Programmers honing their craft together.
My learnings at Code Retreat Philadelphia
11 people attended the first Code Retreat in Philadelphia. We started a little before 10 AM. We thanked the sponsors, reviewed the game of life and surveyed the group about their Java and Test First knowledge in order to better match everyone for the first pairing session.
We ran 3 iterations of 40 minutes before lunch.
After each iteration, we regrouped for 5 to 10 minutes to talk about what people found interesting about their last session.
Some people experimented with programming facing each other. Another group paired with 1 rocking chair facing 2 persons projecting code on a wall. We had all types of designs: cells objects, no objects, 1D arrays, 2D arrays, collections, and the beginnings of evolution rules.
We took a 45 minutes lunch break. Thanks weblinc for the food! (I noticed someone taking a power nap in the sofa area 5 minutes before starting the afternoon sessions. ;-)
Before starting in the afternoon, we regrouped and decided that we would be iterating faster: 25 minutes.
We also added a few things to try:
We finished the retreat with a 55 minute session where J.B. (with some of our help) attempted to complete a world evolution. The code is here if you want to look at it.
Improving for next retreat
Bring extra keyboards for pairing. Have big monitors so people can plug their laptops in.
Food is important, bring fruits.
Something else to experiment with
After each iteration, record each pair talking about their experience. Put them together in a short video where we can see the evolution of the day.
My personal experience
I tried TDD as if you meant it for the first time and I really like it. I enjoyed throwing the code away and starting from scratch every single time. Sometimes, I was able to influence the design, others, I let my pair drive me where they wanted to go and explore new ways to approach the problem.
It seems that everyone had fun and a good time. That’s what matters.
It was so intense that I was exhausted when we finished.
Let’s plan for another one soon!
We ran 3 iterations of 40 minutes before lunch.
After each iteration, we regrouped for 5 to 10 minutes to talk about what people found interesting about their last session.
Some people experimented with programming facing each other. Another group paired with 1 rocking chair facing 2 persons projecting code on a wall. We had all types of designs: cells objects, no objects, 1D arrays, 2D arrays, collections, and the beginnings of evolution rules.
We took a 45 minutes lunch break. Thanks weblinc for the food! (I noticed someone taking a power nap in the sofa area 5 minutes before starting the afternoon sessions. ;-)
Before starting in the afternoon, we regrouped and decided that we would be iterating faster: 25 minutes.
We also added a few things to try:
We finished the retreat with a 55 minute session where J.B. (with some of our help) attempted to complete a world evolution. The code is here if you want to look at it.
Improving for next retreat
Bring extra keyboards for pairing. Have big monitors so people can plug their laptops in.
Food is important, bring fruits.
Something else to experiment with
After each iteration, record each pair talking about their experience. Put them together in a short video where we can see the evolution of the day.
My personal experience
I tried TDD as if you meant it for the first time and I really like it. I enjoyed throwing the code away and starting from scratch every single time. Sometimes, I was able to influence the design, others, I let my pair drive me where they wanted to go and explore new ways to approach the problem.
It seems that everyone had fun and a good time. That’s what matters.
It was so intense that I was exhausted when we finished.
Let’s plan for another one soon!
Tags: Philadelphia
Add a Comment
© 2009 Created by Patrick Wilson-Welsh on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of CodeRetreat to add comments!
Join this Ning Network