Codewars
By Codewars
Codewars is an online platform for practicing coding through community-created challenges called "kata," ranked by difficulty using a martial-arts-inspired belt system.
Definition
Codewars is an online platform for practicing coding through community-created challenges called "kata," ranked by difficulty using a martial-arts-inspired belt system.
Overview
Codewars launched in 2014 with a distinct approach to coding practice compared to platforms like LeetCode and HackerRank: rather than a curated problem set maintained primarily by the platform itself, most of Codewars' challenges — called "kata" — are created and submitted by its own user community, then peer-reviewed before publication. Difficulty is expressed using a ranking system borrowed from martial arts, from 8 kyu (easiest) up to 1 kyu, with a further "dan" rank for advanced users. After solving a kata, users can view other community members' solutions and discuss different approaches, an emphasis on comparing alternative solving styles that sets Codewars apart from more strictly interview-prep-focused platforms. This makes it popular for developers who enjoy exploring multiple idiomatic ways to solve the same problem across many programming languages, rather than purely optimizing for a single correct interview answer. Because its content is community-driven and covers a very wide range of difficulty levels and languages, Codewars is often used casually for skill-building and language practice, alongside more interview-focused platforms when preparing specifically for technical hiring processes.
Key Features
- Launched in 2014 with community-created coding challenges called "kata"
- Martial-arts-inspired ranking system from 8 kyu to 1 kyu, plus dan ranks
- Challenges are peer-reviewed before publication
- Users can compare their solution against others after solving a kata
- Supports practice across many programming languages
- Emphasizes exploring idiomatic solving styles over single correct answers