One of the early conversations I have with most teams I work with is about decomposition. There is often just a high level of variation in size, complexity, and other aspects of work in progress. This makes it hard to project when things will complete, when we will be able to get to new things, and how much of in-progress work was essential vs. deferrable. From its introduction I have used Richard Lawrence’s excellent How to Split a User Story flowchart.

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Have you ever joined a project and not soon questioned why things are the way they are? Why was this language (or framework) chosen over another? Why do we (or don’t we) organize things into microservices? Why are errors handled the way they are? What drove the choice of database, or API design, or external service? These questions always come up. It’s a natural part of understanding a new work environment.

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Past participants of a Coderetreat are very familiar with Conway’s Game of Life (GoL). It is a reasonably simple simulation of a Cellular Automaton, and a well-suited exercise for Coderetreat since the rules are relatively simple. Still, it is just complex enough to challenge the programmer with some interesting design decisions. design choices. If you are unfamiliar with it, read the link above or check out The Game of Life: a beginner’s guide.

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So you heard about Coderetreat and have the opportunity to attend one. Or maybe you read 5 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Coderetreat, heard about it from a friend or worker, or saw it listed in a community events calendar. In any case, you are intrigued but you have questions or concerns. Are you ready to participate in one? General Preparation First of all, I would recommend that all attendees (whether you have never attended or been to many of them) do some familiarization and preparation.

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As I write this it’s that time of year where I’m preparing for Global Day of Coderetreat! If you write code–even if you are just starting out–you should consider taking part if on of these events. If you can’t attend a global event near you this year, look for one of the many that happen throughout the year. Chances are, no matter when you are reading this there is a Coderetreat event not too far away.

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