Wow! Time really flies when you’re having fun. Here we are about a week and a half from the next meeting. I think this time we are going to do something a bit different; we will have a coding dojo. I don’t expect anyone to get hurt, as this does not involve practicing our ninja like fighting skills. Instead it is a way to practice our ninja like coding skills. For about 6 months now, we have focused on having a speaker come in and teach us something new. The speakers have been terrific and I know I have learned a great deal from the past meetings. This time, however, we are going to teach each other. A coding dojo is a practice zone for TDD (Test Driven Development), and more than that it is a way for all of us to learn from each other. We will be writing code, everyone that wants to get up and code will have the opportunity to do so. Coding dojos can be intimidating at first, but remember all of us can learn something from everyone else, no matter what the skill level. So I would encourage everyone to get up and give it a try. I have attended several dojos and they are always a lot of fun and I never walk away without learning something new. For more information on coding dojos I must redirect you to my friend and coworker’s blog, who has been running coding dojos for some time now, Mr. J.P. Hamilton’s Blog.

So the big question now is what to code in this dojo. I figured we get a little (artificially) intelligent and tackle the problem of finding similar people that like the same movies you like. This is the kind of algorithm behind Amazon’s purchase suggestions and Netflix’s movie recommendations. We will use a very simple algorithm called Euclidean Distance to measure the similarities between one persons movie reviews and those of several others. The result will tell us which reviewers are most likely to share similar interests in movies. We will start the dojo by going through a simple review of the alogorithm and collectively creating the components that load the data in preparation for the algorithm. Then we will start the dojo full force.

If you have never participated in a coding dojo, I really encourage you to attend. If you don’t want to code in front of others, feel free to sit back and observe. There should be no pressure, and above all, no hurt feelings. We are all friends and share the same passion for development. So come in with an open mind and be ready to have fun and quite possibly learn a great deal of new things.

Hope to see you there,

Aaron Dargel

We meet at the Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library

16616 Diana Lane
Houston, TX 77062
281-488-1906

August SHDNUG Meeting iCal Reminder

Because of all the activity for the summer, the library will not be available for July. I thought we might do something a little different and head out to Russo’s New York Pizzeria on 646 by the Chick-Fil-A from about 6:30 - 8:30 PM on July 1st. If anyone wants to meet me out there you’re welcome to. We won’t have a formal agenda, just take some time to hangout and chat about whatever topics we happen to think about. I think this will be a great opportunity for us to have a more informal meeting and just get a chance to meet each other on a more personal level.  If you are planning on attending, just leave a comment so I can get an idea for how many people will be there.
Russo’s New York Pizzaria Location

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