driven optimizations represent genuine improvements or premature optimization. Systems serving millions of users require different architectural decisions than weekend projects, but fundamental principles—component isolation, clear interfaces, efficient algorithms—apply universally.

Performance Implications and Real-World Applications

The hackathon’s radical constraints—no frameworks, no libraries, minimal bytes—force participants onto the stable foundation of web standards. Framework APIs change with each major version requiring migration efforts that provide no user-facing value. Web platform APIs evolve more slowly, maintain stronger backward compatibility, and benefit from multi-vendor standardization.

Research consistently demonstrates that bundle size directly impacts user experience and business outcomes. HTTP Archive data shows median JavaScript bundle sizes reached 464KB on desktop and 444KB on mobile, with 22-25% year-over-year growth. Every 100ms decrease in load speed yields a 1.11% increase in session-based conversion. Organizations like Netflix rewrote critical paths in vanilla JavaScript and cut load times in half—proving that frameworks aren’t always optimal for performance-critical applications.

The three winning projects demonstrate different approaches to constraint-driven development. Cyber Guardian shows that security applications can function without heavy cryptographic libraries by leveraging Web Crypto API. ASCII Dungeon Adventure proves that complex interactive experiences can work without JavaScript through creative CSS architecture. TheTerminusProject demonstrates that vanilla implementations can match framework-based applications in polish and user experience.

These aren’t merely impressive hackathon submissions—they’re case studies in architectural principles that scale to production applications. The same thinking that enables implementing security tools in minimal bytes enables building enterprise applications that remain maintainable over years of evolution. The same discipline required to avoid framework dependencies creates code resilient to technology churn. The same optimization forcing efficient algorithms produces applications that perform well under load.

The Business Case for Constraint-Driven Thinking

While few production applications operate under constraints as extreme as the Vanilla Web Hackathon, the architectural discipline transfers directly to enterprise development. Component-based architecture with clear interfaces enables parallel team development. Stateless design allows horizontal scaling. Leveraging platform capabilities reduces maintenance burden from dependency updates. Performance optimization improves conversion rates and user satisfaction.

Organizations adopting constraint-driven thinking implement changes incrementally rather than attempting complete rewrites. Starting with new, isolated features reduces risk while building team confidence with vanilla techniques. Performance baselines measured before and after changes provide objective evidence of improvement or regression. Developer education represents critical investment—modern browser APIs differ significantly from jQuery-era JavaScript patterns.

The convergence between cloud architecture principles and constrained web development reveals universal patterns. Whether building Salesforce applications serving millions of users or vanilla web applications functioning within severe byte limitations, successful architecture follows consistent principles: identify concerns and define boundaries, establish clear contracts and minimize coupling, leverage platform capabilities rather than recreating them, and design for long-term maintainability as requirements evolve.

Conclusion and Future Implications

The Vanilla Web Hackathon 2025 demonstrates that modern browser capabilities reduce the necessity of frameworks for many applications. Web Components, Navigation API, Intersection Observer, and advanced CSS features provide functionality that previously required framework dependencies. Combined with systematic optimization principles—measuring performance, identifying bottlenecks, implementing targeted improvements—developers can build applications that balance performance with maintainability.

The three winning projects—Cyber Guardian’s security implementation, ASCII Dungeon Adventure’s CSS-only interactivity, and TheTerminusProject’s polished terminal interface—prove that constraints don’t limit capability but force excellence. When every byte must justify its existence and platform capabilities must be leveraged rather than duplicated, the resulting code demonstrates the same discipline that makes enterprise cloud applications scale reliably.

The total prize pool of $1,800, distributed across three winners and an additional $300 community choice award, reflects Hackathon Raptors’ commitment to advancing practical software engineering techniques through competitive implementation and expert evaluation. Their approach combines technical rigor with industry application, producing measurable outcomes that benefit the broader development community.

Performance optimization isn’t about frameworks versus vanilla JavaScript, or small projects versus enterprise systems. It’s about making conscious trade-offs, prioritizing user experience, and understanding that technical elegance serves users rather than the reverse. The best engineering decisions balance simplicity and sophistication, constraint and creativity, optimization and pragmatism.

About Hackathon Raptors

Hackathon Raptors is a UK Community Interest Company dedicated to organizing technology challenges demonstrating practical applications of software engineering methodologies. Based in London and registered as CIC #15557917, the organization advances practical software engineering techniques through competitive implementation and expert evaluation. More information is available at raptors.dev or by contacting hello@raptors.dev.