The Practice Floor

Welcome to The Practice Floor. Here we practice computer programming using Code Katas. A Code Kata is a small practice programming problem. They may be solved multiple times using the same or different technologies and approaches.

The Practice Floor is where you store all your practice sessions, ready to be the seeds of your next practice session or the base for a real project.

Structure and Usage

The main Git repository of the Practice Floor will not contain solutions, aside from a few samples. Each person or group should create their own version.

Each practice session should be short and goal directed. Take a small step forward. Since these are so small, you can repeat the same goal over and over, honing your craft and making better code. Put every attempt in a separate directory.

The directories are divided first into "goal". This is the code kata or general concept you're creating. The simplest is hello-world. Others could include poker, chat, or pet-shop

Under that directory, a new directory is created for every attempt to complete a kata or work towards a goal. Directories are named with the goal and technology or approach used. A numeric counter goes next, so you can easily work on the same goal/kata with the same approach/technology. Examples include hello-world-java-cli-1, poker-react-4, or chat-scala-akka-35

Setting Up Your Own

The Practice Floor is a directory structure and philosophy. To get the directory structure, checkout your Practice Floor repo and add the main Practice Floor Git repository:

git init
git remote add origin <your-git-URL>
git remote add template git@bitbucket.org:ziroby/practice-floor-template.git
git pull template master

If you want updated copies of the README's in the master template:

git pull template master

Doing a Kata

1. Set a timer for twenty-five minutes. (Use the Pomodoro Technique)

2. Pick a goal and technology. Goals are small steps on Katas, such as "Implement Poker Hello in Rust", or "combine micronaut-hello-2 and fizzbuzz-java-5 to make a micronaut Fizzbuzz"

3. If it's a new goal, make a directory and add a README.md to present the problem. (The README can be pushed back to the master template Practice Floor repository with a pull request). Also copy Progress-sample.md to the directory, nanming it PROGRESS.md

4. Create a subdirectory under the goal directory. The file name format is goal-technology-iteration, like hello-world-spring-boot-1

5. Add a line to PROGRESS.md to specify the directory name and the goal you've set.

6. You may copy code from any other directory in the practice floor.

7. Try to get your goal complete in the time you have. Don't stress too much if you don't. This is practice, after all, and everything is a learning experience.

8. If you finish or get stuck, start over another attempt, or end this attempt early. Do not add time to the timer.

9. When you're done, add to PROGRESS.md how far you got and any lessons learned.

10. Commit and push to your personal Practice Floor.

Disclaimer

All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not represent my employer, or any other party, in any way.