On the platform, software developers train on programming challenges known as kata.
[1][2] On Codewars the community and challenge progression is gamified, with users earning ranks and honor for completing kata, contributing kata, and quality solutions.
[4] Founded by Nathan Doctor and Jake Hoffner in November 2012, the project initially began at a Startup Weekend competition that year, where it was prototyped.
It was awarded first place in that competition, drawing the attention of engineers, and funding interest from two of the judges Paige Craig (angel investor) and Brian Lee (entrepreneur).
[5] After building the first production iteration of the platform, it was launched to the Hacker News community, receiving significant attention for its challenge format and signing up approximately 10,000 users within that weekend.