The Notre Dame ACM Computer Science Club will be hosting a hackathon over the course of the weekend following November 11. The hackathon will be centered around using Google App Engine and Python (or any other language that supports it). Here's some basic information on what a hackathon is:

• Small teams of people work on a project over a given time span - in our case it's a weekend
• The requirements and restrictions for the project aren't released until it is time to start
• After the project finishes the teams are judges and the winner is annouced

It's a lot of coding in a short amount of time, but it can also be really rewarding as you'll have a finished project you completed in a group that will look good on a resume. Additionally, you can expect prizes and help provided by our club.

In addition to the core hackathon event we will be hosting a tutorial on the basic concepts of both Google App Engine and Python before the event begins. That way, if you've never used either of these that shouldn't be a deterent from joining the competition, as we're willing to help you get started.

If you've never written any code before and the thought of entering this contest seems like too much to you, stop having those thoughts. They're wrong and here's why:

• Python is easy and intuitive so you should catch on fairly quickly
• You're working in groups so just find people who know what they're doing and act as the idea man
• There will be plenty of coding support if you want it