1. Is the easiest and cheapest way to invest in training

To run a coding dojo people don’t need much more than a computer and a projector. Paying for the pizza and some beers for the end of the meetings is not expensive either, and is surely welcome. But if the company is really cool, some dojos can take place during work time to get more developers involved. Note that none of those items take lots of money nor is too complicated. The only things needed are some engaged developers and good sense of the company to invest in their professionals.

2. Stimulates social and self-organization skills

Many developers have some hard time when talking in public, exposing their ideas or collaborate with other people. Others have problems to self-organize, work in a team or even lead. When does a company invest on those kind of skills of a developer? Rarely. The dojo is a great start for those people, and even who doesn’t have any of these difficulties will have a chance to exercise their skills and explore points which may need some improvement.

3. Is good publicity for the company

If the company took the first step and the developers are already comfortable running a dojo, why not open the doors for the public? The company name will become associated with the agile principles behind the the coding dojo and developers won’t have to leave the company to network. Better, if everything goes well the company won’t have to publish ads to get new developers since the potential candidates will be part of the company’s routine.

4. Helps developers to be active in the community

Discussing the techniques applied in the dojos can be a good incentive for some developers to participate more in the software development community. It can also be a first step help some open source projects, publish articles or participate in conferences.

5. Breaks the routine

Code something different from the daily projects, using other languages, tools and techniques, with other people and in a more relaxed environment may be very stimulating.

So, do you need more reasons?

Then it’s time to try the Way of Testivus:

• If you write code, write tests.
• Don’t get stuck on unit testing dogma.
• Embrace unit testing karma.
• Think of code and test as one.
• The test is more important than the unit.
• The best time to test is when the code is fresh.
• Tests not run waste away.
• An imperfect test today is better than a perfect test someday.
• An ugly test is better than no test.
• Sometimes, the test justifies the means.
• Only fools use no tools.
• Good tests fail.

For the last year I’ve been involved with the organization of Coding Dojo meetings in Florianopolis/Brazil. This kind of “coding meetings” started in France and spread to Finland, United States (Pittsburgh and Houston), United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Sweden.

The sessions are basically about solving a programming challenges using Pair Programming and Test-Driven Development. Everyone is welcome since there’s no skill prerequisites for attendees. The main goal is simple: improve coding skills through practice.

Apparently today when it comes to Agile, there’s a huge gap between the software Industry and Academia. I thought it was just in Brazil, but it seems that there’s too much students out there finishing their degrees without even heard about it. Well, the Coding Dojo doesn’t fill this gap, but it seems to be right at the middle: it’s a simple way to learn about some agile concepts and it can benefit both Industry and Academia.

Today I’m not living in Florianopolis anymore but I’m helping my friends there to keep the sessions running. New people are asking me about the next meetings and in the last weeks I heard about at least more 2 possible Dojos (one more in France and other in Sweden). I think it’s just the beginning for the Coding Dojo Global.