{"id":16487,"title":"Things I know about working in tech as a frontend developer","description":"Things I know about working in tech as a frontend developer. Being a woman in tech both is and is not relevant. Most days, I don't think about it..","content":"


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I've been working as a web developer\/software engineer\/frontend developer on and off for nearly 20 years. I can hardly believe it. This originated as an Instagram post<\/a>, so I kept it clean and clear in the interest of sharing a few thoughts and KISS (keeping it simple, sister).

The job<\/strong><\/p>

Coding and querying databases is not magic, it's just another set of skills. I am doing the same job I was doing 20 years ago, just with slightly different tools - creating a frontend and hooking it up to a backend.<\/p>

Gender<\/strong><\/p>

Being a woman in tech both is and is not relevant. Most days, I don't think about it. I always think about it when I'm interviewing for a job. Which irritates me.<\/p>

There are smaller minorities of gender, race, ability [...] in tech who can always use an extra voice and support to progress.<\/p>

Bugs<\/strong><\/p>

I don't need expert knowledge to help another developer debug their code.<\/p>

I can learn from someone else's code and from their feedback on my code.<\/p>

It's not always easy, though.<\/p>

Ego<\/strong><\/p>

You can leave your ego at the door but it will find its way back in, like a cat. It may be safer to bring your ego with you, sit it down close by and be aware of how it's behaving at any given moment.<\/p>

Communication<\/strong><\/p>

Being a developer is about communication. Communicate with your team and your client.<\/p>

Communicate through your code by using relevant variable and function names.<\/p>

Code for the next person.<\/p>

Harmony<\/strong><\/p>

It can be nice to add some CSS first thing to make working on my UI easier and more pleasant.<\/p>

This won't work for everyone - see this article<\/a> by a frontend developer from the Netherlands who is blind.<\/p>

Code for people with a different set of abilities than you so they can use your website or app with ease.<\/p>