Hackathons are great for the CS undergrad who just learned how to make an iOS app. It&#x27;s a good way to push yourself to solidify a skillset, especially while in school. Students don&#x27;t necessarily have time to be doing side projects (although they should make time). Getting a bunch of work done in one big spurt can be very beneficial.<p>That being said, I personally don&#x27;t enjoy them. Free food is great, but I would much rather be working on one of my long-term projects. Also, I think hackathons are targeted a little bit too much towards newbies, rather than experienced devs.