Duchess
Globally Connecting Women in Java Technology

Due to the success of our first coding dojo, Duchess is organizing another coding dojo for more TDD practice, this time in collaboration with JTeam.

A coding dojo is a meeting of developers who collaboratively solve a given programming challenge. It is an especially good method to learn TDD.

To give you an impression, this is how it goes: A pair of developers begin the challenge by writing a first test. We use only one computer and all the coding can be seen on a big screen. Everyone is invited to comment and give advice. When the first test succeeds, a next test is written. The programming pair goes back to the audience and a new pair takes their place to solve the next test. Specific programming or Java knowledge is not a pre-requisite. We are all there to learn and to help others learn what we know. It’s very interactive. And trust us, it’s a lot fun!

You are welcomed to join us on Friday evening, September 10, at JTeam in Amsterdam – for a coding dojo to practice TDD.
We will start for food at 18:00 and will move to the meeting room to start at 19:00 and go until 22:00 at the latest.

Space is limited. 15 spaces are reserved for Duchess members.

Register at http://jteam.nl/events/registration/

As usual, we ask a voluntary 10 Euro participation fee to cover the operating expenses of Duchess. Thank you for your support.

On June 18, Duchess organized her first coding dojo with assistance from Marc Evers from AgileHolland. The subject was Test-Driven Development with FitNesse, which we applied to the Roman Number Kata.

It was a truly interactive session where everyone had a chance to get in the driver and co-pilot seats.

We got a good start with FitNesse with cheat sheet from Erik Pragt, where we learned the default table fixture. Then, took too big a step and had trouble getting the next test to pass. We learned from Marc that this is part of the normal process of learning TDD. Baby Steps are not as easy as it sounds and we learned that we need to choose our tests carefully so as not to take too big of a step.

We intend to get good at TDD with lots of Deliberate Practice. Please join us on our next Coding Dojo to be hosted by JTeam. Announcement coming soon!