Developer's Gym - Architectural Kata (Let's Practice System Design)

Date/Time: Saturday, 23 August 2025, 10am-1pm
Venue: School of Economics/School of Computing & Info Systems 2
90 Stamford Road, Singapore 178903
Basement 1, Computing Lab B1-1
(Basement is open to public; Take escalator down to basement; no need to enter through security guard counter at level 1)

Co-Host:
SMU School of Computing & Information Systems

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**NO FOOD PROVIDED FOR THIS MEETUP**

We will be doing an Architectural Kata this week.

Architectural Katas are intended as a small-group (3-5 people) exercise, usually as part of a larger group (4-10 groups are ideal), each of whom is doing a different kata. A Moderator keeps track of time, assigns Katas (or allows this website to choose one randomly), and acts as the facilitator for the exercise.

Each group is given a project (in many ways, an RFP--Request For Proposal) that needs development. The project team meets for a while, discovers requirements that aren't in the orignal proposal by asking questions of the "customer" (the Moderator), discusses technology options that could work, and sketches out a rough vision of what the solution could look like. Then, after they've discussed for a while, the project team must present their solution to the other project teams in the room, and answer challenges (in the form of hard-but-fair questions) from the other project teams.

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What is a Kata?

A kata is an exercise in karate where you repeat a form many, many times, making little improvements in each.

You need to try it as many times as it takes, and be comfortable making mistakes. You need to look for feedback each time so you can work to improve.

Remember that the point of the kata is not arriving at a correct answer. The point is the stuff you learn along the way. The goal is the practice, not the solution.

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Agenda:

10:00am - Intro to Architectural Kata
10:15am - Reveal Architectural Kata for the day
10:20am - Group up and attempt Architectural Kata
12:00pm - Show and Tell

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About JuniorDev SG:

JuniorDevSG is a developer interest group that focuses on providing a place for junior developers to learn and network with each other.
At the same time, we seek to be a support system to help junior developers break into tech, navigate their careers as well growing them to one day become senior developers or tech leaders in the tech industry.

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House Rules to note:

• Air-con switches off at 1pm.
• No food or drinks (bottled water is fine).
• If you generate litter, please take it with you.