The second Code Retreat in Reykjavík will be held on Saturday 7th of November, at Calidris ehf, Vesturhlid 7, Reykjavík. Calidris will sponsor this second code retreat event and provide lunch and light refreshments in the afternoon.

At the same time, it is the intent to found an agile.is interest group around Code Craftsmanship. The aim of such a group is to promote the importance of coding skills and high quality code, as opposed to the emphasis on high level design and architecture which has been the main emphasis in mainstream thinking. Participants can choose to become founding members of Code Craftsmanship Reykjavík.

The aim of code retreat is to practice our skills in developing software, and share ideas and insights into the craft of designing and developing software, and have some fun at the same time in a relaxed, low pressure environment.

We'll start at 10am and continue as long we wish to continue. The arrangement will be based on the first code retreat events in the US. We'll work with Convey's Game of Life as a "coding kata". We will be employing TDD and Ping Pong pairing to enhance knowledge sharing and faster learning. It is recommended to study the game before attending so we don't spend time studying the problem. We want to spend time exercising the craft of coding.

We want our code retreats to be as language neutral as possible. The objective is to be enable as many code craftsmen to attend, without worrying too much about the language. At the same time, we acknowledge that a lot of knowledge is required to apply a language well. We thus propose very simple rules for using a language.

The default language is Java, as this was the mainstream language at J.B.Rainsberger's TDD course.
You have to have an IDE with xUnit up and running on your laptop and be ready to start coding the minute you sit down. (xUnit being the unit testing framework for your favorite language).
If you'd like to use a language other than Java, you have to find a partner to pair with using that language BEFORE the event. We do not want to spend time debating languages and convincing people about the excellence of your favorite language at the meeting. We all know it's excellent
There is java source code available for the game by following the instructions here.

If you intend to attend please let us know by sending an email to gretar.arnason@calidris.com so we can plan lunch and refreshments accordingly.

See you there!

On behalf of agile.is group,

-Guðlaugur S. Egilsson