Architectural Katas

New information after 10/20 kickoff:

• To be considered for participation in Architectural Katas, you must complete the Google form by midnight Eastern time on 10/22.
• Architectural Katas is a team event. Before submitting your request to participate, please be sure your team includes 3–5 people.
• No personal information please. Don’t include team member names or email addresses. Your GitHub repo shouldn’t include your team’s names or workplaces.
• Refer here for details on the problem and information about Farmacy Foods.
• Smart Fridge Specs

Problems? Questions? Email katas@oreilly.com.

By registering for Architectural Katas, you get access to all the live online events and can vote for the winning presentation. Registration does not mean you’re also participating in the Architectural Katas challenge. If you’d like to take part, you must gather a team of three to five people and submit your team name to O’Reilly. Team registration will open October 20 following the first event. Your team must include at least one O’Reilly online learning member in order to participate in the Architectural Katas challenge and attend the live events. The first 100 teams to sign up will be selected to participate.

About Architectural Katas: What could be better than practicing software architecture with your handpicked dream team of architects? Participants in Architectural Katas, moderated by Neal Ford, work together virtually in small groups of their choosing to solve a challenge an actual organization is facing. Everyone gets the chance to practice their craft with a real software architecture problem in a safe and social environment, and the finalists and winners earn well-deserved bragging rights (not to mention an intriguing line on their résumé). Plus a selected organization working for social good will have some of its gnarliest software architecture problems solved.

How it works: You put together a first-rate team of three to five people, ready to tackle an architecture challenge. We’ll share the architecture problem with you at the kickoff on October 20. Then your team will have to solve it, working virtually in whatever way is best for you (video calls, group chat, shared docs, etc.). Teams will submit their solutions by November 3 and reconvene at the semifinals on November 17 to find out which will move on to the finals on December 3. At the finals, one member of each team will present their solutions to the judges and a winner will be announced. Registration opens October 20 following the first event; the first 100 teams to sign up will be selected to participate.

Not ready to compete but want to be part of the action? Register for the event and join us to see how Architectural Katas work, cast your vote for the winning team, and learn how to successfully present architecture plans to stakeholders.

Series schedule:

Event 1: Kickoff - October 20, 2020

Meet the judges, hear all the details on how Architectural Katas work, learn more about the software architecture problem you’ll be solving, and get the chance to ask Neal any questions you may have.

• New Materials: Transcript

Event 2: Semifinals and Architectural Presentation - November 17, 2020

Get a master class on presentation skills and learn how to successfully showcase software architecture plans to developers and stakeholders (and judges). You’ll also find out the top five teams that will present in the final event.

Event 3: Finals - December 3, 2020

The top five teams present their plans with Q&A, judges provide feedback, attendees vote for their favorite, and judges announce the winner.

With today’s registration, you’ll be automatically signed up for all events in the Architectural Katas series. You’ll also get access to video recordings of all sessions as they become available, including any you may have missed.