Here at Nimble Software Professionals one of the activities that we have started doing is coding katas. We do these to help hone our skills as software developers. We do them because we value continual improvement among our team. The importance of an ever-growing, ever-improving team is very important, and through constant training and reemphasis of these techniques we expect to be able to achieve this important endeavor.
As developers we are presented with problems we must work through on a regular basis. Solving these problems is easier if we know all of the theory and mechanics to help us along the way. Knowing design patterns helps, since these are patterns which occur often enough that there is a repeatable solution. You can also just be a programming genius, and that will also help.
So how useful is it to know a bunch of design patterns? Not very if you haven’t had experience using them. You will not see the opportunity to use it if you haven’t seen it used or used it. Through training and practice you will learn what works when and why.
A kata is about solving a known problem. The standard way to do a kata is to follow along with someone who knows how to solve the problem. Following along with someone will let you see how to solve the problem the correct way. This is designed to help you think and solve problems the same way as that known smart person solves problems.
That is a great approach, but I prefer doing that after trying to solve the problem my own way. This lets me get my own perspective on solving the problem first. I can then compare my thought process with the one of the kata leader. Perhaps I prefer something I did over something they did.
The kata should be repeated again later. This time you’ve done it before, so your new solution should be better. Once you finish once again compare with how the leader did it. Make improvements like this every time until you have either the same thing as the leader or until you’re satisfied with your solution. Once you reach that state you will still do the same kata, but attempt to repeat the same solution, so that the process for solving the problem is well understood. You want to know how to solve problems. You do not want to think about how to solve problems.
One of my favorite katas is the Bowling Game Kata. One of the reasons I like it is because my first time solving the problem I created a solution nothing like the one that the kata teaches. From the kata I have improved how I do things. In my first solution for it I violated YAGNI.
My solution worked very well, and if there would have been more development of the problem my solution might have ended up being “better”. But it is true that I do not know what might come for the project in the future my solution was not as good, and since then I have been training myself to not make the same mistake again. By following along with the kata I’ve learned to improve the development process I use.
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