Ana Schwendler

Diversity, Programming, Mentoring, Data Science, Unicorns and Pop Music.
Skills: Ruby, Rails, Python, Django, Diversity, HTML, CSS, JS
Public speaking topics: Ruby, Rails, Python, Django, Diversity

A few words about you, who are you?

I am Ana, originally from Brazil, involved with bringing more women to technology since 2014, by being part of some initiatives for women in tech like Django Girls and Rails Girls. Graduated in Computer Science in 2017 from UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul). I am living in Berlin since April 2018.

When and how did you get interested in coding?

When I was finishing high school, the question came: “What should I do now?”, and after doing some research, and by having some skills in Mathematics (crazy, right?), I decided to start Computer Science, which turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

What do you like about coding most?

One thing that I like the most is that coding can give you a lot of flexibility, and by that, it can give you a lot of opportunities to keep doing the same kind of work in many countries around the world.

What is currently your favourite project?

As being a Dungeons and Dragons lover, my favorite project now is one that makes the mechanics of the game easier to understand. https://github.com/Miserlou/dnd-tldr

Is there a project you’re particularly proud of?

I am the maintainer of Rails Girls Tutorials in Brazilian Portuguese, and I’m really proud to be part of something that can make programming easier to people from my original country. https://github.com/railsgirls/guides-ptbr

What do you like to try/learn/know?

Currently, I am trying to improve my skills in the architecture of web systems. Not only by coding but making sure that they are scalable and maintainable.

What is your biggest challenge as a programmer?

Improve my skills in coding while keeping soft skills.

Do you have role models?

Yes, I do have some role models, but I don’t have one that I can point out. I have so many women around me that every day prove me that we belong whenever we want.

Can you recommend a book / podcast / tutorial / film or event?

Rails Girls Guides is great to start learning how to program in ruby <3

Django Girls is great to learn programming in a fun and supportive environment and also to coach people who would like to learn programming surrounded by awesome people from the Python Community.