Digital Women, a student organization that promotes and supports women in technical fields, will be holding their second annual free Code Camp hackathon event on April 6 at 5 p.m.

A hackthon is typically a competition in which computer programmers work alone or in teams on software projects. Code Camp, the first female-focused hackathon in the Midwest is a 24-hour event created by Digital Women with a bigger focus on collaboration than competition.

“We’re different than traditional hackathons because we are focused on learning,” said Ashley Dvorsky, undergraduate adviser for Digital Women.

Students will be put into teams, and the first day will be focused on learning. Classes for beginners as well as advanced coders will offered, and students can go home for the night but are are encouraged to stay for the duration of the event.

On April 7, the second day of the retreat, morning yoga will be offered at 7 a.m., followed by sponsoring companies that will come in for informational talks.

“We want to build a support system and confidence,” Dvorsky said. “We also hand out a lot of fun prizes and swag items. All participants will get free t-shirts and water bottles as well.”

“We want people to know this is an accessible event for everyone, and we want a large turnout,” Sydney Ehlinger, president of Digital Women, said. “We’d love to see people to just try it out.”

Other activities such as face masks, milkshakes at midnight and more will be provided, according to Ehlinger.

The closing ceremonies will be at 6 p.m. on April 7. The event is open to all students regardless of major or gender, and no prior programming experience is needed. “All that’s needed is an excitement to learn about programming,” Ehlinger said.

Sarah Mace, treasurer of Digital Women, stated her experience at Code Camp encouraged her to join the executive board for Digital Women.

“We’ve had many people join Digital Women or switch their major after Code Camp,” Mace said.

Those who are interested can register at the event or online, which is strongly encouraged, at bit.ly/dwcodecamp2018. The entire event is free, and food will be provided. Code Camp will be held in Coover 1313.