A hackathon is room with hacking people
On a hackathon, many developers come together to create software in a large space. The word also comes from hack and marathon. Important to know is that hacking in the case is not malicious. Often there is a price at a hackathon, and it is the idea that you make a working app in 1 or 2 days (there are also hackathons that last longer, but people usually go home again in the evening). A hackathon is sometimes called a hack day, hackfest or a keyfest. It's not just programmers who participate, they often also bring people who have more knowledge of the user-interface, or who can make images (an app should look nice too). Sometimes a hackathon has a theme, such as a platform like IOS or Android, or a service like LinkedIn or GoogleMaps. When it comes to a service, it is often written by the company itself and they also deliver the prize money.
What is a hackathon? [YouTube] 9ni04dgzG3Q [/youtube]