Hackathon is a portmanteau of the words hack and marathon.
Despite the word hack, a hackathon doesnt necessarily have anything to do with cyber security.
Participants can work in groups or alone.
At the end of the hackathon, each group presents their work.
Hackathons for open-source projects tend to revolve around solving large or many long-standing issues.
Participants may also split off to resolve many smaller but long-standing issues.
Alternatively, they might work on adding entirely new functionality.
One of the difficulties of open-source content is that the maintainers dont necessarily get paid.
Internal corporate hackathons
Some companies run internal hackathons.
These are typically optional but are generally viewed positively as a fun team-building exercise.
If the hackathon is open to the whole company, however, there may be no specific theme.
Participants can be free to choose their own projects.
Generally, there has to be some connection to work but it doesnt mercenarily have to be product features.
Of course, projects may also end up being customer facing being turned into products.
Some companies may work with appropriate project creators to patent their creations.
Good ideas that catch the eye of the judges are often fully marketable products.
The developers of the project may win a reward for their efforts.
Additionally, the whole event serves as a fairly effective talent scouting system.
Conclusion
A hackathon is a time-limited event where people come together to work on projects.
Projects can be individual, group, or be worked on by everyone.
The concept is generally to develop concepts that may otherwise not receive time and effort.
Team building, out-of-the-box creativity, and talent scouting are all extra potential benefits of hackathons.
Hackathons dont necessarily have anything to do with computer security hacking.
Instead, the word hack refers to creative and exploratory programming.
