At HPE Discover 2018 Las Vegas this year, HPE held their first ever hackathon for customers in a Hack Shack located in the event showcase. The goal of the hackathon was to promote innovation through open source collaboration.

During the 3-day event, over 280 people experienced the HPE Hack Shack. They entered a large workspace with slated wood walls containing 10 tables, chairs, and computers available for hacking – all complete with a mood lighting disco ball and background music. A backyard recreational area was also provided (just for hanging out) complete with Astroturf grass, swings, video games, a giant Jenga tower, and a Corn Hole game.

Seventy-three enthusiastic would-be hackers sat down for one of five two-hour sessions to test their coding chops. The participants’ skills ranged from absolute beginner to intermediate levels. All participants received a coveted HPE DEV T-shirt. And one talented and creative hacker secured the grand prize of a DJI Mavic Air Drone with accessories. Second place received a DJI Spark drone with accessories. Amazon Echo Dots were also awarded to top finishers.

Top 10 things you should know about the first-ever HPE Discover Hackathon

10) You didn’t need good looks or coding skills to get into the HPE Discover Hack Shack

But you did need a willingness to learn. Because no coding talents were required, even novices participated…and did well!

9) Pretty much everyone thought it was cool

Hackathons are a fun way to learn software development and coding skills—and the first ever HPE Discover hackathon delivered. Participants were able to tap into skills that helped them better understand infrastructure as code, a great skill to have in this market.

8) A common question: “Why I am coding “Hello World?”

Traditionally, “Hello World” is the very first program people write. It’s used to illustrate the basic syntax of programming languages. Hey, we didn’t make the rules…we just follow them…well, at least sometimes.

7) Most common reaction of participants: Shock and awe-some!

The HPE Developer Community (HPE DEV) expected as much. Many people typically think of HPE as an infrastructure company. HPE DEV is starting to change that. An awesome team of experts are working hard to build out a vibrant, collaborative, and contributing software developer community. So stay tuned…

6) Top question asked: Where’s the beer?

As esteemed hosts, the HPE DEV team saved it for the end, knowing all hackathons end well with a beer. Besides, you don’t win friends (or hackathons) over salad.

5) Everyone loved Sir Hackington Appbuilder III

Who doesn’t love an adorable puppy – even if he is a statue? Sir Hackington Appbuilder III will be attending all upcoming hackathons, as he is now the HPE DEV team’s official mascot.

4) The winner’s hack was amazing

Congratulations to Michael Lai who participated in the HPE OneView detect infrastructure failures hack. He created a server profile from a template and applied it to a server hardware. He then created an alert resource to monitor the server profile. A script runs every 10 seconds, which monitors the status and sends a status alert to the user.

3) HPE loves Open Source and sharing!

The winner’s script is in a state that can be easily extended and shared with the open source community to monitor infrastructure resources. It’s also something HPE DEV will add as an example to the SDKs – along with other hacks.

2) Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks

As the first-ever HPE Discover Hackathon, the HPE DEV team wasn’t really sure what attendees would think. The “Hello World” hack was eagerly embraced; beginners really do want to learn something new. And in today’s software-defined data center, the magic of coding is a great new skill to develop, and HPE DEV is here to help you grow your skills.

1) Overall takeaway from HPE Discover Hackathon

Everyone had a great time and will definitely come back for future Discover Hackathons. The HPE DEV team is already brainstorming creative and fun challenges for the next one!

A final word from our sponsor:

The HPE Developer Community connects you with HPE experts, resources and other developers worldwide to help you improve automation, service delivery, and workflow assets using open source software on HPE platforms and solutions. If you are interested in learning more or participating in a future HPE Hackathon, please reach out to HPE DEV on SLACK.