Gichin Funakoshi, who is sometimes called the “father of modern karate”, issued a list of twenty guiding principles for his students, called the “Shōtōkan nijū kun”. While these principles as a whole are directed at karate practitioners, many of them are very useful for other disciplines as well.
In my understanding, lifelong learning is a fundamental pillar of both karate and programming, and many of those principles focus on “learning” as a more fundamental action. I’d like to focus on a particular one now:
Formal stances are for beginners; later, one stands naturally.
While, at first, this seems to focus on stances, the more important concept is progression, and how it relates to formalities.
Shuhari
It is a variation of the concept of Shuhari, the three stages of mastery in martial arts. I think they map rather beautifully to mastery in programming too.
The first stage, shu, is about learning traditions and movements, and how to apply them strictly and faithfully. For programming, this is learning to write your first programs with strict rules, like coding conventions, programming patterns and all the processes needed to release your programs to the world. There is no room for innovation, this stage is about absorbing what knowledge and practices already exist. While learning these rules may seem like a burden, the restrictions are also a gift. Because it is always clear what is right and what is wrong, and decisions are easy.
The second stage, ha, is about breaking away from these rules and traditions. Coding conventions, programming-patterns etc. are still followed. But more and more, exceptions are allowed, and encouraged, when they serve a greater purpose. A hack might no longer seem so bad, when you consider how much time it saved. Technical dept is no longer just avoided, but instead managed. Decisions are a little harder here, but there’s always the established conventions to fall back to.
In the final stage, ri, is about transcendence. Rules lose their inherent meaning to purpose. Coding conventions, best-practices, and patterns can still be observed, but they are seen for what they are: merely tools to achieve a goal. As thus, all conventions are subject to scrutiny here. They can be ignored, changed or even abandoned completely if necessary. This is the stages for true innovation, but also for mastery. To make decisions on this level, a lot of practice and knowledge and a bit of wisdom are certainly required.
How to use this for teaching
When I am teaching programming, I try to find out what stage my student is in, and adapt my style appropriately (although I am not always successful in this).
Are they beginners? Then it is better to teach rigid concepts. Do not leave room for options, do not try to explore alternatives or trade-offs. Instead, take away some of the complexity and propose concrete solutions. Setup rigid guidelines, how to code, how to use the IDEs, how to use tools, how to communicate. Explain exactly how they are to fulfill all their tasks. Taking decisions away will make things a lot easier for them.
Students in the second, or even in the final stage, are much more receptive to these freedoms. While students on the second stage will still need guidance in the form of rules and conventions, those in the final stage will naturally adapt or reject them. It is much more useful to talk about goals and purpose with advanced students.
Schneide Blog 