Coding Dojo: Packing Problems

This month we will host a long overdue coding dojo session. Richard and Matt recently had to tackle a cube packing problem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packing_problems) in production and we thought this would provide a good base for a coding dojo.

This is going to be a TDD Randori Session (http://media.pragprog.com/titles/ebdojo/randori.pdf). There will be only one laptop connected to a projector, plus a whiteboard for discussions. Everyone can see the code,projected onto the wall, and everyone gets to write some code, taking it in turns to type.

The session starts with an empty test and a starting pair (Matt and Richard).

Each pair will have a five minute timebox. At the end of the timebox, the driver goes back to the group, the copilot becomes the driver, and another LS#er gets to be copilot.

Here are the rules:

• If you have the keyboard, you get to decide what to type.

• If you have the keyboard and you don’t know what to type, ask for help.

• If you are asked for help, kindly respond to the best of your ability.

• If you are not asked, but you see an opportunity for improvement or learning, choose an appropriate moment to mention it. This may involve waiting until the next time all the tests pass (for design improvement suggestions) or until the retrospective.

Here is a rough agenda:

19:00 - 19:15 Introduction to the Coding Dojo and this session's coding challenge
19:15 - 20:00 Coding
20:00 - 20:10 Break
20:10 - 20:50 Coding
20:50 - 21:00 Retrospective