Thursday 27th April will see the return of Code in the Dark, a competition that pits the best front-end developers against each other to show off their skills in front of a live audience of digital enthusiasts. Epiphany, the search marketing agency based in Leeds, first brought the event to the UK in 2016.
The event, which is free to enter as both a contestant and part of the audience, will be running as part of this year’s Leeds Digital Festival, the north’s largest open platform digital festival.
Held in Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen and sponsored by Leeds-based, developer-friendly cloud hosting provider Brightbox, the contest will have a total of 25 web developers compete across five preliminary heats before a nail-biting final. Rather than the typical web developer hackathon, Code in the Dark is conducted in an intense party atmosphere, with electro music, lasers and smoke all there to put the contestants out of their comfort zone and liven up the crowd.
Each round sees contestants given an identical screenshot of a website, and just 15 minutes to recreate it using HTML and CSS. The twist? Only the audience can see the output of their work, leaving each contender ‘in the dark’ as to whether their designs are accurate or not.
Every round has a winner, voted for by the audience, based on accuracy of design. An overall winner will also be chosen by the audience, winning £150 Amazon vouchers, a trophy, and fame on the Code in the Dark website.
Looking ahead to the event, UK’s Code in the Dark event organiser Alex Bennett said: “This isn’t your usual web developer event – we’re making coding a spectator sport. The competition rounds are intense assaults on the senses with music, drinks and a constant stream of stressed developers fighting for a spot in the final, there is this amazing social atmosphere going on.
“This is the UK’s third Code in the Dark, and to be part of Leeds Digital Festival is a huge honour. We can’t wait to see what this year’s contestants bring.”
Epiphany MD Tom Salmon said, “Leeds is a vibrant centre of digital talent and the third installment of Code in the Dark is going to showcase the web development skills that can be found right across the city. Epiphany is one of the city’s largest digital employers and we’re pleased to be bringing Code in the Dark to Leeds again in 2018”.
Stuart Clarke, Festival Director, said “It’s great to be bringing back many of last year’s events, such as Code in the Dark and the Algorave, whilst also welcoming new ones. We’ve been delighted by the number of events coming through, but not surprised as the Leeds Digital Festival belongs to the city: it’s an open platform where anyone or any company can put an event on.
“Code in the Dark was one of my personal favourites from 2016 so I’m really looking forward to attending this year’s.”
