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