Why I Became A Web Developer
People are often surprised when I tell them what I do. Of course, most of the people I tell don’t understand anyways, but several make the comment that it’s weird I do this and I’m a good looking girl.
While thats partially offensive, the consensus seems to be that being a web developer is a man’s job, or at least it’s an industry that’s dominated by men.
This made me wonder, why did I get into web development?
Growing up, I was always halfway between being a girly girl and being a tomboy. I love dresses and pretty things, but I also loved playing in the dirt, gadgets and cars. I started making my own websites in the 6th grade to house my anime addiction.
I’ve always been a hands-on type of person and enjoyed crafts and drawing and I loved computers. So it seemed natural to me to combine those talents and go to college for design.
I was an unhappy designer though. While I did enjoy some of my class projects, most of them bored me, especially after dealing with the pompous attitudes of several of my professors.
After leaving college, I went straight to a design/development job. By this point, I hadn’t coded anything since early college, so I had no idea what CSS was. I quickly realized that design in the real world for real clients was even more torturous than for my professors. I hated it.
So why do I develop?
There’s something about web development I love. I love the frustration you get when you run against the wall and the soothing relief you get after figuring it out. I love the fact that CSS and WordPress are like giant puzzles and that everytime I put it together, it ends up different.
My last big rush was learning WordPress and I’ve been in a slight bored funk since then. I went ahead and decided to start some of my iPhone SDK book and felt that same rush as I downloaded Xcode. It’s something I can’t wait to start.
I must also admit, that although it’s slightly offensive when people attribute the fact that I’m a girl coder, it also gives me a sense of pride. I’m able to do what a lot of girls can’t, or wont, do. It’s a cool job.
That’s not to say development isn’t without its downs. It can get boring doing variations of the same WordPress site 30 times a week.
I think that’s why there are so many web languages out there, because we get bored with what were doing and have to learn something new. I’ve always been a knowledge junkie and a book worm, so I like the fact that being a web developer means you have to constantly learn. What other field, besides maybe the medical field, is really like that?
Enough of my rambling though. Why did you become a developer?
About the author
Amber Weinberg specializes in clean and semantic XHTML, CSS and WordPress development. She has over 10 years of coding experience and is pretty cool to work with. Amber is available for freelance work, so why not hire her for your next project?
I don’t think it’s offending if someone says you’re a web developer and a good looking girl. It’s just the surprise because if you look at the ‘scene’ of web developers there are in fact not so many girls. The field for girls is more the web designer profession in the perception of the people.
To be honest I must risk to be offending when i say: Yes, you are a good looking web developer girl and I’m glad there is someone like you combining look and knowlodge.
For me I stepped into the webdeveloper job because I was interested in IT since my youth and after being a trainee for sales I knew that I don’t want this and switched over to a more ITcentric job. Also I was always enthusiastic about the internet and it’s utopia (William Gibson) and I wanted to be a part of it. So I specialized to web development.
cheers
roger
I think it’s offending in the way it’s said. I’ve gotten emails from people vie never talked to say things like:
“you’re a developer and a hot chick? I never would’ve thought!”
Never would of that what? That hot chicks aren’t smart enough to do dev work? I just don’t know how to respond to those, I think it’s almost as bad as saying “you’re black and a developer? I never would’ve thought!” does that make sense?
in this case you’re right. when the words sound discriminating and the surprise is not like ‘glad to see that good looking and developer does not exclude each other’ it’s nonsense.
i would describe such a combination more like some kind of dream girl
>Never would of that what? That hot chicks aren’t smart enough to do dev work? I just don’t know how to respond to those, I think it’s almost as bad as saying “you’re black and a developer? I never would’ve thought!” does that make sense?
Well, no, nothing to do with being black or blond… From my experience (I have been working 6 years in 4 different companies: in webtime, 6 years is quite a long time), “hot” chicks (call it whatever you want) are very rare in this area. That’s just it. Black, blond, yellow, hot (or not so hot) are all capable of doing nice work. It’s just that development is not a word that seems to be “hot enough” for hot chicks
Oh well… wasn’t hot enough, cause it seems it is now
And back to the topic: I became a developper because I liked development, but not enough to spend my time writing C-code. I liked design, but wasn’t able to draw anything. And the web was just in the middle of that: you could code some not complicated stuff, and just grab some random picture from the web, and here you had a website.
That’s how I became a developer… Now I don’t grab anymore, I can draw nice things, and I love the web, more than ever
It’s moving so fast, just turn off your computer for two weeks and it’s like your hybernated during 10 years: what ? iPad what ? Froyo ? What’s that ? WebM ?
I also like that I should get some sleep but I am just here, leaving a message on this website, struggling to stay awake, knowing that tomorrow I will have a hhhhaaaarrrddd time going back to my work, but you know what ? I don’t care, cause I enjoy it! THIS is the web!
Zzzzzz…
Haha, this post confirms that I think you might be my long lost (more successful) twin. I relate to a lot here, I just wish I had gotten into making websites as early as you did! I didn’t really discover the love until someone asked me to take a crack at redesigning one in college, although I did major in computer science so it sorta went hand-in-hand from there.
Enough about me, I think in general being a girl web developer has great advantages. It’s a little rare, and we’re recognized for that. Guys usually seem impressed by it. I also think we bring a different set of abilities to the table – not to suggest stereotypes, but in general I think girls can be better communicators than guys, and I think that’s helpful when it comes to client relations, and speaking in layman’s terms. The fulltime job that I have, the IT/Web team is all guys, and I think the rest of the staff was happy to see a girl join the team. I serve as an unofficial translator sometimes, turning geek talk into normal talk so that everyone is on the same page!
….oh, and to actually answer your question, I became a web developer because I think it’s a perfect balance of logical/math stuff and creative/design stuff, both of which I love. Never gets boring for me.
Ah danger, I knew my evil twin would find me someday…or am I the evil one? Mwhaha
I believe the real reason is that virus that goes in our blood. That virus that makes us go sleepless nights exploring the new things.
Is that sense of puzzle and challenge of knowing some new language that, when it’s mastered, empower us of doing something even more great than the last one we did (or just for the sake of being able to know a little more).
I guess I’m a developer today because back there developing was THAT thing that kept me awake at night just for the pleasure of knowing better. That “bug” inside of us.
when I reduce the width of the page, the contents overlaps the body ruler background.
if you add some left padding to , it seems to fix it.
but that breaks the footer.
maybe a min-width?
Very interesting article. I think it is wonderful that women want to do this type of work, and why not. Good for you I say. I became a web developer because I live in Mexico and I have had lots trouble with the language barrier. Further more, I used to program my BBC Microcomputer at the age of 6 in the UK, and I was always a bit of artist. Added to this the constant problem solving which I enjoy, web page construction sucked me right in.
Why did you decide to move to Mexico rom the UK?
My Mexican Wife and I were expecting our first child. I met my wife online and she came to the UK after we got married. We decide to move to Mexico as the cost of living was that much lower in Mexico and our Mexican family wanted to be apart of our children’s lives. I haven’t looked back since.
Nice! And congrats
Hi Paul and Amber, I am Jesus and I’m a developer too. I live in La paz, Mexico
I think that any person can be a good programmer, we can be a man, woman, black or White.
I have some time working in Odesk.com as php developer and Now i’m working with the iPhone sdk
Paul: congratulations fot your Child
Amber: congratulations too, you put a real problem in this blog, but i’m sure that you are a fantastic developer.
Thanks,
Jesus Trujillo
I became a developer DOS was an os and not an attack. I have always been able to put together needs of a client with vision for users to actually accomplish what they need.
Coming from the Less is More camp I find too much STUFF in most presentations made on the web.
Currently work as a consultant with my local Court System trying to get people to see that a hand held device is the next uber cool platform.
I got the beginning iPhone 3 development. Haven’t really started it yet, except I read the beginning, signed up for an apple dev account and installed the sdk. Trying to finish my php book first before I start on apps
Same thing happened to me with the XNA book
I had to stop when I realized I was going to have to move from reading at night in bed to sitting with it in front of the PC.
I’m trying to get through my jQuery book before finishing the XNA book. What PHP book are you reading? I read through the Visual Quickstart PHP6 and MySQL book but now I’m looking for something more advanced.
Also, back on topic, would you say that you ever lose freelance jobs because you are good looking, get more of them because of it, or that it doesn’t really seem to make a difference either way?
I ask because I’ve found that in other professions (ie, non freelance) that appearance can get you the job over a more qualified person – (sadly that’s how I became a web developer
, the hiring manager (female) thought I was better looking than the other applicants and and thought I would be better at the social parts of the job because of it. At the time I could barely code valid basic xhtml and css – the other guys were computer science majors. I realized that I got lucky though and have spent my time getting up to speed and beyond ever since.
For me, personal articles like this are always more interesting to read. We’re always nosy about the people we follow and enjoy getting a little bit of “behind the scenes” info.
I can relate to what you mean though about peoples perceptions. If I’m out and I’m talking to a someone (a girl for example) they are quite surprised to find out what I’m a Designer lol. Although I would deny that I have a boyband look going on, I can understand why being a blonde gym addicted male of my complexion may go against my professional image to an extent lol. People will always judge you based on what they see…
erm… because i always had a thing for it, i used to skip school and make websites.
P.S indeed good looking
That’s cool o/” I’m a bit of a knowledge junkie myself too, so I can understand what you’re saying. I made the opposite rote though, starting as a hardcore desktop programmer and abandoning it for design and illustration. Of course, that abandon doesn’t include web development, ’cause it feels so lighter in comparison to stuff like Cobol and C++ xD”.
you mustn’t feel offended by peoples surprise.. I think it’s natural. In my classes of Programing and Systems Development or in Data Processing at college there was about just 4 or 5 girls, and some would quit in the first year… It’s hard to find girls doing this job, even more cute ones like yourself ^^”
And I know what you mean, that sensation of finishing perfectly some trick coding is something almost orgasmic xD”
Some of your articles figures among the best ones I’ve ever read. Keep it up o/”
Really interesting reading why you do what you do. I can relate to people not understanding what it is you do anyway. Sometimes I find myself needing to say something like “I’m a web developer, I make websites”. It doesn’t help that a lot of the college courses near me teach students on all courses how to “make a website”. You know the type of “websites” I mean. So you find yourself getting a reply like, “oh, so-and-so done that on their hairdressing/mechanics/ business course.” Anyway, that’s enough about that sore point.
I wouldn’t pay much attention to your tutors at college. I’ve found, since I’m still at university, that most of my lecturers teaching about the web are very disconnected from the web today. HTML5, CSS3, JQuery? What’s that? Even the importance of web standards was rarely mentioned. None of my fellow students seem to have the same understanding of the topic as I do.
I am and always will be of the opinion that the best person to teach you something is yourself. Sure people know more about a subject than you do, but it is down to you to seek those people out and ask the questions you need the answers to. Books, magazines, blogs and podcasts are great resources for teaching yourself. In the age of the web it’s not hard to find the information you need. The only thing you do need is a thirst for knowledge.
After secondary school I was sure that I wanted to do something with code/networks. I have a geeky confession to make. If it wasn’t for the Matrix I wouldn’t be so into programming. How cool did Neo look? Although I’ll never be able to stop bullets and open people’s eyes to the matrix we live in; I will be able to create bullet stopping code and open people’s eyes to a web that is accessible for all.
I know this is a looong comment but I want to quote a tweet I made last night that relates to the running against a wall and soothing relief you mention.
“There is no better feeling in the world than squishing a bug before bedtime. #igetabuzzfromworkingcode #ineedtogetoutmore
“
I must say, I sort of “fell into” this profession (and I love it). There was no web when I was in college – just mainframes and internet at big universities. Working at MIT taught me that I was good with computers, and I learned to code while working there. Then two children (now three) later someone encouraged me to write a web program – I was hooked. Who knew coding was so much fun?
OK, back to deciphering the Drupal Taxonomy Access Control module.
beeing a developer and good looking girl makes you uniquely sexy
” love the frustration you get when you run against the wall and the soothing relief you get after figuring it out. I love the fact that CSS and WordPress are like giant puzzles and that everytime I put it together, it ends up different.”
It’s the same for me. I enjoy solving problems. Somebody tells me something isn’t working and I want to know why and then I want to know how to make it work. I also enjoy the design side too. I like the feeling of having created something that wouldn’t have existed without me,
I specifically gravitated to working on websites, becuase it allows me to explore both. I can create new things and solve problems along the way and I enjoy that the technicnology is constantly changing forcing me to keep learning new things.
Ultimate being a web designer and developer means I’m never bored.
Nice to hear a little of the motive behind your work. I’m with you and Colin on the gap between what’s taught in schools and what’s actually out there. Part of it is leaning on solid foundations (CSS3 and HTML5 are still drafts, after all), but if you don’t push into those innovations, you’re left in the dust. Part of being a good developer, imho, is balancing what’s great and trendy and new with what’s solid, established, and reliable.
I sympathize with your ‘puzzle-solving’ approach, too. That’s what keeps me on the day-to-day debugging and tweaking of the sites I run, and the satisfaction of fixing problems is seriously addictive!
Thanks for the post!
Yea but most schools aren’t even teaching CSS…they’re stilling teaching table layouts…that’s too far behind.
That’s true. Most of the computing college courses I know of use table layouts and font tags
Even though CSS and validity were mentioned on my course, there wasn’t enough depth about why it actually matters.
At the german vocational schools you are learning all the CSS stuff
I am doing a Mediadesigner training for three years and we are learning CSS and all the new stuff at school while I code and design at my job.
I was from a little kid a computer junkie so it was only a matter of time when I make my hobby to my job.
I fell into it to be honest. I was working in another industry and part of my managerial training was to update the training website. So I started with the basics and when I was laid off, I used those to get a job in web development and have stayed here since. I like the different languages and the different technologies to which I am exposed. Keeps me forever learning and challenging myself.
I started out been a architectural engineer years back. At the time I was playing in a band and the internet was just starting to take over the world so we needed a website for the band. With some simple software I managed to create something that you could name a website at that time. Since that day (end 1999) I’ve been into the interweb, making designs and development first but decided that other people did a better job in making designs. So now I focus only on development, PHP, HTML/CSS, jQuery and I received 2 new books for iPhone development this week form my former work so I’ll be digging into that shortly.
I’m really a C/C++ embedded developer, but I have done some web programming. I find web programming to be fun and easy compared to the embedded stuff. There’s something neat about creating visual stuff.
I’m amazed that one can specialize in WordPress and make a living doing it. Your blog has opened my eyes up about that.
I’ve had a dream that my wife would become a web developer, considering the large amount of time she spends in front of the computer, but I can’t even get her to author a blog I set up to track our cat rescuing efforts.
I remember seeing an interview with Danni of Danni’s Hard Drive and she recommended aspiring web developers learn HTML like she did.
I enjoy your articles.
Though I cannot even begin to deny that there was an obvious paucity of females majoring in CIS/comp-sci/networking/comp-eng when I was in college, it never surprises me in the least bit when I see or meet female developers, designers, or even full-blown programmers. It never really felt like a male-centric field/job to me. And I’ve never really met a lot of guys who seem to think it is or feel off-put by female colleagues. I’m not saying the problem you’re addressing is nonexistent or that you’re paranoid, but fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately?) I’ve never seen the problem being all that big.
I would take it as a compliment! When I meet clients they tell me I’m not what they expected.
I think there is a stigma towards “IT” workers where everyone assumes they are a weedy nerd that have no interpersonal and/or social skills!
Which we know in some cases isn’t a major exaggeration! Yourself not included in that statement Amber
I got in it because I love to code, enough though i’m pretty bad at it
Out of interest what book did you buy for the SDK development?
Haha, that was hilarious. Sad though there still are people out there sharing such a mentality.
Congratulations for doing what you want and what you like!
I got into dev work coz its so much fun tinkering and telling your computer to do stuff. Another thing I always love is being able to leave a mark on the Internet; a mark telling folks that I’ve done something great and wonderful in order to help information get dispersed easily.
There are many funny myths out their about “hot chics” not smart enough… I think this is a big misconception and I love hot devs lol! It is really phenomenal looking a smart and really cute girls work their keyboards to produce a master piece
Hey Amber, Great post! The whole thing about you being a female developer is pretty silly. This is 2010. People should get over it. At my corporate job, most of the Dev’s are women as well as the DBA’s and designers.
I became a developer because I didn’t want to be a doctor. I still get to help people just in a different way.
Plus, I love the frustration of a good problem and the satisfaction of solving it. That is probably the best part!
I’ve always enjoyed working on projects and have a real knack for picking up things quickly so web design and development fits the bill perfectly.
I had never looked at a web page’s source code until maybe two or three years back when I was trying to put together a website for a community I was a part of. Even then I think it was initially Flash that got me interested.
Now I would definitely say I am more of a designer who can develop rather than an out and out developer as I’m still only ankle deep with PHP but I know enough to get by. Like you, I love the feeling of getting over a hurdle and even recently remember high-fiving myself on more than one occassion
.
…I’m not a hot chick though.
Bit of rare for a girl to be a web developer indeed. To recall my memories I never meet or even think that a girl could be a programmer. It’s not that I wouldn’t like this but I’d never expected to find a girl coding, is not that girly this area though.
A big welcome into the men’s world! I wish I have a colleague like you!
Personally I’m not yet working as a web developer, although I am applying for jobs. About three years ago I found myself becoming increasingly dissatisfied with my existing job working in customer services for a life insurer – it was my first job out of school and I was still there after seven years. Around the same time I discovered Linux and started tinkering with it, and it really whetted my appetite for programming – something I hadn’t done since tinkering with BASIC as a kid. I decided on a whim to enrol in a correspondence course which taught me the basics of XHTML and CSS, and I enjoyed it tremendously – while I don’t really have a great flair for design I enjoy working with CSS and XHTML a great deal, and I’m currently building a website for a friend in order to expand my portfolio of work.
I enjoy coding a great deal, especially in Python, and longer-term I’d like to be a lot better at back-end programming than I currently am, but I’m beginning to find front-end development to be extremely rewarding too – I’m just somewhat in awe of some of the amazing websites around! It’s tremendous fun, and I’d love to be able to do it and get paid as well!
Hi Amber,
Great post, I’ve been reading a lot of your articles since coming across one a few days ago, and the title of this one peaked my interest. I like hearing how people get into the business.
I’ve been working with websites since 1995, am an old school tables guy that went kicking and screaming into the CSS realm … I can’t believe I held on so long to those tables, CSS is so much easier and in my opinion very intuitive (easy to remember the elements too)
About a year ago I was between jobs (did web related stuff in my spare time) and I thought it was time to make it official, get a job that was web related. Unfortunately, everyone wanted to see a degree before they would even consider looking my direction.
Off to school I went … I’m half way through and having a blast … I also recently launched my own brand.
Question for you … in your pursuit of iPhone / iPad development, what have you found to be the key skill sets you need in order to develop for the iPhone? I was always under the impression that one needed to know some sort of C programming, and specifically Objective C … any thoughts on this? I would love to start learning how to develop for the iPhone.
Thanks … Scott
Yeah I’m learning Cocoa right now….or at least I’ll be starting as soon as I finish the PHP book. You can do apps for the iPhone via CSS/XHTML, but to do the cool stuff you’ll need Cocoa (a der. of Obj C)
Hi Amber,
I have found myself on the same path as you. I have a traditional BFA in Digital Arts but I was actually one of 6 girls out of 75 in my major. (and IMO I’d like to think I am pretty cute) Overtime I have become a lot more interested in the development side. I would still consider myself a web “designer” but now on occasion I have a friend design the site and I just do the coding. I am also trying to teach myself .NET. (fun times!)
I love working on the web because I get to use both sides of my brain. I have always loved art and math which was such a weird combination. I was always worried what I was going to do later in life with those two…
I think that as I transition more and more into development I still think people will call me a “designer” because I am a female instead of a “developer”. It is sad to see the gender roles that people place on certain jobs. Thinking about other fields, something like a male nurse is still frowned upon which is ridiculous!
I just tell myself I am breaking barriers and when I decide to have kids someday it will just be proof that we can do anything we want.
Great article. Why I develop? it all started when I took my first programming courses in college last year and got hooked on PHP. I learnt my HTML and then started to learn CSS to make my apps look good.
What started with an interest in programming and SQL has become a huge snowball rolling down the hill, hehe! Now I’m working in a development company and learning something new everyday, while still trying to figure out the CSS puzzle (like you called it).
That’s what I like about web development, you start with a small piece of something and then realize that you need this and that, and that other thing. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but after all the hard work, it’s very rewarding.
PS: I don’t see anything weird in being a good looking web developer girl, there are two girls in my team who happen to be developers and good looking.
PS2: You’re more than good looking, I think you’re gorgeous.
I develop because I love engineering stuff from ground up and seeing it come to life! Plus CSS is one part art, two parts math and one part psychology. It’s like the cocktail of design/happiness right there and I love it! :p
Coming from a chemical engineering background (yeah, it doesn’t get any nerdier for me), I get the whole “you’re a chick and a [insert some supposed man's job]!?” thing too. It gets worse when they find out you pole dance (even if it’s only for exercise -_-).
I feel you
I like how you put the “black and a web developer” I am half black and half white but
I have many tattoos and i always get really? You kno about that stuff it’s just offending so i can relate to you, people in this world these days are to judgemental and stereotypical.