4 ms·
When I was in college (over 20 years ago now), what we called “hackathons” was a bunch of us (4-6 max) holing up in an apartment for the weekend, and working on
by gyomu 1y ago
When I was in college (over 20 years ago now), what we called “hackathons” was a bunch of us (4-6 max) holing up in an apartment for the weekend, and working on our personal projects while ordering pizza and sleeping on
couches.
It was really nice having a group of people you could demo what you were working on/ask for help or feedback within immediate range at all times. There was also something really peaceful about coding at 5a on Sunday while everyone else was fast asleep.
When I moved to SF, I was so surprised to find out that there were “professional” hackathons. I went to a couple and came to the same conclusion as you.
I do miss the vibe of the OG hackathons I did with my friends, but I was 19 and we had no commitments back then. Nowadays the best way for me to be productive is to have regular meal, disciplined working hours, and good nights of sleep - so no more sleeping on couches with half empty boxes of pizza by my side.
- idiotsecant 1y agoI think those times are past us now. It's interesting how you usually only see what made some place and time special once it's no longer possible. Live in the now is the lesson, I guess!
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bendbro 1y ago> There was also something really peaceful about coding at 5a on Sunday while everyone else was fast asleep Great times
- dabockster 1y agoI still do this occasionally, but I instead go to bed super early and wake up at 4:30-5 AM. You get the serenity of coding at the break of dawn but with none of the grogginess of the all nighter.
- sublinear 1y agoI... I'm about to hit 40 in a couple of years, and I still pull all nighters on the couch when I'm deep into my weekend hobby projects. Not to be overly sentimental, but for me the 5am feeling is still the same if not better with family and pets around and the sunrise view I created for myself.
- colechristensen 1y agoI find that I still can do the all nighters but much like the festive overconsumption of alcohol, the recovery time tripled and made the whole thing very much not worth it (except maybe on very rare occasions). Sure I can stay up all night but it really just ruins the entire next week.
- applied_heat 1y agoI swore them off after my last one. Mid 40s. All nighters used to be a source of joy though to get what felt like days worth of work done in a single sitting enabled by the absence of distractions
- Fuhrmanator 1y agoIt's anecdotal, but several nasty bugs involved code committed (according to git blame) between 11pm and 6am. Sometimes I hardly recognized the code as mine.
- tough 1y agoWrite drunk, edit sober Twain or something
- sdrinf 1y agoEarly-40s here who still does all-nighters. How long is recovery time for you? What does it entails -ie what doesn't work as much as it should / takes longer while you recover?