How does someone get better at a skill? A new skill might require initial education, training, reading, watching, and thought to get to the point that the skill can be utilized. But regardless of a new skill or old, the only way to improve the skill is through dedicated time for practice. I can read all that I can find on improving my golf game, such as good swing techniques, or how to play various shots, but unless I practice, swinging the golf club or playing various shots, my golf game won’t improve.

But you might think you’ve reached the pinnacle of a skill and have no room for improvement. You’re like a professional at that skill, and professionals don’t spend time on practice.

Or do they?

Do professional athletes practice? They’re skilled at their profession, enough to put it on display each game. Do they practice? Of course they do! There’s always a move they could do better, be faster at, or understand the situation better.

Writing and designing software is a skill, a skill that we often take for granted. Once we’ve mastered a framework, library, development methodology, or tool, do we take time out to get better?

What we need is a method to practice these skills in an environment that allows us to refine and improve them. A series of software problems to solve, design, and code allowing software developers and testers a chance to improve in whatever framework, library, methodology, or tool they choose.

Put this all together, and you get the concept of a Code Kata - software problems that teams repeat to improve their skills.

Take some time out of your busy work week and try a code kata for an hour or two. And I challenge you to see if it improves your coding and designing muscles.

There are a number of resources on Code Katas. A few of these I’ve found include:

[http://codekata.com](http://codekata.com)
[https://www.codewars.com](https://www.codewars.com)
[https://github.com/gamontal/awesome-katas](https://github.com/gamontal/awesome-katas)
[https://github.com/pivotal/code-katas](https://github.com/pivotal/code-katas)
[http://www.codekatas.org](http://www.codekatas.org)
[http://codingdojo.org/KataCatalogue/](http://codingdojo.org/KataCatalogue/)

Good luck and happy coding!