I took C++, BASIC, and HTML in high school. Sometimes I was the only female in the class and sometimes there were others, but I never really paid attention to them. My goal was always showing up the guys in the class. If I could go back in time, I would give myself the following advice:

My first trip back in time: Pair Program don’t compete!

I remember in my BASIC class another guy would one up me when I figured something out. I figured out how to make the computer beep, he would have a midi playing. I got frustrated and went home to figure more principles out to be the smartest programmer (definitely not the smartest kid) and show him up. If I could go back in time I would sit myself down and say, “Ann, you don’t have to compete with him. All you have to do is work with him and you will become a better programmer. Two people usually come up with better solutions than just one person because someone is there to shoot holes in the original design or offer suggestions. Usually the two people build on each other’s suggestions. “Pair programming has helped me a lot over the years. Not only did I learn from the other pair, but I was able to get instant feedback and enjoy the process of learning more. If I could only have started in high school!

My second trip back in time: Encourage more women in the field!

The first time would be a great learning experience for me, but I would need to go back one more time and make a suggestion. Instead of ignoring the females in the class, help them. I can’t remember their names, but there were two females who were friends and they were struggling in the class. I didn’t pay them much attention because I was too busy making sure I had all the coolest programming labs. Who knows, if they had been able to leap past the initial learning hurdle they may have enjoyed programming as well. Women bring a different perspective to a mostly male dominated field. Often times men think in a very narrow scope and women see a bigger picture. I love seeing some big names in programming support women in the field. I really liked one of the keynotes from Neil Ford, “When Geek Leaks”, (call me a fan-girl, but I try to catch all his talks. He is interesting, well spoken, and has a lot of experience and enthusiasm for our field) where he talked about all the benefits of having at least one woman on the team and keeping away from “brogrammers”. Check him out at http://nealford.com/ and his videos at http://nealford.com/videos/. Another big name in programming, Guido van Rossum the author of Python, recently posted a video on twitter showing him wearing a shirt that shows support for women in the field, check out his shirt in this quick video: https://vimeo.com/121412696. When we add diversity, we add new perspectives and backgrounds that can enhance the ideas and collaboratively produce better applications. Programming is something I have really enjoyed throughout my career and I’m thankful I continued working at my craft. I wish I could have helped some more women find the same kind of enjoyment.