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What can you learn at a hackathon?
Major League Hacking (MLH) describes researching unfamiliar technologies and tackling project problems as ways participants can extend skills they have developed in class. In practice, that might mean learning enough about a new framework to make a feature work, discovering that an initial idea is too ambitious, or finding a better way to divide tasks with teammates. The value is in what you try and reflect on; attendance alone does not guarantee a particular learning outcome. MLH’s organizer guide frames hackathons as opportunities to build and learn.
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MLH’s standard rules also describe a healthy competition as one where participants improve, help beginners, collaborate and have fun—not simply beat other teams. That makes a hackathon useful for newcomers as well as experienced developers, provided the event’s format and rules suit them. Read the event’s code of conduct for its expectations of participants.
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For competitions that use MLH’s standard judging criteria, judges consider four dimensions: technology, design, completion and learning. MLH says those criteria are weighted equally for covered competitions, while judges retain discretion. A team may therefore have something to discuss beyond whether every planned feature works: how technically ambitious the project was, how usable it feels, what state it reached, and what the team stretched itself to learn. Learning can matter, but it does not guarantee a prize.
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MLH’s rules put it plainly: “Completion is only one part of the judging criteria, so you might still do well.” The learning criterion asks, “Did the team stretch themselves? Did they try to learn something new?” These are MLH’s standard rules, not a universal hackathon rubric. Organizers may set different criteria, so read the specific event’s judging rules before deciding what to build or how to present it. See MLH’s Standard Hackathon Rules.
Check the rules before you commit to a project
Event rules shape what you can build, who can participate and what judges can evaluate. Before attending, look for the current event-specific details on:
- Eligibility: Who may participate, including any age, student-status or location requirements.
- Team size: Whether you must work alone or can form a team, and any minimum or maximum size.
- Submission: What you need to turn in, where to submit it, and the deadline. Some events require a project link or demo; use a service such as Devpost only if the event supports it.
- Prior work and reuse: Whether existing ideas, code or other materials are permitted, and what limits apply to work completed before the event.
- Judging: The actual rubric, presentation format and any category-specific requirements.
MLH’s organizer guidance treats these as event-design decisions, and its standard rules are not a substitute for the rules of a particular event. Templates and policies may change, so rely on the current instructions published for the hackathon you plan to join. Consult the MLH Organizer Guide for examples of the decisions organizers make.
Make the weekend useful whether or not you place
Choose a project with a small, demonstrable core and room to explore. A working demo can help judges and other attendees understand your idea, even though completion is not the only possible criterion. Agree on a realistic goal with your team, then leave space to investigate one unfamiliar tool or approach. If a technical obstacle forces you to change direction, explain what you tried and what you learned rather than presenting unfinished work as complete.
After the event, take a few minutes to write down four things: what you tried, what you learned, what you would change, and what you want to learn next. This simple reflection can turn a rushed project into a clearer next step—whether that is improving the demo, revisiting a tool, or practicing collaboration on another project.
What MLH’s numbers do—and do not—show
MLH’s official-events page, accessed in 2026, says the organization supports more than 300 weekend-long invention competitions each year and teaches computer science skills to more than 65,000 students annually. Those are MLH’s own organizational figures; they describe its programs, not all hackathons, and they do not measure how much any one participant learns. See MLH’s official-events page.
MLH’s rules and organizer materials explain the learning opportunities the organization aims to create. They do not establish that every attendee gains a particular skill or that hackathons produce a measured learning benefit for all participants. Your experience will depend on the event, your team, your project and what you do with the experience afterward.
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