Code warriors are going to love this: ahead of the launch of the latest iteration of the Windows OS, Microsoft hosted the world’s largest coding marathon in Bangalore, India.
Beginning September 21 at 2pm on a sunny Friday, thousands of talented programmers and designers (including enthusiasts, students and professionals) settled into an 18-hour session, building apps to show off their skills and harness the power of Windows 8. The event set a Guinness World Record for the planet’s largest ever app development marathon.
A total of 2,567 developers participated in the marathon and were watchfully monitored by Guinness World Records officials over the span of the event. Armed with their own laptops running Windows 8 RTM and Visual Studio Express 2012, and grouped into teams of up to four members each, the throng of developers worked through nearly an entire day turning their ideas into downloads. App ideas were accepted in 20 categories, including Business, Education, Finance, Games, Music & Video, Productivity, Social and Sports.
The coding marathon wasn’t a race to the finish line, though — developers were encouraged to begin working on their apps before the actual event, and did not need to finish coding at the end of the allotted time to be counted as part of the record. Those who did however, had a chance to submit their apps for review to Microsoft’s App Excellence Labs on-site, in order to receive feedback and/or acceptance of their app into the Windows Store (where apps for Windows 8 will be made available).
Participants were also allowed to seek help from available mentors, IT assistants, recognized app developers and Microsoft engineers at the venue. Food and beverages were also provided to sustain the army of coders through the long session.
Discussing the event at hand, Pramanik continued, “The Windows AppFest will encourage budding developers, technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to innovate on next-generation Windows technology, crucial for the development of the local software ecosystem and the long-term economic growth of India’s IT industry.”
Pramanik then invited on stage Jon DeVaan, Corporate Vice President, Windows Development, who spoke about the importance of developers to Microsoft’s success and expressed his excitement about the marathon. “India is home to some of the world’s most talented developers. We are focused on enabling developers to succeed as they build the next generation of apps. I can’t wait to see some of these apps being built at the Windows AppFest.”
