Your Django Story: Meet Amber Brown
This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.
Amber Brown is a freelance software developer and computering owl lady, with a handful of years in programming and a few more in general IT. Best known as the release manager of the Twisted Project, she’s been invited to speak at several conferences including keynoting PyCon Czech Republic ‘15, DjangoCon Australia ‘15, and speaking at Django Under The Hood ‘15. She’s a head organiser of Perth{Web}Girls, the amalgamation of Django Girls and either Rails Girls or a new HTML/CSS-based workshop, ran on the same day. She is also a member of the Django Code of Conduct Committee. Photo credit: Bartek Pawlik, licensed.
How did your story with code start?
I started in high-school, finding a dubiously licensed copy of Visual Basic 6 which I ran off a USB drive, and wrote various utilities – a networked chat program, a few games, that sort of thing. This had utility at my job at the time, as an IT support worker at a small local government – we were vastly understaffed, and so my little automation tools saved us hours a day.
What did you do before becoming a programmer?
I was in IT – but I was really always one. It’s only recently it became my job focus. I’ve moved from Windows desktop maintenance to software dev full time – but it’s surprising where the teachings from my Microsoft-y past help.
What do you love the most about coding?
That I can write things that people find useful, and can improve their lives – software is a means to an end, but it’s a means I very much enjoy.
Why Django?
That’s an interesting question, and as I don’t really use Django in my day to day work, is one I can’t really answer. As a Twisted (asynchronous networking framework) core dev, Django has some interest to me as something we can run *on* Twisted, but it’s not something I use very often. I do, however, use bits of Forms when I can, as it’s a very useful module. I did use Django full time in the past, and I do enjoy the ease-of-use and rapid development aspects.
What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?
Cool is a relative term – but I’m working on pulling useful modules out of Twisted, and into dependency-less modules that the greater ecosystem can use, without pulling in all of Twisted to use one little bit. My hope is that these useful modules gain wider use outside of just those that use Twisted as the framework for the project.
What are you most proud of?
Getting invited as a keynote speaker for three (!!) conferences, and getting invited to talk at Django Under The Hood – it was rather amazing for the Django Core devs to want me to speak, and fantastic that a lot of them listened, even if they don’t always agree with me!
What are you curious about?
Space! I am curious about space. No matter how dark, empty, and uninviting it is.
What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?
I like to play games! Worth mentioning is Magic The Gathering (eldrazi OP), XCOM: The Long War (marksman rifle OP), and Wargame: Red Dragon (T-90S OP). I also like gardening.
Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?
Persist! Persistence is key, and it’s what keeps us the rest of us going.
Be wary of burnout! Burnout is the feeling when it gets impossible to enjoy what you’re doing. It’s okay to be burnt out and want to not do things, listen to yourself and relax when that becomes an issue.
Never trust the network! Did you know that networks are less reliable than most public transport systems? They really are.
How did attending a Django Girls workshop influence your life/career? What did you get out of attending a Django Girls workshop?
As the organiser of several and mentor of a few more, I have to say that it’s changed my life in terms of how I see teaching. The Django Girls workshop has taught me important lessons for when I do my own, unrelated teaching – start at the bottom, work up with meaningful results at each step of the way, and have a clear, achievable goal at the end.
Thanks Amber!
If you would like to suggest someone to be featured in the Your Django Story series (or would like to nominate yourself!), send an email to story@djangogirls.org!
