Bangalore: The Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore had recently witnessed an astounding event where thousands of developers enrolled their names into the Guinness Book Of World Records with their skills and determination, on a platform provided by Microsoft- The Windows App Fest.
2567 programmers from all over India joined their hands under a single roof for one purpose: “Eat, Drink, Code,” for 18 hours.
The event was not all C++, API and HTML 5. It was rather a fun fest, at least for the spectators, who doubted how the programmers are going to code in a room, which rather resembled a pub, filled with DJ music, Gaming consoles, colorful bean bags, ultra modern gadgets and of course, unlimited food of any cuisine, any time- you name it, they have it.
Even Microsoft had themed the fun factor into the fest- with garbage bins carrying pictures of ‘Shift’ plus ‘Del’ keys!
Microsoft engineers strolled the place, boosting the spirit of developers and helping them with whatever needed, clearing their doubts and solving the bottlenecks for creating some wonderful applications, which according to Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation India, was “ecologically and economically aware apps.”
The entire event was under the surveillance of Paul O'Neill, Vice President for Guinness Book Of World Records, who randomly interacted with programmers to ensure that their profiles match the criteria for a Guinness world record.
According to Harish Vaidyanathan, Director - Evangelism at Microsoft India, the App fest is meant to provide a good platform for the budding developer community of India. “Microsoft is giving them opportunity to generate maximum revenue for their app, allowing them to keep 80 percent of the money generated from the app, after it passes a threshold point. Upto that level, the share will be 75 percent.”
Talking further, Harish said, “All that an app developer need is an idea, and it could be the next Angry Birds.” Indeed, the developers were filled with overwhelming ideas, as after 18 long hours of excitement, O’Neill declared, “Congratulations to all of the developers at the Windows AppFest for setting an official Guinness World Record for the Most Participants in a Software Development Marathon in One Location. The spectacle of thousands of developers toiling through the night has demonstrated great commitment to their work.”
At the end of long 18 hours, it was rather enthusiasm than tiredness, which reflected in faces of programmers as they headed back, exploiting an opportunity that made them a Guinness World Record holder. And the guys at Redmond can also relax, as they are successful in winning the hearts of at least a portion of young Indian developers, and also some beautiful apps, which will enrich their app store on October 28, the Windows 8 release date.
