Next dojo - February 12th (Thursday)

[Ivan Sanchez]

Hi guys,

Yesterday's session was great! We definitely need more Katas in the future :)

On the retrospective, again we observed we're choosing the challenge
too close to the day of the session. This makes life harder for people
who want to play with the problem before the session and for me to
help divulging it.

My suggestions is we start now deciding our next problem (for Feb
12th) and give people time to find other problems they want to see in
the next session (Feb 25th). At the end of each session we can choose
the problem and we'll have plenty of time to discuss how we want to
tackle it here on the list.

To give some inspiration, here's a good list of websites with
problems we can pick:

http://groups.google.com/group/dojo_sp/web/fontes-de-problemas
(don't worry about the Portuguese, just follow the links)

I confess I don't have any problem in mind this time, so we'll
depend on you guys to choose this time.

Thanks!

--
Ivan Sanchez
http://www.isanchez.net

[ChristianJohnsen]

>   Yesterday's session was great! We definitely need more Katas in the future :)

yes for sure! I'd think that especially the more algorithm based
problems are especially well suited for katas !? If anyone wants to
do an algorithm based Kata (and can explain the method well) I'd be
all ears.

> the next session (Feb 25th). At the end of each session we can choose
> the problem and we'll have plenty of time to discuss how we want to
> tackle it here on the list.

oki doki. Well, how about picking 'The Psychic Poker Player' over at
http://acm.uva.es/p/v1/131.html ?
That appears to be a problem nor any more complex than it can be
followed even if you'd end up not having had time to prep before the
dojo session.

and .... how about doing it in fashionable JAVA and JUnit with all
their bells and whistles?

The language choice two sided isn't it? surely unfamiliar languages
level the playing field, but on the other hand if language becomes a
barrier then the flow ebbs out of the session and you loose the notion
of 'the game', which I presume also is an important element of a
Randori.

what are your thoughts?

[Ivan Sanchez]

The problem seems very interesting and I have no problem doing it in
Java. We should follow the same approach used for all the decisions
made in this list so far: if no one is opposed, Java it is!

Another important thing for the next session: we'll need a laptop
running Linux or Windows (if it's a Mac we need external
keyboard/mouse as well). Any volunteer?

It's probable I won't be able to make to the session which means
Danilo will facilitate in my place.

Ivan

[Danilo Sato]

I have no problem doing it in Java as well, but I've tried some poker problems in Dojos before and some people find it difficult to follow if they don't know the poker rules. How about we try a simpler version of a poker problem? This one states the rules explicitly:

http://acm.uva.es/p/v103/10315.html

We can try reusing the solution for this one to solve the Psychic Poker problem in a later session? What do you guys think?

Regarding the environment, I don't have a PC, so I will bring my Mac as a backup. Volunteers to bring a Linux/Windows laptop with Eclipse setup, to avoid having to use a mac again? hehe :-)

See you on Thursday,
--
Danilo Sato
www.dtsato.com

[ChristianJohnsen]

all good. In fact I regrettably wont be able to make it to the next
few sessions as I just started at new job this Monday. lot's to take
in, an unfortunately not the time to leave in time to make it for the
18.15 dojo. I'll see you again in a few weeks I hope.

Danilo, I enjoyed your blog post on the last Kata :)

best wishes,
Christian

[Ivan Sanchez]

Quick reminders for people willing to attend the next session:

- Please register on Skillsmatter's website:
http://skillsmatter.com/event/agile-scrum/coding-dojo-228
- Bring other problems! It would be nice to be able to choose what's
the next challenge at the end of each session.

Unfortunately I won't be able to make this time either, but I hope
you all have fun!

Ivan

[Hates_]

I really enjoyed last nights session. I was a bit apprehensive at
first when it was announced we would all be taking turns on the
laptop, but everyone was really friendly so it didn't feel as daunting
when my turn finally came up.

Can't wait for the next one.

Richard