hackathon

noun

1. (informal)An event where programmers and others meet for collaborative software development, usually over several days.

   “If these are opinions I'm sure that it happens to have something to do with the immense amounts of caffeine and sugar that I've ingested over the course of his 50hr hackathon.”

   “I bet you most programmers started out "hacking." You think you're alone in that, but I'm sure you can find hundreds of people in this newsgroup with "48-hour hack-a-thon" or similar kinds of stories. They may have been working with punched cards or with all-text displays, but hacking is hacking. That's why some of the dreaded professional programmers will see your fixation with obscure tricks as nothing more than a phase they've been through themselves.”

   “UNITED ARTISTS, THE ONION, AND THE VIRTUAL GAMING CENTER PERSENT: THE 24 HOUR HACKATHON! n promotion of the new moive "HACKERS" (the fast-paced cyberpunk thriller opens in theaters September 15th), we are giving away a some great prizes! Be the first person to "hack" into our special web site on the internet and win a BRAND NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM! Fifty runners-up will receive special HACKERS gift packs.”

   “Startup Bus is arguably the looniest of the many hackathons that take place every weekend across the country. A hackathon is a marathon computer-programming competition that, among computer programmers, is slightly less popular than video games, Ultimate Frisbee, or Game of Thrones. It lasts 24 hours to five days, and usually there is a lot of Red Bull and very little sleep.”