Google App Engine Chicago Hackathon

Google threw a hackathon last week for their app engine product at their Chicago offices. Myself, Steve, Dan Parker and Jon Hoyt attended.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but knew we would have fun (pictures here). The event was very lax. Every couple hours Google would talk a bit about App Engine but other than that it was really just a hackathon. They encouraged us to build an application while we were there and walked around patiently answering questions.

We had a great time, despite not knowing a lot of python. Thus far, I’m not a huge fan of python but Google App Engine is pretty sweet. When the limits are removed and they start to support more languages, this thing is going to rock! That said, I’ll keep hacking with python, just so I can use it.

Oh, and obviously one of the high points was the schwag. I love schwag! I left with a full stomach, my thirsts quenched, an American Apparel App Engine T-shirt, a few funny stickers and magnets for the fridge. Speaking of full stomach, the food was awesome. Several different kinds of sandwiches, desserts, salads and drinks.