Koans and Katas, A New Way to Learn Programming (DRAFT)

When deciding to learn a programming language, whether it's your first or fifth the primary question you always ask is how? One method is to utilize Koans and Katas.

Koans are shorter lessons, designed to teach specific or esoteric parts of a programming language. The primary purpose of a Koan is not to the answer, but thinking about the question. A Koan might teach a specific aspect of a language, and by teaching that part you gain another tool in your toolkit to solve a problem. 

Katas are typically longer, and more open-ended. they might give you a problem to solve and then you need to use any tool you have to solve them. Katas are often practiced repeatedly, but they do not have one solution, a kata has many solutions.