ga-wdi-boston / code-retreat Goto Github PK

Chris Payne [2:37 PM]
Hey Guys, @jweeks and @jeffh could we have a chat about “Code Retreat” and how best to handle it? Also, a brief explanation on what each one of these actually is would be great:
Caveman Coder (45 minutes) - Coding with marker on the walls? Erase it all—do it again? How many times/for how long?
Navigator-Driver (30 mintues) - Pair programming, switching every ? minutes?
Silent Coder (15 mintues) - Only using slack/AIM
Flat Files (30 mintues) - ?
Sandi's Rules (30 minutes) - ? I assume these, thought I’m not sure I’d be able to explain #4 to them now: https://robots.thoughtbot.com/sandi-metz-rules-for-developers
Git Happens (30 minutes) - ? Do we just reset git randomly?
Hot Potato (30 minutes) - ?
Free-for-all (60 minutes) - ?
Retro of the Day (15 minutes)
robots.thoughtbot.com
Sandi Metz' Rules For Developers
Back in January, Sandi Metz introduced her rules for developers in a Ruby...

Jeff Horn [8:00 PM]
The day begins with a discussion of what code retreat is and what the focus is: learning. The point is not to build working software but to practice the same problem many times under a variety of constraints with different partners. Developers are paired during each round with someone they have not worked with yet that day. Each round is followed by a brief standup where the moderator asks what each pair learned from the exercise. Don't tell the developers right away, but they have to delete their code and start from scratch for each exercise. The times I've run it, I use the times as a rough guideline.

[8:00]
@payne.chris.r: ^

[8:01]
Each exercise is done once. Caveman coder is done once no laptops allowed only whiteboard. It's a good chance to brainstorm rules implementations etc. before starting the first exercise (caveman) summarize the rules for Conway on the whiteboard. Leave it up all day. Should only be about four lines. I've found a table as a summary works well.

[8:02]
Navigator pilot switches at 15 minute mark. All day they should be using one screen through screen hero.

[8:03]
You'll have to find a download link for screen hero. You'll also have to manually send invites. I usually do that first thing.

[8:03]
Silent coder does not use IM! They can only use code comments to communicate.

[8:04]
Flat files means low levels of indentation. The left margin of their code should be as close as possible to the left margin while still following longer indentation suggestions. This pushed them to use fewer loops and if statements.

[8:05]
Sandi's rule number four doesn't apply since they aren't using rails.

[8:06]
Git happens I like to roll random between 1-10 and get an array like 4,7,7,3 then I force a hit reset at 4, 7 after that, 7 after that, etc. I use the rap air horn for a sound effect. They dig it.

[8:06]
I do total request live and play music all day. They like that too.

[8:07]
Free for all is no restrictions. I don't remember what hot potato is. @jweeks ??

[8:07]
Probably one computer switch randomly. Either that or switch one line at a time. I like the latter. @payne.chris.r did you look at the README source? It has HTML comments about running the day.

[8:08]
@payne.chris.r: you'd be doing us all a solid if you could summarize all these notes on the wiki for the lesson. I'm happy to edit and add additional information as necessary. You can just start by dumping and pasting all this chat history into the wiki page.

Jason Weeks [8:24 PM]
One computer/typist each person has 1-2 minutes to instruct the typist what to type

I'm going to document a conversation I had with @gaand about this.

1. Alcoholism in tech is a problem.
2. People can feel pressured to drink in social situations to feel included in the group.
3. Celebrations are a necessary part of this exercise.

As an immediate fix, I think it's important to include non-alcoholic beverages in the selection that are not distinguishable at a glance from the alcoholic once (ie, soda in bottles or cans instead of cups).

I'd also like to discuss the possibility of removing the alcohol component; as it's really for anyone who might happen to be an alcoholic.

Corey Haines explains the goals of a code retreat in Cleveland Code Retreat
Introduction on Vimeo.

It's a great explanation of a code retreat and why they're important.

My only hesitancy is what has more value, the developers preparing for a night with that video, or coming in cold and having their minds blown.

Thoughts?

Have one brave sole in front of the room type, and everyone one else is watching and telling the individual was to write.

Both cells in the first illustration should die.

Or resize it to something much smaller.

This image

Caveman Coder - Pair up, and try to code on the whiteboard. Switch groups, erase everything. Repeat.
Hot potato - Write one line of code, pass the computer to the next person. Repeat.

Both cells in the first illustration should die.

I showed 015 a working Conway's to help get them a sense of what the final product could look like.

I think several developers take some time to grok the idea of it representing population growth and patterns (we tend to skim over the history and context of Conway's Game) and that each "generation" is single frame of the game actively running.

Some potential examples:

http://nomatteus.github.io/conway-game-of-life-js/examples/
good examples of the game and certain patterns.

https://sklise.github.io/conways-game-of-life/
example of running game

http://jiffyclub.github.io/game-of-life-js/
basic example of the game in action.

If we could get some sample discussion and or retro questions it would make running this easier on us

End of week 5 too soon for code-retreat? In 015, many of the constraints did not apply to developers' work. For context, Ruby was first introduced beginning of week 4.

git reset is for experts only.

Say this, perhaps several times, so they don't learn this as a "good thing".