First Place at Ferizaj Code Fest 2026
On 11 July 2026 I competed at Ferizaj Code Fest 2026 and came away with 1st place in the React Native category with my project DS Banking.
Ferizaj Code Fest is an annual technology competition that brings young developers together to present real projects across programming, application development, web development and artificial intelligence. It is the kind of event where you don't get to hide behind a slide deck — the project has to run.
The Project: DS Banking
DS Banking is a mobile banking application built with React Native, designed to feel like a real digital bank rather than a classroom demo. It covers secure authentication, money transfers, transaction history and interactive analytics, all behind an interface that stays out of the user's way.
The part I enjoyed building most was the gamification layer. Most finance apps are something you open, check, and close — so I added mini-games and daily challenges to give people a reason to come back and actually pay attention to their money.
The Hardest Category to Win
React Native was the most competitive category of the competition, which is exactly why the result meant so much. Winning a category where everyone is working with the same tools means the difference came down to execution — how complete the app felt, how well it held up under questions, and whether it actually solved the problem it claimed to solve.
What I Took From It
Building for a jury forces you to finish things. A half-working transfer screen is invisible in a demo video and very visible in a live walkthrough, so every feature had to survive being clicked on by someone who had never seen the app before. That pressure made DS Banking a much tighter product than it would have been otherwise.
A big thank you to the organisers of Ferizaj Code Fest 2026, the jury, the sponsors, and everyone who put in the work behind the scenes to make the event happen.
