The PyWeb Creators hackathon represented more than just another coding competition. It was an ambitious experiment in redefining web development paradigms, challenging the fundamental assumption that building for the web requires mastering multiple programming languages. Over 72 hours in August 2025, we set out to prove that Python could power the entire web stack—from server to browser.
Technical Architecture: Building for Two Worlds
The hackathon's technical foundation rested on a dual-path architecture that reflected the current state of Python web development. Path A focused on Python-only frameworks like FastHTML, Reflex, and Streamlit, where developers could build complete web applications while the framework handled HTML, CSS, and JavaScript generation. Path B explored the frontier of browser-native Python through PyScript, Brython, and Pyodide—technologies that compile or interpret Python directly in web browsers.
This technical split created unique infrastructure challenges. We needed to support both traditional server-side Python deployments and client-side applications that could run entirely offline. Our evaluation platform had to handle everything from Streamlit's automatic reactive updates to PyScript's WebAssembly-based Python runtime. The judging infrastructure required sandboxed environments capable of executing untrusted code safely while providing real-time feedback to participants.
The platform architecture emphasized containerization and isolation. Each submitted project received its own Docker environment with preset Python dependencies, ensuring consistent behavior across different development approaches. For browser-based projects, we implemented CORS-compliant serving to handle PyScript's security requirements while maintaining the ability to load and test applications seamlessly.
The Judicial Foundation: Expertise Across Domains
Our judging panel brought together professionals from across the technology spectrum, each contributing unique perspectives on Python's web capabilities.
- Adit Sheth from Microsoft, a Senior Software Engineer specializing in AI and LLM solutions architecture, provided insights into how modern Python frameworks integrate with enterprise-scale AI systems. His experience with Semantic Kernel and Azure AI platforms proved invaluable when evaluating projects that pushed the boundaries of what's possible with Python-driven web applications.
- Vladyslav Haina brought DevOps and cloud engineering expertise, particularly relevant for assessing the deployment and scalability aspects of submitted projects. His background in multi-cloud environments and infrastructure-as-code helped evaluate whether hackathon prototypes had realistic paths to production deployment.
- Tharun Sure from ServiceNow contributed a product engineering perspective, having worked on AI-powered SaaS solutions that serve enterprise customers. His experience with healthcare technologies at Dexcom and automotive systems at Ford provided crucial context for evaluating the real-world applicability of the hackathon projects.
The distributed nature of our judging team—spanning from the United States to Cyprus to Russia—created interesting coordination challenges but also brought diverse technical cultures and approaches to the evaluation process. Each judge brought specific domain expertise while maintaining the flexibility to assess projects across the broad spectrum of web application categories.
Project Landscape: Innovation Within Constraints
The submitted projects revealed fascinating approaches to the hackathon's constraints. The winning team, PyCoders, created Python Playground 202X, an educational platform that cleverly implemented three distinct "eras" of programming interfaces within a single application. Their approach demonstrated how Python frameworks could create engaging, interactive learning experiences that would traditionally require extensive JavaScript development.
DUMBELL's drag-and-drop machine learning platform showcased the power of combining Python's data science ecosystem with modern web frameworks. Their implementation of automated feature engineering and model selection through a web interface highlighted how Python's strength in data processing could translate directly to browser-based applications without requiring separate API layers.
The Bit Brains team's Maze Adventure pushed the boundaries of browser-based Python gaming, implementing algorithmically generated mazes with custom map creation tools. Their project demonstrated PyScript's potential for creating interactive entertainment applications that run entirely client-side.
Sujal Shah's FastBoard represented a different approach—a real-time collaborative whiteboard with AI interpretation capabilities. This project exemplified the hybrid approach, using FastHTML for backend coordination while implementing sophisticated client-side interactions for drawing and real-time collaboration.
Engineering Challenges: Lessons from the Trenches
Running a Python-focused web hackathon exposed several technical realities that shaped both the event and our understanding of the ecosystem's current limitations. Browser-based Python execution, while technically impressive, still faces performance constraints that limit the complexity of applications that can run smoothly client-side. Projects that pushed PyScript or Brython to their limits often encountered memory usage issues or slow startup times that affected user experience.
The framework diversity created evaluation complexity. A Streamlit application optimized for data visualization required different assessment criteria than a PyScript game or a FastHTML web service. We developed custom testing protocols that could fairly evaluate projects across these different paradigms while maintaining consistent technical standards.
Security considerations proved particularly complex for browser-based Python projects. Unlike traditional JavaScript applications, Python-in-browser implementations often have different execution models and security boundaries. We implemented additional sandboxing for projects that executed arbitrary Python code, ensuring that creative solutions didn't compromise the evaluation infrastructure.
The 72-hour time constraint revealed interesting patterns in framework adoption. Teams generally gravitated toward frameworks that offered the fastest path to a working prototype, which often meant choosing tools with extensive documentation and active community support. This created a natural filter that highlighted the most mature options in the Python web ecosystem.
The Future Architecture
The PyWeb Creators hackathon validated our hypothesis that Python can indeed power comprehensive web applications, while also illuminating the current boundaries of this approach. The most successful projects demonstrated that Python's expressiveness and ecosystem depth create genuine advantages for certain types of web applications, particularly those involving data processing, machine learning, or educational content.
The technical infrastructure we built for this hackathon now serves as a testing ground for future Python web technologies. As WebAssembly support improves and browser-based Python runtimes mature, we expect to see even more ambitious projects that push the boundaries of what's possible with a single-language web stack.
The engineering lessons from PyWeb Creators inform our approach to future hackathons. We're exploring how to better support hybrid development approaches that combine the best of both server-side Python frameworks and browser-native execution. The evaluation infrastructure we developed provides a foundation for assessing projects that blur traditional client-server boundaries.
Python's role in web development continues evolving rapidly. The PyWeb Creators hackathon demonstrated that this evolution isn't just about technical capability—it's about reimagining how we approach web development as a discipline. When developers can express their entire application logic in a single language, it opens possibilities for more coherent architectures and faster development cycles.
The community response reinforced our belief that these technical explorations matter. The projects we saw weren't just proofs of concept; they were glimpses of a potential future where web development becomes more accessible to Python developers who can focus on solving problems rather than juggling multiple language ecosystems.
