kata

In preparation for CAMDUG's first ever Dojo yesterday, I worked through the Leap Year kata, which I had intended to run in the first session, "Introduction to TDD". I ended up swapping it out for the Roman Numerals kata, because I got through two iterations of the exercise in about 20 minutes. However, I thought it would be useful to share the problem and my approaches to it with my readers.

Yesterday, CAMDUG, the Cambridge Developer's Group, ran its first coding dojo generously hosted by my employer Granta Design (we're hiring!). Rooted in the principles of Software Craftsmanship, dojos bring developers together to sharpen their Test-Driven Development and Design (TDD) saws.

So this afternoon I've been attempting the first of The Pragmatic Programmers' kata. This is a modelling-only exercise, designed to get you thinking around a problem. You'll need to be familiar with the kata in order to get the most out of this post, so I'll go get a cup of tea whilst you go read up on it.

Anyone who has ever learnt a musical instrument will tell you of the pain of learning scales and arpeggios. Those that stuck with their instrument will tell you that these are the constructs around which all music is based, defining which notes sound right or good within a given key. The most common keys in classical music are grouped into major ("happy") and minor ("sad"); other musical forms have other scales, such as modes and blues.