The Clean Coder by Robert C. Martin

Author:Robert C. Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pearson Education Limited (US titles)
Published: 2011-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

Kata

In martial arts, a kata is a precise set of choreographed movements that simulates one side of a combat. The goal, which is asymptotically approached, is perfection. The artist strives to teach his body to make each movement perfectly and to assemble those movements into fluid enactment. Well-executed kata are beautiful to watch.

Beautiful though they are, the purpose of learning a kata is not to perform it on stage. The purpose is to train your mind and body how to react in a particular combat situation. The goal is to make the perfected movements automatic and instinctive so that they are there when you need them.

A programming kata is a precise set of choreographed keystrokes and mouse movements that simulates the solving of some programming problem. You aren’t actually solving the problem because you already know the solution. Rather, you are practicing the movements and decisions involved in solving the problem.

The asymptote of perfection is once again the goal. You repeat the exercise over and over again to train your brain and fingers how to move and react. As you practice you may discover subtle improvements and efficiencies either in your motions or in the solution itself.

Practicing a suite of katas is a good way to learn hot keys and navigation idioms. It is also a good way to learn disciplines such as TDD and CI. But most importantly, it is a good way to drive common problem/solution pairs into your subconscious, so that you simply know how to solve them when facing them in real programming.

Like any martial artist, a programmer should know several different kata and practice them regularly so that they don’t fade away from memory. Many kata are recorded at http://katas.softwarecraftsmanship.org. Others can be found at http://codekata.pragprog.com. Some of my favorites are:

• The Bowling Game:http://butunclebob.com/ArticleS.UncleBob.TheBowlingGameKata

• Prime Factors:http://butunclebob.com/ArticleS.UncleBob.ThePrimeFactorsKata

• Word Wrap:http://thecleancoder.blogspot.com/2010/10/craftsman-62-dark-path.html

For a real challenge, try learning a kata so well that you can set it to music. Doing this well is hard.7

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