I feel iffy about the film comparison. Because I have studied film formally in a limited context, I can say that there's a lot of planning, communication and collaboration that goes into creating a film, from storyboarding to script writing and doctoring to photography and lighting. And, for someone familiar with the technical details of composing scenes, it is possible to get an understanding of why directors make certain decisions in keeping with a particular style.

I liken programming to that process. There's a fair amount of intention and consideration that goes into composition. With activities, such as pair programming, I argue that is possible to see inside a creator's head.

The benefit of participating in a hackathon is fluidity. There are monolithic projects for which the hackathon was not designed to address. But, at the end of the day, you're a better problem solver by working under the constraints of that kind of environment.