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Code Is Colorful - what does it mean?

Code Is Colorful is our claim we found at SinnerSchrader Engineers in 2018. We feel it is strong because of its endless possibilities and meanings. We don't only refer to source code but also a variety in solution building and people.

it all started with us (SinnerSchrader Engineers) wanting a new t-shirt

In 2018 we wanted to have new t-shirts which our colleagues can wear at CSSconf and JSConf EU and of course at other conferences or events. As we work in an agency where we have professionals for concepts and copy writers we talked to them to create something new, something great, something we believe in. We explained to our colleague what is important to us, we mentioned things like it needs to be something that everyone can understand but also that we believe that the tech world needs to become more inclusive and diverse. Additionally, we explained to our colleague why inclusion and diversity is such an important topic in the tech community and why it means so much more than only women in tech. A week later we had a meeting and he presented a few thoughts of "headlines" he had. But as soon as he put Code is Colorful on the table we were in love. It has so many messages in it, even more than we could ever have explained to him.

what it means to me

The meaning of Code is Colorful can be seen in many different ways, the following explanation is what it means to me.

Code Is Colorful - word by word

Code is a system of rules and conventions with different character sets - also known as keywords. Without (source) code, computers would literally do nothing, computers would be completely useless. Nowadays code is mostly written in plain text. The process of creating code and the practice of coding is a versatile, creative and multifaceted endeavor.
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Most of the time Code is really Colorful. Editors, IDEs and Web Developer Tools in the browser have syntax highlighting. Syntax highlighting is a feature which displays certain words and character combinations (keywords) in different colors depending on the category of the term. For most people it helps to read the code better and to distinguish keywords from normal text.

Colorful is not only the word for a lot of colors. The cambridge dictionary explains colorful also as:

- " having a lot of variety and therefore interesting " -

variety in solution building
Code is Colorful also means, to bring different meanings of solutions together and get the best out of it. There is not only one solution in coding for a problem. There are always different ways. Code is Colorful could be the meaning of exactly that, that it is ok to have different ways, different solutions, different frameworks or libraries. Every solution has its reasons.

variety of people
We should bring a wide variety of people into tech. Variety in gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or lack thereof, experience, backgrounds and socio-economic status.

In one sentence what it means to me: Code is Colorful stands for variety in code, solution building and people in tech.

What does Code is Colorful means to you? Let us know #CodeIsColorful

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