I began coding because...
I suppose there are several underlying factors that got me to start actually coding. The simplest answer is probably just because I have always been fascinated by technology and software, and had wanted to try. But I didn't really do it seriously until I got to a point in my career where I had tired of being in management and was looking for a way to still earn a healthy income and not necessarily be so tied into management and its politics. I wanted something a little more independent. I think I found that in coding, because mostly if I'm struggling with something it's between me and the code! I taught myself to code on my lunch breaks, evenings and weekends.
The other reason is that I've always enjoyed being a creator, where you start out with nothing but an idea, and end up with something that didn't exist before. That's always exciting to me! Outside of my own music and art, coding is just another way for me to create.
I'm currently hacking on...
I'm currently building a setlist management app, using the Phoenix/Elixir stack with Vue on the front-end. I'm also dipping my toes into the React Native waters and planning a simple nutrition-based mobile app. Side projects are fun when you can give them some love.
I'm excited about...
Lately I've been excited about all the new things I've been learning — functional programming with Elixir, new frameworks, and automation/provisioning tools.
My advice for other women who code is...
My advice would be to work on establishing a good sense of code quality, which takes some time and experience so be patient but do seek it out. Balance that sense of code quality with a healthy dose of pragmatism (resist temptations to prematurely optimize all the things).
Side projects present great opportunities to challenge yourself and work outside of your comfort zone in order to grow. Teaching others is helpful, too. There have been many times when I've had insights and new ideas just because I was explaining to someone else how my code worked. Saying things out loud can be a spark.
Find good code mentors and stay learning. Code mentors can be people you've never met in person, especially nowadays with so many good devs posting great tutorials, blog posts, videos, etc. Being a great coder is so much more than syntax and frameworks. Dev.to is a great new resource! :-)
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