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Why are Hackathons an all-night event?

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Why are Hackathons an all-night event?

#1
Why not over 2 days (a weekend) so people can get some rest in between? Am I just being soft here because I don't like the idea of staying up all night anymore? The culture of all-nighters and ridiculous caffeine/sugar consumption is overrated. And absolutely terrible for your health.

This is coming from someone with a day job who's interested in Hackathon-like events but generally unwilling due to the logistics.

Disclaimer: I am a college student who's been through the exact typical "hacking" conditions.. Staying up 72 hours before a big deadline to put together a project was the norm. I suppose the biggest argument in favor of this are the unique social experiences you get under this kind of duress.

What are your opinions on this?

Re: Why are Hackathons an all-night event?

#3
If there was a period of rest in between two sessions then some teams would keep working and get an unfair advantage. It would effectively turn into a 2-day hackathon rather than a 1-day hackathon.

And isn't an extremely big effort kind of the meaning of "-athon"?