Codewars
Learning and science
coding practice challenges
SHOW HN2014
198points
121comments
#102of 2,272 in 2014
Top 5%of 2014 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
21 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 29 critical, out of 69 comments about the project. Thread score -0.05.
Design: 6 for, 13 againstExecution: 1 for, 5 againstIdea: 3 for, 3 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 4 againstPerformance: 0 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun and effective way to learn and practise programming
From 4 comments
I can't recommend Codewars highly enough as a way to sharpen your skills. It's like a slightly more verbose, prettier Project Euler. They currently support CoffeeScript,…
stevenbrianhall on HNThis is a very fun way to learn and get better. It's still in a very active development stage, so things go up-and-down regularly (which sucks when you want to get your fix), but…
OverZealous on HNI love it! I'm a self-taught programmer, mostly working alone on my own projects. This is a great way to expand my knowledge and have fun at the same time. I particularly like…
JacobJans on HNVery cool, one of those sites you can very easily spend a 1/2 hour on without realizing it...
mattholtom on HN
Polished design and smooth user experience
From 3 comments
I didn't expect much but ended up pretty impressed by the site. It's beautifully designed and the flow is very natural. Lots of kudos!
derekchiang on HNOutstanding user experience throughout the account setup, I will continue playing with this as it's quite enjoyable so far. Thanks for sharing. #edit it's kind of sad (and…
ninjac0der on HNSaw you guys demo at a meet-up at Carbon5 almost a year ago, cool to see your progress since then. I actually use the site regularly, nice work, especially with the way your hide…
mgadams3 on HN
Objections
Sign-up and login flow is confusing and requires account creation early
From 3 comments
Was anyone else put off by the link github/enlist to continue after only two brainteasers? I felt like I was just starting to get really engaged in using the site and enjoying…
winslow on HNSame here. Some points: - Navigation feels weird. - The main call to action should be "Try Codewars" instead of "Join Codewars" so it'd feel like "no compromise just try it",…
erik14th on HNonce I link to my github, why do I need to select a username, password and email to enlist?
it_learnses on HN
Site was slow or returned 500 errors under heavy traffic
From 3 comments
I was pretty taken by this site, I did the teasers, signed up, selected my skills and interests but then when I wanted to continue I started getting 500 errors. I had to leave…
terabytest on HNThis is really cool-- but I get so many "Submission timed out" errors that I can't even do a problem...
codonaut on HNCool idea. The Ruby code takes a long time to evaluate - even though I passed the first two challenges without any issues, this would frustrate me if I were a beginner. Why not…
jmtame on HN
Privacy concerns about many third-party scripts and GitHub password entry
From 1 comment
For the privacy-conscientious user, your site provides one of the worst experiences I've ever seen. To get anything to work, I had to allow scripts from www.codewars.com,…
majika on HN
Name and terminology feel aggressive or masculine to some
From 2 comments
I just finished the Javascript and JQuery course at codecademy.com three weeks ago and since then I take challenges at coderbyte.com to continue learning. So I was very…
sandrae on HNI don't think the word "kata" by itself is masculine or aggressive but the site is called codeWARs, and they call signing up "enlisting" so ..
dusklight on HN
Requests
Add more programming languages such as Python, Clojure, Haskell, PHP
From 4 comments
can't wait for Clojure support
elwell on HNMOAR (some) PYTHON.
iamwithnail on HNI voted for Haskell to be included and plan on joining when it's added :) Edit: Though, it's not beyond the realm of possibility I'll give in and sign-up once there is python…
codygman on HNThis is awesome! You should seriously add PHP. Our community is probably the largest and has many inexperienced programmers who would really benefit from Codewars.
drivingmissm on HN
Sort solutions by execution speed
From 2 comments
The site looks great! I only have one comment: it'd be nice to get an idea of which solution is the most efficient, and it'd be REALLY nice to be able to sort solutions by speed.
damiongrimfield on HNIs the scoring only based on time-taken and LOC? The top script that I looked at was more like code-golf. Is that the aim?
deevus on HN
Pair or multiplayer challenges
From 1 comment
I like the concept, but I don't see how I can currently compete with other coders on these problems. If I could pair up with a friend and do these challenges I would enjoy it more.
epicureanideal on HN
Video introduction
From 1 comment
A bit more feedback: In chrome 32.0.1700.77, clicking join did nothing, it only scrolled to the top of the page. Also, I'd love to see a quick video introduction. I like the…
1qaz2wsx3edc on HN
Questions
How is it better than Codecademy or CodeCombat
From 1 comment
The name is pretty similar to CodeCombat (http://www.codecombat.com) and I'm not clear on how this site is better than Codeacademy (http://www.codecademy.com/). There are already…
davidddavidson on HN
How code is sandboxed for untrusted user code
From 1 comment
Just wondering about how you are doing or going to do your sandboxing for languages like c, c++, etc. If you are running arbitrary code from the user on the server, it could be…
tbirdz on HN
Alternatives named
Codecademy
From 2 comments
I just finished the Javascript and JQuery course at codecademy.com three weeks ago and since then I take challenges at coderbyte.com to continue learning. So I was very…
sandrae on HNThe name is pretty similar to CodeCombat (http://www.codecombat.com) and I'm not clear on how this site is better than Codeacademy (http://www.codecademy.com/). There are already…
davidddavidson on HN
CodeCombat
From 1 comment
The name is pretty similar to CodeCombat (http://www.codecombat.com) and I'm not clear on how this site is better than Codeacademy (http://www.codecademy.com/). There are already…
davidddavidson on HN
Project Euler
From 1 comment
I can't recommend Codewars highly enough as a way to sharpen your skills. It's like a slightly more verbose, prettier Project Euler. They currently support CoffeeScript,…
stevenbrianhall on HN
Coderbyte
From 1 comment
I just finished the Javascript and JQuery course at codecademy.com three weeks ago and since then I take challenges at coderbyte.com to continue learning. So I was very…
sandrae on HN