• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 9, 2014

Microsoft and Facebook sent out an open invitation to industry experts interested in attending a joint hackathon next week. The two companies are partnering on behalf of app and software developers to build out Windows products and services that support Facebook.

The overnight hackathon, held on the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, will focus on building a Facebook app that runs on Windows and Windows phones. Microsoft and Facebook engineers will be on hand to answer any questions and assist developers in the one-on-one process, Steve Guggenheimer, corporate VP of developer platform and evangelism and chief evangelist for Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.

Guggenheimer explains that through the Facebook Login application programming interface (API) for Windows and Windows Phone, developers can create unique experiences through seamless integration between Facebook and services like Bing. He suggests that sharing code means developers spend less time coding and more time making apps interesting and easy to use. "The common core across the Windows platform helps developers scale their resources quickly build Facebook-connected apps across multiple devices though reusable codes, libraries, and other helpful open-sourced tools," he wrote.

Hackathons similar to the one being held with Microsoft show how engineers can build on work already in process or develop new ideas. At one time, Facebook held Hackathons that went for days, but recently scaled them back. Many apps and ideas now in use at Facebook came from hackathons, such as video-sharing applications, and the ability to share photo albums.

Microsoft and Facebook have partnered since 2007 to evolve technology integration. The latest developer toolkit is one example of the way that Microsoft and Facebook continue to help developers become successful on the platforms.