Programmers honing their craft together.
What the heck is CodeRetreat?
@CoreyHaines, @nhajratw and I (@PatrickWelsh) had this brainstorm with a few others at the recent CodeMash 09. We are still working out some goals and guiding principles. Here are few we discussed, and a few I have added since then:
-- We want an event that brings coders together to code, and then discuss only the things that emerge from that code.
-- We want the discussions about code to center on software craft (our guiding book around code craft, especially for Java, will be Uncle Bob Martin's Clean Code).
-- We want all conversations to be peer-to-peer, sometimes in small groups, sometimes as a mob.
-- We want it to be immersive -- a retreat experience divorced from the rest of the world, similar to Yoga retreats, Meditation retreats, Dungeons and Dragons retreats. :)
-- CodeRetreat will be a PowerPoint-free, Keynote-free zone.
-- Here are things that we would purposefully exclude: presentations of any kind, vendor pitches of any kind (though sponsorship is great, and sponsor-only materials are OK, within reason), arrogance, intolerance.
-- We want it to be a fun, engaging, perhaps somewhat competitive event.
-- We want to limit the event size, at first, to a single day, and no more than around 30 programmers.
-- We want to insist that all programming occurs in pairs, or groups larger than a pair.
-- We want to supply some Kata, some engaging problem domains, for everyone to work on.
-- We want a ratio of about 80% coding, and about 20% discussion that arises directly from the code.
-- We want to expressly solicit your feedback and input on how to make this event fun, compelling, and high-bandwidth for learning.
Our first event will be on Saturday, January 24, 2009. It will probably be at the Ann Arbor Spark facility: http://www.annarborspark.org/?gclid=CI6Jh5ajiZgCFQG7Ggode16L7A
Invitations to this invitation-only first event will be going out shortly. Meanwhile, if you are reading this, you might very well be invited, so please stay tuned for emails about further details.
-- We want an event that brings coders together to code, and then discuss only the things that emerge from that code.
-- We want the discussions about code to center on software craft (our guiding book around code craft, especially for Java, will be Uncle Bob Martin's Clean Code).
-- We want all conversations to be peer-to-peer, sometimes in small groups, sometimes as a mob.
-- We want it to be immersive -- a retreat experience divorced from the rest of the world, similar to Yoga retreats, Meditation retreats, Dungeons and Dragons retreats. :)
-- CodeRetreat will be a PowerPoint-free, Keynote-free zone.
-- Here are things that we would purposefully exclude: presentations of any kind, vendor pitches of any kind (though sponsorship is great, and sponsor-only materials are OK, within reason), arrogance, intolerance.
-- We want it to be a fun, engaging, perhaps somewhat competitive event.
-- We want to limit the event size, at first, to a single day, and no more than around 30 programmers.
-- We want to insist that all programming occurs in pairs, or groups larger than a pair.
-- We want to supply some Kata, some engaging problem domains, for everyone to work on.
-- We want a ratio of about 80% coding, and about 20% discussion that arises directly from the code.
-- We want to expressly solicit your feedback and input on how to make this event fun, compelling, and high-bandwidth for learning.
Our first event will be on Saturday, January 24, 2009. It will probably be at the Ann Arbor Spark facility: http://www.annarborspark.org/?gclid=CI6Jh5ajiZgCFQG7Ggode16L7A
Invitations to this invitation-only first event will be going out shortly. Meanwhile, if you are reading this, you might very well be invited, so please stay tuned for emails about further details.
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