PLNQ: Defining Coding Katas Using a Single Jupyter Notebook

We present PLNQ, a tool that allows users to specify CodingBat-like katas using a single Jupyter notebook (i.e., .ipynb file). Using a Jupyter notebook as input combines the convenience of a single-file kata definition with features like syntax highlighting and formatting that are not available in basic web forms or other single-file formats (e.g., YAML). Over the past year, we have found that using PLNQ to define code katas requires noticeably less time and effort than other platforms. We have been able to re-invest these savings into more direct student interactions (e.g., one-on-one help).