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How to Participate in a Hackathon, and Coding Jams

In this episode we discuss how to participate in a Hackathon, and what our students and staff are jamming to when they code!

The posts

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Hackathon.io
Portland Science Hack Day
Check out Treehouse's Spotify
Fuel your code with our monthly playlist Treehouse Stereo
Become more productive with the ambient sounds of a busy coffee shop with Coffitivity

Related Discussions

Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.

Related Discussions

Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.

Welcome to The Treehouse Show. 0:00

The Treehouse Show is our weekly conversation with the Treehouse community. 0:01

[SOUND] This week on the show, we're taking a look at a few of our favorite 0:06

recent questions from the Treehouse community. 0:11

Let's talk about hackathons and coding jams. 0:14

Pranjal Agnihotri asks a very forward thinking question about hackathons. 0:16

I just wanted to ask is there any kind of preparation you do before going to 0:23

a hackathon? 0:27

Excellent question, Pranjal. 0:28

Now first though, if you haven't heard of a hackathon yet, 0:29

it's a get together of coders who build a project. 0:32

And the goal of the hackathon, or codefest, is to produce usable software. 0:35

Its name comes from the portmanteau of hack and marathon. 0:39

Hackathons usually have a specific focus, often surrounding a specific 0:44

programming language or framework or, sometimes, they're all about a topic. 0:47

A pretty rad one that happens here in Portland is called Science Hack Day, 0:52

where scientists work together with programmers to build cool projects 0:55

that they pitch over a long weekend. 0:58

Oftentimes, at these hackathons, 1:01

there is a prize involved, which helps add to the fun and the competitive nature. 1:02

Michael Hulet offers some advice about how to prepare. 1:07

He says make sure you have the software installed, because very often WiFi 1:10

is pretty bad, and you don't wanna waste time trying to download things. 1:14

Michael also says to approach things with an open mind and 1:18

a friendly attitude, which helps to answer the second part of Pranjal's question 1:20

about finding team members. 1:25

Now most of these hackathons work with a pitch presented by people with some ideas 1:27

and you choose your team that way. 1:31

Michael also talks about his go-bag for when he attends Hackfest, 1:33

which has the obvious laptop, phone, and their chargers. 1:37

But also suggests some things that you might not have thought of like a change of 1:40

clothes and a toothbrush. 1:44

He also recommends headphones and a pillow. 1:46

Nice thinking, Michael. 1:48

Pranjal also asked if this is welcome to newbs, or newbies, 1:49

people who are new to programming. 1:53

Well, absolutely. 1:56

In fact, there are some that are even made for that. 1:57

Michael talks about several times he won a hackathon with people on his team 1:59

who had never written a single line of code. 2:03

Now if you're curious about why you might want to attend one of these. 2:06

I asked our resident hackathon expert, James Churchill, about the benefits. 2:09

He said, collaboration. 2:14

You get to collaborate with other devs at different experience levels 2:16

you might not normally get to work with. 2:19

It provides a goal. 2:22

If not having an idea about what to code is your problem, 2:24

hackathons could be the solution. 2:27

If you struggle like I do, 2:30

sometimes you have projects that you would never release without a deadline. 2:31

Does that sound like fun? 2:35

Well, check one out. 2:36

We've included some links in the notes attached to this video. 2:38

Do you have hackathon tips? 2:41

Join the discussion. 2:42

Our next question from the community is a pretty important one. 2:44

What do you all like to jam on during your coding? 2:47

That might seem like a bit of a silly question, but 2:50

it's actually a pretty important one. 2:52

Now oftentimes you need to block out external noise, 2:54

especially if you're working in an open office space, or worse yet, a coffee shop. 2:57

Some people actually get so 3:02

used to the background of a coffee shop that they want to simulate it. 3:03

Now there's an app for that. 3:07

If you wanna simulate being in a coffee shop, I highly recommend Coffitivity. 3:09

Steven Parker recommends prog rock, which makes sense. 3:14

It's so mathy. 3:17

Tianni Myers suggests instrumentals only for blogging and coding. 3:20

He also suggests the band Tycho. 3:23

I love that band too, Tianni. 3:25

We asked our staff what they like to listen to. 3:27

Now Ben Deitch, who've you seen around the Android and data halls of Treehouse, 3:29

digs him some Herbie Hancock, in particular the album Chameleon. 3:33

James Churchill, our .NET and JavaScript musician, admits to being a sucker for 3:37

the good old soundtrack. 3:41

He likes the Lord of the Rings one for coding. 3:42

He also recommends picking up a band and 3:44

listening to their entire catalog chronologically. 3:47

Nick Pettit like his peace and quite and usually codes in silence. 3:50

Nick Hampton, who helps out with our JavaScript Techdegree students, 3:54

listens to podcasts when reviewing projects. 3:57

But when he's coding, he hits up Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Madonna, and Hole. 3:59

Sounds like an amazing concert to attend. 4:05

That'd give him something to talk about. 4:07

Pasan says he spends 60% of his time trying to find the perfect track and 4:10

then never finds it. 4:14

Then he says he rushes to finish stuff minutes before deadline. 4:15

Now Rob, who heads up our support team, suggests Nobuo Uematsu, 4:18

who is a video game composer, or some early Muse Records. 4:22

Now, personally, for me, it depends. 4:26

If I'm writing documentation, I do like to listen to bands that are singing in 4:28

a different language than my native tongue. 4:32

I love the band The Very Best out of Malawi for this. 4:34

If I have a deadline, without a doubt, I crank up some punk rock and 4:37

try to keep pace with Minor Threat or some early Fugazi. 4:40

What do you listen to? 4:43

Jump on the forum post and let everybody know. 4:45

[SOUND] Thanks for watching The Treehouse Show. 4:46

To get in touch with the show, reach out to me on Twitter or 4:53

email the show at show@teamtreehouse.com. 4:56

See you in the community. 4:59

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