Brighton coding dojo

I went along to the Brighton Coding Dojo for the first time today. I didn't really know what to expect so was nervous as a kitten and it turned out to be just as scary as I imagined. Well, almost.

Above: Coders going at it at the Brighton coding dojo

I'm not at all used to standing in front of a group of people and verbalising a programming problem while simultaneously trying to code the solution to the problem (and we were coding in Ruby using Eclipse, neither of which I had any experience of).

My usual methodology is to take my time, on my own, thinking about a problem, sometimes making notes and drawing diagrams and then coding in a not altogether best practice kind of way which gradually gets me to the end goal.

But that's exactly why I went - to learn about new techniques, improve my skills, share my (limited) knowledge - and it all took place in a relaxed, friendly kind of way (although someone did suggest that it seemed like a kind of geeky fight club).

So I'll definitely be going along to another dojo (if they'll have me).