#lockdownathons

Some hackers didn't even realise there was an official #lockdown going on and if it weren't for the buzz of family and co-worker conversation around me, I probably would have been in that group too. I jest but the memes could be mistaken for an advertisement for the perfect workspace: work from home, do not go into the office and only connect via teleconferencing. Pinch me! But jesting aside, there is one great opportunity this lockdown has opened up: hackathons!

Without the usual distractions of the admin of life that suck a lot of time, there are gaps for upskilling. Yes, that time could be spent working more but that leads to burn out and we already know how that story ends. As it is, remote work is not the same as quarantine work. But that's a story for a different article. So when it comes to playing, what does a programmer like to do? Code. Which is different to work code sometimes.

#lockdownathon rules are simple: you have less than 12 hours to come up with an idea and then design, execute, and publish that idea into a working piece of software. Bonus points for every technology and frameworks you haven't used in production before. One key point to remember in a #lockdownathon is to stick to the same disciplines you use in production code.

If you need tests then write them. Design detail? Absolutely. Source control? Always. Code review? Without a doubt. QA testing? Obviously.

Now you might not get through each discipline thoroughly within the limited time period but the point of the #hackathon is learning to write good code under pressure in a safe environment. And this is a crucial element of a journeyman's adventure into programming. Most skill-based activities have tournaments where competitors pit themselves against each other in order to sharpen iron and foster innovation and capacity. Pressure has a way of showing up the holes in your game so what better way to learn about yourself and the holes in your game by putting yourself safely under pressure?

A take-home point here: If you look after developers you'll do well to consider a program where #hackathons are part of the process and if you're a manager of one, you'd do well to make sure you structure that in for yourself frequently enough. If there's one practice I actively encourage all existing and up and coming programmers, it is this: code, code, code, and then code some more. And get used to throwing a lot of it away, not too dissimilar from the writing and creative processes.

My latest #hackathon allowed me to take advantage of writing an app using .NET Core 3.1 with some node.js and TailwindCss, pushing it all to production onto a nix box hosted in Azure complete with social logins (Google and O365). Every time I get to focus on a full-stack from design to code to devops I'm amazed at how seamless and mature the ecosystem is and how far it has come. So do yourself a favour. If you haven't done a #hackathon this lockdown yet, get onto one quickly... maybe even this upcoming long weekend?

Go forth and code.