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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
Learn More
- 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
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Welcome to The Treehouse Show.
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The Treehouse Show is our weekly conversation with the Treehouse community.
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[SOUND] This week on the show, we're taking a look at a few of our favorite
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recent questions from the Treehouse community.
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Let's talk about hackathons and coding jams.
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Pranjal Agnihotri asks a very forward thinking question about hackathons.
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I just wanted to ask is there any kind of preparation you do before going to
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a hackathon?
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Excellent question, Pranjal.
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Now first though, if you haven't heard of a hackathon yet,
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it's a get together of coders who build a project.
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And the goal of the hackathon, or codefest, is to produce usable software.
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Its name comes from the portmanteau of hack and marathon.
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Hackathons usually have a specific focus, often surrounding a specific
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programming language or framework or, sometimes, they're all about a topic.
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A pretty rad one that happens here in Portland is called Science Hack Day,
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where scientists work together with programmers to build cool projects
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that they pitch over a long weekend.
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Oftentimes, at these hackathons,
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there is a prize involved, which helps add to the fun and the competitive nature.
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Michael Hulet offers some advice about how to prepare.
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He says make sure you have the software installed, because very often WiFi
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is pretty bad, and you don't wanna waste time trying to download things.
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Michael also says to approach things with an open mind and
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a friendly attitude, which helps to answer the second part of Pranjal's question
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about finding team members.
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Now most of these hackathons work with a pitch presented by people with some ideas
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and you choose your team that way.
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Michael also talks about his go-bag for when he attends Hackfest,
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which has the obvious laptop, phone, and their chargers.
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But also suggests some things that you might not have thought of like a change of
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clothes and a toothbrush.
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He also recommends headphones and a pillow.
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Nice thinking, Michael.
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Pranjal also asked if this is welcome to newbs, or newbies,
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people who are new to programming.
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Well, absolutely.
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In fact, there are some that are even made for that.
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Michael talks about several times he won a hackathon with people on his team
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who had never written a single line of code.
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Now if you're curious about why you might want to attend one of these.
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I asked our resident hackathon expert, James Churchill, about the benefits.
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He said, collaboration.
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You get to collaborate with other devs at different experience levels
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you might not normally get to work with.
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It provides a goal.
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If not having an idea about what to code is your problem,
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hackathons could be the solution.
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If you struggle like I do,
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sometimes you have projects that you would never release without a deadline.
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Does that sound like fun?
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Well, check one out.
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We've included some links in the notes attached to this video.
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Do you have hackathon tips?
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Join the discussion.
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Our next question from the community is a pretty important one.
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What do you all like to jam on during your coding?
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That might seem like a bit of a silly question, but
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it's actually a pretty important one.
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Now oftentimes you need to block out external noise,
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especially if you're working in an open office space, or worse yet, a coffee shop.
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Some people actually get so
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used to the background of a coffee shop that they want to simulate it.
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Now there's an app for that.
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If you wanna simulate being in a coffee shop, I highly recommend Coffitivity.
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Steven Parker recommends prog rock, which makes sense.
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It's so mathy.
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Tianni Myers suggests instrumentals only for blogging and coding.
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He also suggests the band Tycho.
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I love that band too, Tianni.
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We asked our staff what they like to listen to.
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Now Ben Deitch, who've you seen around the Android and data halls of Treehouse,
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digs him some Herbie Hancock, in particular the album Chameleon.
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James Churchill, our .NET and JavaScript musician, admits to being a sucker for
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the good old soundtrack.
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He likes the Lord of the Rings one for coding.
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He also recommends picking up a band and
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listening to their entire catalog chronologically.
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Nick Pettit like his peace and quite and usually codes in silence.
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Nick Hampton, who helps out with our JavaScript Techdegree students,
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listens to podcasts when reviewing projects.
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But when he's coding, he hits up Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Madonna, and Hole.
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Sounds like an amazing concert to attend.
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That'd give him something to talk about.
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Pasan says he spends 60% of his time trying to find the perfect track and
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then never finds it.
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Then he says he rushes to finish stuff minutes before deadline.
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Now Rob, who heads up our support team, suggests Nobuo Uematsu,
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who is a video game composer, or some early Muse Records.
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Now, personally, for me, it depends.
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If I'm writing documentation, I do like to listen to bands that are singing in
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a different language than my native tongue.
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I love the band The Very Best out of Malawi for this.
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If I have a deadline, without a doubt, I crank up some punk rock and
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try to keep pace with Minor Threat or some early Fugazi.
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What do you listen to?
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Jump on the forum post and let everybody know.
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[SOUND] Thanks for watching The Treehouse Show.
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To get in touch with the show, reach out to me on Twitter or
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email the show at show@teamtreehouse.com.
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See you in the community.
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