As I write, General Admission for DConf 2018 in Munich has been open for one week. The conference runs from May 2–5, with three days of talks capped off by a day-long Hackathon. We’ve heard there are some in the area who would like to attend, but just can’t get away from work for three days for the full conference. So we’ve decided to do something about it.

This year,  the Hackathon is open, free of charge, to anyone interested in hanging out with us on Saturday, May 5th, the final day of the conference. You’ll have to bring your own lunch, but you’ll get access to the full day. This time around, it’s more than just hacking on and talking about D code.

We’ve added one more new item to the list this year: the Hackathon will be kicked off with a talk by Shachar Shemesh from WekaIO. His talk, Announcing Mecca, introduces the company’s open source D project to the world, a perfect way to get us started on an event intended to motivate hacking on open source D projects.

Last year, our inaugural Hackathon was a great success. It’s not a hackathon in the traditional sense, but an opportunity for D programmers to come together and spend the day working on the projects that they think matter, improve the D ecosystem, or learn more about D programming.

Any attendee with an open source D project is welcome to seek out collaborators to help them get work done on site, or to hunker down and help others hack features and bug fixes into their own projects, or any project in the D ecosystem. Some may simply want to sit and code by themselves, getting instant feedback from others on site when it’s needed, and that’s fine, too. Last year’s event proved to be quite a productive day, particularly for the core D projects.

Those not in the mood for coding, or who aren’t yet up to speed on D programming, are covered, too. Last year, groups gathered to hold brainstorming sessions on ideas for new projects, or for solving complex issues in the core. Others, D’s BDFL Walter Bright among them, took some time during the day to tutor less experienced D programmers, on specific language features and other programming topics, in informal sessions that came about because a few people sitting near each other started asking questions.

In short, the DConf Hackathon is a day of getting things done in a friendly and collaborative environment full of people with shared interests. It’s a loosely organized event, the direction of which is determined by those participating. We’ll throw some ideas out there for you to work on if you need the cues, but you’re free to go your own way.

Last year’s Hackathon fell on a Sunday, and some of the conference attendees had to skip it or leave early in order to get back home for work on Monday. This year, it’s on a Saturday, so we hope that if you weren’t able to stick around last year you can do so this time around.

If you’ve never been to a DConf or don’t know much about the D language, the Hackathon Pass is a great remedy for both ailments. So if you’re in or near Munich Saturday, May 5th, we invite you come on by and hear about a great new open source project, spend a day with a friendly crowd of interesting people, and learn a little about the D programming language in the process.