Facebook Developers

There are so many great ideas floating around Facebook, but there is never enough time to implement them all. In order to attempt to solve this problem, we engineers throw a Hackathon at Facebook every few months. Hackathon is an all-night-long hack session that gives every Facebook engineer a chance to work on that awesome feature they've been meaning to build for so long. Many of the cool features that you see on the site today were either built during or were started during a Facebook Hackathon. Don't let the intense name fool you, though, apart from hardcore programming, there is plenty of room for fun during our Hackathons. Hackathons regularly feature music played by our DJ engineers, hanging out over late-night Chinese food, Ripstik races around the office, and Rock Band jam sessions. And there is always plenty of Red Bull!

Like last year's f8, this year's f8 will also feature an 8-hour Hackathon for all f8 attendees. During this year's Hackathon, you will have the chance focus on hacking the new platform interfaces like the Profile Publisher, App Tabs, and Feed Stories. If you have any questions or need assistance, we'll have dozens of our very own Facebook engineers at your disposal to help you. Because we want you to follow a more normal sleep schedule than we Facebook engineers swear by, the Hackathon won't last all night long, and instead will be held from 3pm till 11pm.

We're also going to be giving away some sweet prizes (including an XBox 360 and a PS3) for the best ideas, collaborations, and prototypes that emerge from this year's Hackathon. Additionally, due to overwhelming response, we’ll be holding two workshop sessions that will take place during the hackathon: “App building 101” and “Taking your application global.” Check out the f8 page for more info. If you need a break from hacking during the event, we'll have an abundance of food, music, and Guitar Hero for all of you. And of course, there will be plenty of Red Bull to go around.