I'm software engineer from a musician family. I started playing with all sorts of knobs and keyboards at an early age, tinkering with tape machines, and retro computers. I initially dreamt of composing video game scores or even creating the games themselves. Growing up, my journey was always to create experiences that would inspire.

Learning a new technology is exciting to me -- I do not see it as a challenge but as a new opportunity for self expression. Much like learning a new instrument.

I admire artists and engineers and receive inspiration from their inventions. Words to live by: there isn't such a thing as version 1.0. Programming is an iterative process (every day brings a new challenge).

Artists and engineers? Yes, I consider myself a bit of both. I started my online persona by drawing custom forum signatures, but I didn't get too far there. After some time, my learning was more oriented towards game development. Crafting is my passion, please don't call it perfectionism.

When I was young, I started my career by creating mobile applications. This was time-consuming, as I strived to make a good experience, while still having responsibilities at home and at university. I worked with Tokyopop and met with designers on a weekly basis. Exhausting!

Ultimately, we pulled through and delivered everything. A lesson to remember: the process of creativity takes time!

Honestly? The rice cooker. Neat little thing. Oh, programming language? Well, I do regularly contribute to typescript codebases ¹.

Regardless, I don't have any favorites. I try and choose the most applicable tool that is appropriate for the task. I'm fond of Software Engineering as a craft -- there are a lot of technologies, too many, in fact ². However, I have a special place in my heart for frontend engineers. Design Systems rock!

In no particular order, here are some technologies I'm familiar with:

• Pl/SQL
• UML
• HTML (a11y compatible)
• Multimedia Fusion
• Postgres
• Java / Spring
• Arduino

Being well organized with codebases improves understanding of every feature's scope. Documentation, tests and clear instructions contribute the most to a project's health. Learn Markdown, it will help you organize your thoughts.

I believe in the power of collaboration; To me it is not about being right, but about working towards a common goal. Volunteering my time to Girls Who Code, I spent more time thinking about developer experience than about database schemas.

I channel my energy in my free time to create art. Since young, I was always taught to keep myself busy. To me, this meant creating. Some of my favorites (both legacy and new):

• Photoshop
• Snapseed
• Notepad++
• Blender
• Renoise

I consider myself a bit of a chiptune freak, if you will.

One small piece of advice: never take code personally. Code that doesn't work can still be learned from, and tomorrow is a fresh start. Repeat after me: "Not all of my pull requests will be accepted. Not everyone will have the same opinion". As long as you are coherent, you can always find a way to compromise.

Always do your best, knowing that if your team is on the same wavelength, you will find success.