What Is Hackathon??

A hackathon, also known as a codefest, is a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon or build a new software program. The word hackathon is a portmanteau of the words hacker, which means clever programmer, and marathon, an event marked by endurance. The concept of the hackathon, also called a hack day or hack fest, was born out of the open source community. The first event labeled a hackathon was the OpenBSD Hackathon in Calgary, Canada, on June 4, 1999. Today, engineering departments, especially those at web-based companies, adopt the practice as a way of introducing intrapreneurship into the enterprise. Hackathons are sometimes undertaken to achieve a specific goal, but often they are a chance for businesses to pursue employee-driven, out-of-the-box ideas in a low-risk environment. Employees are given the freedom and support to collaborate with colleagues in other departments within a given timeframe and without the pressure of having to produce a viable product. Types of hackathons Hackathons vary in objectives and themes. Hackathons organized as a platform for creating applications such as Mobile apps, operating system variations, web and video game upgrading are branded as niche hackathons. Altruistic hackathons are those where participants work to find solutions for problems such as public transport systems, education and disaster response. Corporate hackathons organized by companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are developed to encourage employees to participate in new product development. Language or programming hackathons are dedicated to creating specific programming language or framework applications such as C++ or .NET.