Code Jams

• Pick a day and pick a topic.
• Gather people.
• Gather food and snacks.
• Have fun!
• Recommendation: Start with a code retreat

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Code Retreat Core Concepts

• 45 minutes of pairing TDD on Conway's Game of Life
• 15 minutes of meta conversation
• Rotate partners
• Code should be considered "throw away"

Reasons to do a Code Retreat style event

• More professional experience outside of coursework
• Chance to practice your skills
• Chance to teach/learn
• More "ah ha!" moments

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Useful tools for a Code Retreat

Tool: Git

• Most useful workflow you'll gain up front:

$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit -am "this code does x"
$ git status
$ git diff

• Git Immersion - Brought to you by Neo
• Git Docs

Reasons to use Git

• Less "Oh no I lost everything"
• Less "I just want to get back to when my code worked"
• Less copy paste rename "snapshots"
• Less fear of experimentation
• More obvious what changed
• More recovering from mistakes quickly

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Tool: Pair Programming

• 1 driver
• 1 navigator
• 2 keyboards and mice
• Switch regularly
  • Use a clock - Pomodoro! is pretty useful for 5-10 minute intervals
  • Write a test, switch, implement, write a test, switch
• Play nice :-)
• Teach/learn

Reasons to Pair Program

• :-/ "I'd rather just work alone, I work better that way"
• :-( "Ughhhhh, I've been stuck for 4 hours"
• :-) "Let's talk this out"

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Tool: TDD

• Write tests first
• Use framework for the language you want to use
  • Ruby - RSpec.info: home
  • Java - JUnit
  • JS - introduction-1.3.1.js
  • C++ - Primer - googletest - Getting started with Google C++ Testing Framework - Google C++ Testing Framework - Google Project Hosting
• Explore behavior at a low level
• Build confidence in your implementation
• Avoid slow/painful setup to test behavior
• Minimalist sample for ruby:

$ gem install rspec
$ cd path/to/project
$ rspec --init
$ rspec

describe ObjectUnderTest do
  describe '#function_under_test' do
    it 'has some behavior' do
      # assert here
      expect(1+1).to eq(2)
    end
  end
end

Reasons to use TDD

• Less "Why isn't this working the way I want?!"
• Less print everything and rerun the application
• Less stepping through with debugger blindly
• More "Let's test just this one part and verify our assumptions"

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Further ideas to jam on

Try these first

• Code Retreat - Coderetreat - Honing the craft together worldwide
• Simple Web Apps - ZachBeta/ruby_newbie
• Project Euler - Project Euler

Try these later

• Sponsored Hackathons locally or elsewhere
• Startup Weekend events - Startup Weekend Upcoming Events | Startup Weekend
• Programming Koans
  • Learn a New Programming Language Today with Koans - Laura Diane Hamilton
  • Ruby - neo/ruby_koans
  • JS - mrdavidlaing/javascript-koans
  • Java - matyb/java-koans
  • Break the Koans
    • Try modifying the test runner to pass without changing the koans
• Katas - CodeKata
• Contributing to OSS
  • Document Ruby - ruby/ruby / Contributing to Ruby's Documentation - Literate Programming
• Twitter Clone in Rails - Learn Web Development with the Ruby on Rails Tutorial
• Pair on any problem you'd like to explore
  • Share it on github/twitter
  • Make it fun

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Happy Hacking!