I have been building software since I was on 6th or 7th grade. I grew up on a Pentium Pro desktop with 2GB of hard drive and 64mb of RAM. I taught myself BASIC programming and plethora of other tools. By the time I was in 10th grade I was already a fluent programmer in C++, designer in 3D Studio Max and few other illustration tools. Having spent my childhood with video games and a computer, its no wonder I feel a sense of bright near technology.
I attended a hackathon when it wasn't even called a hackathon. In mid 2000s we had ACM style speed programming competitions. With a good headstart into programming, I would have aced these competitions, right? It turned out this was not the case. I realised my mistakes after first few competitions. I observed other hackers and wondered at their "speed" in speed programming competitions whether it is solving algorithmic problems in C/C++ or building more complex web or desktop solutions.
I had the oppertunity to judge one of the speed programming competitions and saw youngsters making the same mistakes. They would waste time reimplementing something as basic as an 'atoi' function call or a priority queue data structure. They wasted time writing the login form and essential CSS from scratch and end up to having that much to demo. They wasted time 'thinking' what to build 'during' a hackathon or how to utilize a single machine between 3 taem members.
While there are several books dedicated to competing in ACM style competition programming competitions, there are not many covering the subject of hackathons in general. I want to transfer my exeprience to the yonger lot. The lessons and experiences written in this book are deliberately and carefully selected. I wanted to give timeless advice rather than seasonal/fashionable advice on how to crack the hackathon. As mark twain say "those who do not read are no better than those who can not", I believe those who do not write are no better than those who can not. Writing I believe has been the biggest invention of human kind.
This book is for young people folleying their way into the technology sphere. When I say young, I do not mean young by age but young in terms of experience. I also mean young at heart. Hackathons are for everyone and they are fun but you would certainly need some internal motivation to attend one. Chances are, if you are reading this, you already have a motivation to know more about the hackahtons and participate in one.
I have tried to include disciplines other than software development professionals. This book is for anyone who uses technology to build things. This includes illistrators, designers, manufacturers, photographers and even writers.
This book is divided in three parts. Feel free to jump between them and by no means I suggest reading this book cover to cover. I encourage readers to go out and attend as many social events like hackathons and revisit parts of this book that relate to the exeprience.
The first part will motivate you to attend a hackathon. This part is good for those who are have never attended a hackathon. You will get to know a little history of hackathons, their impact on personal, professional and social lives and finally kinds of hackathons. At the end of this part you should have a good idea what kind of hackathon you want to attend.
The second part contains the meat of the book. This part is good for beginners as well as novice hackers who want to improve their game. We will discuss how to find new hackathons, tips and tricks to attending an on-site or virtual hackathon, how to select what to build in a hackathon. We will also discuss about selecting a team, building a new team and techniques for demoing and presenting your hacks. Some strategies are also presented at the end of of part II for advanced hacakthon players.
The last part is dedicated to success and horror stories from world renowned hackathons. I present several interviews I had with these hackers. I will also present resources on hackathon straztegies, events and more.