Life is scarce, i.e., we are bound to a limited set of experiences. With this in mind, we should make the best use of this finite journey. Hence, from time to time, we ask ourselves if we should continue doing what we are currently doing. We question if our activities are aligned with our life perspectives and greater purposes. Here, I attempt to address this problem in regard to Dr.Nekoma. Hopefully, you will be able to grasp a clear answer about keeping Dr.Nekoma on your radar, passively or actively.
Dr.Nekoma's main purpose is to leverage computer science knowledge whilst still being fun and valuable. This group of enthusiastic programmers tackles different programming languages and computer science abstractions with no fear. Although they don't have the knowledge of a specific technology, they are willing to explore these unknown territories in order to grow as better programmers.
The fun comes from the weekly interactions with energetic developers who see learning as a synonym for joy. The value enters from the projects themselves. When implementing projects, everybody has the chance to pump their CVs with interesting, commercial, and impactful programming languages, paradigms, applications, and algorithms. Developers have the chance to unlock/understand convoluted or non-intuitive ideas via practice. These eureka moments, however, are not the end of the road. Additionally, you will show the world that you are not satisfied with average career development or technologies that are considered status-quo.
Ultimately, the goal of this organization is to be a perfect place for people who find computer science, programming languages, and problem-solving fascinating.
- Nekoma's participants can share the group's content (twitch streams, YouTube videos)
- The group usually dedicates at least 4 hours per week to synchronous projects
- Synchronous projects run via pair programming sessions with at least 2 developers
- During recorded sessions, it is recommended that all developers try to drive, i.e., write some code
- It is not strictly speaking 100% mandatory to record each session, although it would be nice for remembering the thought process and measuring the progress of the organization over time
- The group currently establishes to have at least 2 projects on the fly, to add diversity
- Developers can propose/vote for projects using their personal metrics
- An owner of a project can have a project under DrN if she/he sees value in sharing it in order to invite more people to participate in the project.
- The owner will give the project personal attention. This does not require a frequency on commits or PRs, this is only talking about the project not being a dead repo with the owner literally saying explicitly "Who cares about that? I don't". If the project has somebody that cares, it will live.
- Asynchronous projects do not have enforcement in terms of communication between members and the act of documenting the process (videos and streams under DrN). It is up to the owner and other devs to pick something for communication and decide if and how they will document the process.
Dr.Nekoma was created for people who identify themselves with the above purpose but lack the discipline to put these ideas into practice. By participating in a group, we are creating extra responsibility to force us to manage time-consuming but necessary activities, such as getting on board in interesting projects.
The name of the organization came from anime/manga culture. We wanted something that resembles the idea of getting comfortable with multiple languages and abstractions. For that, we decided to use the Nekoma brand, one of the schools in the Haikyuu show. They are known for their flexibility, i.e., you can throw anything at them and they will handle it. We wanted to absorb this principle as developers as well.
The second source of inspiration came from Dr.Stone. This show demonstrates, with a variety of metaphors and tear-worthy moments, that knowledge is one of the best tools humanity has at its disposal. We not only agree with that, but we want to pursue learning and knowledge as a fundamental principle in our lives as programmers.
We value flexibility and knowledge. We want to make Kenma and Senku proud. This is Dr.Nekoma.
