Being a Female Developer(andela.com)
andela.com
Being a Female Developer
http://www.andela.com/blog/being-a-female-developer/
16 comments
I've started to think this as well. I believe people, when confronted with dicks at work, are going to attribute it to something that differentiates them from the majority. Someone made a comment that insults your intelligence? Well they must have said it because you're a woman, black, gay, etc. In reality, I think a lot of us go through similar experiences and attribute its occurrence to different characteristics.
Your point - that some people are dicks and they are dicks to everybody is obviously true.
But you seem to miss the point that some people are dicks, but are mostly dicks to women, or black people, or disabled people. They may not realise they're being dicks, but other people will recognise elements of dickishness or outright dickery.
And also that fighting the dicks makes life better for everyone.
I find it weird that when women say (for example) "We are sexually assaulted so often a separate women only London Underground carriage would be welcome, until law enforcement and society can pressure offenders to stop offending" they are met with hostility and denial, rather than a willingness to try to understand the severity of the problem.
But you seem to miss the point that some people are dicks, but are mostly dicks to women, or black people, or disabled people. They may not realise they're being dicks, but other people will recognise elements of dickishness or outright dickery.
And also that fighting the dicks makes life better for everyone.
I find it weird that when women say (for example) "We are sexually assaulted so often a separate women only London Underground carriage would be welcome, until law enforcement and society can pressure offenders to stop offending" they are met with hostility and denial, rather than a willingness to try to understand the severity of the problem.
I'm not missing that point at all. But I would ask why is someone being a dick to someone because they don't like their personality or hobbies so significantly different than someone doing the same because of a handicap or skin color? People are going to hate other people for a variety of reasons yet we single out a few and get a little more outraged about it than the others.
Concerning your last point - I'd guess they're met with hostility and denial because they legitimately don't believe the issue is as widespread as many are led to believe.
Concerning your last point - I'd guess they're met with hostility and denial because they legitimately don't believe the issue is as widespread as many are led to believe.
Women asking for the carriages are met with hostility and denial. The people providing that hostility and denial might "legitimately believe" anything, but if they haven't bothered reading the crime survey or the crime stats their "legitimate belief" is less legitimate. It's more opinion.
As for why we single out people who hate others because of skin colour, but not because of say hobbies: A large number of people have been murdered (or beaten, or denied employment, or denied housing, or etc etc) because they are black. I don't think I can find more than a handful of philatelists who were murdered because they collect stamps.
I think the touchiness around discrimination based on skin colour is understandable and based on plenty of evidence.
As for why we single out people who hate others because of skin colour, but not because of say hobbies: A large number of people have been murdered (or beaten, or denied employment, or denied housing, or etc etc) because they are black. I don't think I can find more than a handful of philatelists who were murdered because they collect stamps.
I think the touchiness around discrimination based on skin colour is understandable and based on plenty of evidence.
There’s plenty of people on both sides of the wage gap. Those crime surveys may be flawed in the same way campus sexual assaults had a very generous definition of sexual assault. I’m not sure in this case. I was just throwing out a possible reason for resisting crime statistics. Plenty of people disagree about how those are collected.
Yes of course, a lot of people aren’t killed for collecting stamps. But I don’t think many people today are killed specifically for being black or gay either. It does happen, yes. But I believe the overwhelming majority of people just carry on with life. We should all remember that whites vs. colored fountains were deemed lawful by the government.
I truly believe most people today just want to go to work, do their job, and get paid regardless of the gender or color of the people around them. And honestly, what more would you expect? We live in the country with the greatest amount of diversity you can’t escape. Americans think Americans are the least tolerant and my travels to other countries and interactions with different people shows me the exact opposite.
Edit: I say this as someone who grew up in the South. I lived around racists but most of that stays in their head.
Yes of course, a lot of people aren’t killed for collecting stamps. But I don’t think many people today are killed specifically for being black or gay either. It does happen, yes. But I believe the overwhelming majority of people just carry on with life. We should all remember that whites vs. colored fountains were deemed lawful by the government.
I truly believe most people today just want to go to work, do their job, and get paid regardless of the gender or color of the people around them. And honestly, what more would you expect? We live in the country with the greatest amount of diversity you can’t escape. Americans think Americans are the least tolerant and my travels to other countries and interactions with different people shows me the exact opposite.
Edit: I say this as someone who grew up in the South. I lived around racists but most of that stays in their head.
> I find it weird that when women say (for example) "We are sexually assaulted so often a separate women only London Underground carriage would be welcome, until law enforcement and society can pressure offenders to stop offending" they are met with hostility and denial, rather than a willingness to try to understand the severity of the problem.
This is all well, until these same women start vehemently opposing male-only spaces (e.g. men's clubs, male barbers, ...). Sure, the reasons might be different, but just as women are concerned about being touched by men (physical), so are men concerned about being judged by women (psychological). I think both deserve to be taken into account and made a reality.
This is all well, until these same women start vehemently opposing male-only spaces (e.g. men's clubs, male barbers, ...). Sure, the reasons might be different, but just as women are concerned about being touched by men (physical), so are men concerned about being judged by women (psychological). I think both deserve to be taken into account and made a reality.
It makes you wonder if the outrage over different types of encounters you mention (physical vs psychological) is also...a social construct?
Unlike most of the other commenters, I'm not a huge fan of this article. From the article, it seems the author hasn't really experienced much, if any, gender discrimination at work. That's great; it really is refreshing to hear stories of women in tech who are judged purely on their merits, as they should be.
However, her two takeaways from her experience are, "your skills will speak louder than your gender," and, "to become a female developer, you only have to do what any other smart dev would do...[i.e. work hard]." I think the problem is precisely that many women have found these statements to be false. Many women that are smart devs have gone into the tech sector with good skills, but found that they are still judged unfairly by their gender. The fact that this women hasn't experienced that doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist for others.
Also, the claim that if you work hard and have good skills, then your gender won't matter has the (probably unintended) implication that if you do find others discriminating against your based on your gender, then you must not have the skills or the work ethic.
I really don't know to what extent gender discrimination exists in the tech sector, but I think we should be careful to avoid over generalizing from individual experiences and we should be especially careful not to suggest that discrimination only happens to the developers whose skills aren't good enough to overcome other people's stereotypes.
However, her two takeaways from her experience are, "your skills will speak louder than your gender," and, "to become a female developer, you only have to do what any other smart dev would do...[i.e. work hard]." I think the problem is precisely that many women have found these statements to be false. Many women that are smart devs have gone into the tech sector with good skills, but found that they are still judged unfairly by their gender. The fact that this women hasn't experienced that doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist for others.
Also, the claim that if you work hard and have good skills, then your gender won't matter has the (probably unintended) implication that if you do find others discriminating against your based on your gender, then you must not have the skills or the work ethic.
I really don't know to what extent gender discrimination exists in the tech sector, but I think we should be careful to avoid over generalizing from individual experiences and we should be especially careful not to suggest that discrimination only happens to the developers whose skills aren't good enough to overcome other people's stereotypes.
Being female, and a developer, and having worked in several other fields, I think people overestimate the sexism in tech and underestimate it elsewhere. I'm ashamed to say I was one of the "who needs feminism?" women in my late teens and early twenties because I have had a good experience in tech. Then I took a journalism job...and actually experienced it for myself and saw so many other women experience it.
Sexism is everywhere, at least in tech there is a fair amount of awareness that it's at least an issue. In writing I found it was just taken for granted.
And in writing/journalism I found it way more depressing to see SO many women as a total percentage of the profession and then the gender breakdown of the people in charge. In tech there aren't that many of us, but almost all the ones I know are in good positions.
Sexism is everywhere, at least in tech there is a fair amount of awareness that it's at least an issue. In writing I found it was just taken for granted.
And in writing/journalism I found it way more depressing to see SO many women as a total percentage of the profession and then the gender breakdown of the people in charge. In tech there aren't that many of us, but almost all the ones I know are in good positions.
Interesting point, I had the vague feeling as well, that sexism in tech is much lower than other fields. I never really felt discriminated against in tech, people went out of their way to help me. Biology was a totally different story. I couldn't tell if it was cause I was a woman, or because I didn't have a md or phd.
According to my girlfriend (who's in corporate real estate), the sexism is pretty rampant in her field also, and some of the stories I've heard from her surprise the hell out of me, because I've never heard of anything that bad in tech.
Especially since most of it is perpetuated by people in management in her field, not young guys that don't really know how to communicate with anyone properly, let alone women, as it tends to be in tech fields.
Especially since most of it is perpetuated by people in management in her field, not young guys that don't really know how to communicate with anyone properly, let alone women, as it tends to be in tech fields.
I think one of the reasons sexism in tech gets so much press is paradoxically because developers/project managers/etc. are in such high demand. You can quit and write a Medium post about how awful your job was and still be able to get work. You have a ton of power in this way.
In real estate, journalism, PR, etc. it's so tight knit and competitive that speaking out can destroy your career. I merely quit a journalism job because of an awful EIC and didn't say anything publicly against him, but he was eventually fired and blamed me (though a lot of people had complained to HR about him and it wasn't just about sexism). I really doubt I could even freelance for many local publications because of it because they are all run by his friends and it's not that hard to find another writer.
In real estate, journalism, PR, etc. it's so tight knit and competitive that speaking out can destroy your career. I merely quit a journalism job because of an awful EIC and didn't say anything publicly against him, but he was eventually fired and blamed me (though a lot of people had complained to HR about him and it wasn't just about sexism). I really doubt I could even freelance for many local publications because of it because they are all run by his friends and it's not that hard to find another writer.
I agree. At the same time, I get the feeling that the west coast must be a very different place compared to the east coast. I've worked for six different employers in the tech scene here on the east coast, and I've yet to see any sort of gender discrimination in the workplace. I'm not denying that it happens, because I'm sure that it does. But either it's far more frequent or much more overt in other parts of the world.
> I've yet to see any sort of gender discrimination in the workplace
You're a man. I'm not sure you're in the best position to see.
You're a man. I'm not sure you're in the best position to see.
Yes, I am indeed a man. But I've worked on teams with women, and worked for women, and gotten lunch with women, and hung out with women after hours. I've never seen them be discriminated against, nor have I ever heard them mention it.
Like I said, I'm sure it happens. But it also seems to me like it's either worse in other locations, or it's blown completely out of proportion in terms of frequency.
Like I said, I'm sure it happens. But it also seems to me like it's either worse in other locations, or it's blown completely out of proportion in terms of frequency.
> You're a man. I'm not sure you're in the best position to see.
I found the sexism right there. ("Is man must not be able to see or have valid experiences.")
I found the sexism right there. ("Is man must not be able to see or have valid experiences.")
Well, of course a man can have valid experiences. A man can't have the experience of being a woman, though, pretty much by definition.
That's not sexism, the claim that a man can't experience life as a woman would. In fact, that seems like a really uncontroversial statement.
That's not sexism, the claim that a man can't experience life as a woman would. In fact, that seems like a really uncontroversial statement.
I thought there was a fascinating response to a Reddit question a couple years ago by a transgendered woman that asked "How did people react to you after you transitioned?" She said that, as a man, people were much more likely to show interest in her ideas, and she was much more likely to receive praise from customers at her job (IIRC she worked at Subway). As a woman, people were much more interested to hear her talk about her emotions than when she was a man.
I thought it was very interesting, because she essentially "served as her own control." The only thing that changed in the situation was how people perceived her gender - the ideas, feelings and performance were from the exact same person. It certainly made me reflect more on unconscious biases I might have.
I thought it was very interesting, because she essentially "served as her own control." The only thing that changed in the situation was how people perceived her gender - the ideas, feelings and performance were from the exact same person. It certainly made me reflect more on unconscious biases I might have.
> The only thing that changed in the situation was how people perceived her gender
Absolutely not, the "observer" (i.e. herself) is in a different position and probably in different state of mind.
Absolutely not, the "observer" (i.e. herself) is in a different position and probably in different state of mind.
> A man can't have the experience of being a woman, though, pretty much by definition.
I wonder why all those women then assume it's sexism. After all, they don't know what a man's experience in the same situation would be (by the same logic as above). So it might just be common, non-discriminatory dickery.
I wonder why all those women then assume it's sexism. After all, they don't know what a man's experience in the same situation would be (by the same logic as above). So it might just be common, non-discriminatory dickery.
Heh, I wondered too, at some point in the distant past, and then, rather than just wonder, I started asking my female friends. I took some care to let them know I was genuinely curious and willing to be open-minded to what they had to say.
Maybe you could do the same, with your female friends? Better to ask than keep on wondering.
Maybe you could do the same, with your female friends? Better to ask than keep on wondering.
I'm genuinely curious about what your friends had to say. Care to share?
Please don't twist my words to your agenda or your "male fragility".
> your "male fragility".
Bullying someone for an opinion you don't agree with? Classy.
Bullying someone for an opinion you don't agree with? Classy.
Fan or not, increasing awareness of the issue and getting people to become more aware of any unconscious biases they hold is crucial.
The fact you're reading it, digesting it, and we're discussing it can only be a positive thing.
The fact you're reading it, digesting it, and we're discussing it can only be a positive thing.
well, on the other hand, the toxic environment you describe would be also weird for men that do not want to participate on it. i still haven't found it on tech (i did when i was working on a news room, and i quit, as did a lot of people of all genders, because toxic is toxic. i will not blame the whole gender/race/religion of the few that throve there, but the individuals)
I love this piece! So refreshing to read after all the one's that are underhanded, SJW-style feminism. She says focus on mastering programming while working with likeminded people in good environments. Finds that this can get her places. Encourages events to bring other women in tech or help them navigate obstacles but wisely warns against detrimental effects of overdoing gender part.
Need more articles like this. Not just realistic but also motivational.
Need more articles like this. Not just realistic but also motivational.
Clicked through to her site, and the tagline is "True && False of two Female Developers"... True && False evaluates to False... so, lies by two female developers?
Not a criticism - I get what she meant, but it's amusing.
Not a criticism - I get what she meant, but it's amusing.
> Spend weekends and late nights in front of your computer, laying down lines of code, debugging and developing your personal projects.
This is the only thing I disagree with. Although this would be good for your career, it does not work for all types of people.
This is the only thing I disagree with. Although this would be good for your career, it does not work for all types of people.
If you're just starting out, and not doing this, you won't get very far, at least not very fast... if just starting out is in school, or out... It takes at least 5 years to master any skill/craft... and even then given the churn in tech, specifically with development, you have to put more in to get to a good point.
I don't do as much on my own time as I used to... but I absolutely did for the first decade of my career.
I don't do as much on my own time as I used to... but I absolutely did for the first decade of my career.
If you are not doing personal projects or work on the side you will never be top 5-10% of devs. But the majority of devs are building reports and doing maintenance for some fortune 500 insurance co, they are doing fine.
> If you are not doing personal projects or work on the side you will never be top 5-10% of devs
That's a bit too strong a generalization, I believe. To become and remain a top 5-10% developer you need to do varied and challenging projects, but I see no need for them to be personal projects or side work. It is quite possible for one's regular job to provide the variety and challenge necessary to develop and maintain top developer skills. It can be hard to find such jobs, but they are out there.
That's a bit too strong a generalization, I believe. To become and remain a top 5-10% developer you need to do varied and challenging projects, but I see no need for them to be personal projects or side work. It is quite possible for one's regular job to provide the variety and challenge necessary to develop and maintain top developer skills. It can be hard to find such jobs, but they are out there.
People really need to be more specific about what they're measuring when they say "top".
I think this is mostly true. There are a lot of us now who grew up with very advanced programming languages that allowed us to learn very advanced programming practices and principals at a very young age.
We've also been allowed to learn modern languages very quickly, half attributed to our spongey brain, the other to the free time we had growing up. They're the same languages that companies are built on nowadays.
Now we're in the workforce, in a few years time we'll have a wealth of knowledge not considered deep by experts, but "good enough" by many. And if we've stuck with a particular area, or a particular language we'll be able to flout ourselves as "masters", when in reality, we've just screwed the bolt so many times, we know how many screws it takes.
And the bar will be raised. Because you raised it for us, and then you made it easier for us to learn to raise it ourselves.
The complexity of development has increased massively in the last 15 years. Not just the languages (arguably becoming less complex), or the frameworks, or the different patterns or technologies (ala queueing, authentication, architecture and environments).. But the sheer wealth of knowledge required for an entry level dev job.
We're full stack. We can do a DBA's, an architects, a BA's and a technical writers job - we've been doing it on our own since our age reached double digits.
We haven't just built the car. We've designed it, we've tested it, we've pulled it together and have gone on to become professional drivers. Sure some of the parts.. We don't know how they work. But we know that they do work. And we know they're reliable. Why reinvent the wheel when you can import it?
We've also been allowed to learn modern languages very quickly, half attributed to our spongey brain, the other to the free time we had growing up. They're the same languages that companies are built on nowadays.
Now we're in the workforce, in a few years time we'll have a wealth of knowledge not considered deep by experts, but "good enough" by many. And if we've stuck with a particular area, or a particular language we'll be able to flout ourselves as "masters", when in reality, we've just screwed the bolt so many times, we know how many screws it takes.
And the bar will be raised. Because you raised it for us, and then you made it easier for us to learn to raise it ourselves.
The complexity of development has increased massively in the last 15 years. Not just the languages (arguably becoming less complex), or the frameworks, or the different patterns or technologies (ala queueing, authentication, architecture and environments).. But the sheer wealth of knowledge required for an entry level dev job.
We're full stack. We can do a DBA's, an architects, a BA's and a technical writers job - we've been doing it on our own since our age reached double digits.
We haven't just built the car. We've designed it, we've tested it, we've pulled it together and have gone on to become professional drivers. Sure some of the parts.. We don't know how they work. But we know that they do work. And we know they're reliable. Why reinvent the wheel when you can import it?
If you're trying to impress with your skills, you should aim to be in the 1st group, rather than the 2nd.
While that's true, not everyone is looking for that in their career was the point of the post you replied to. Every person has different career goals.
I don't know why you are downvoted. It is just a matter of what you want in your career.
To get to the top, you need to put in the extra effort.
To get to the top, you need to put in the extra effort.
It's interesting because I and most other female developers I know got into programming like this. When I try to sell it to other women I know who are looking for a better line of work, I think this is the biggest obstacle for them. They just don't want to do it/aren't interested. Whereas when I was a teenager I'd happy spend all night modding games or making websites about ponies.
If you really enjoy what you do, you'll find yourself sucked into doing this in your spare time anyway.
For a lot of us, we're really blessed to do something that we actually enjoy.
For a lot of us, we're really blessed to do something that we actually enjoy.
That's correct. I just don't think that everyone wants to. Some are perfectly content with the 9-5 routine.
This is decent view, which is extremely rare when it comes to the topic at hand.
From my perspective I am a person that throughout the majority of my life has been considered turkish in germany because of my looks, until people get to know my actual heritage. Yet in the US I'm just considered a random white guy. In Germany turkish are not really considered a minority and the degratory terms are overlayed by more and more political correctness (Ausländer, Migrationshintergrund - someone who's parents immigrated sometime in the past, Musel - nowadays it's ok to hate muslims and beard means muslim anyway right).
For a long time in my naivity I did not know why I got that special treatment. Why I was the first to blame when something went wrong, and why people would think it's funny when I'd vote for the more complicated Goethe book in German class. Oh you speak very well German may I ask where you learned that?
There's plenty research on all the shit you have take when you're a foreigner in Europe. Fun fact, being Romanian or Italian can be just as bad depending on where you are in Germany.
When we talk diversity it's a whole different story. Being a white spanish dude in northern Europe can be diverse. Americans in their ignorance will see "just two white caucasian dudes at a conference".
I liked being in the US precisely because I'm considered just another white guy. Yet what absolutely utterly pisses me off about american culture is how disengenious it is.
Despite having had to spend days at the police station for forgetting my ID or getting assaulted by security guards and then getting sued in the most absurd kangoroo court i've ever been to.
Now to get back to the argument, for some reason in the US I have white middle class women, who's parents can just lash out 60k a year for an Ivy league school (an amount most Südländer as they call them will never make in their lifetime) and who haven't had a hint of discrimination in their lifetime tell me that I should keep my mouth shut and just take whatever they say and:
"what do you know, you're way too white anyway" - that's the level at which the discussion is happening.
I wouldn't even care that much if these people weren't so hell bent in destroying the only safe haven people like me had. I'm not even sure why they're doing it.
The only reason I'm at the place in my life I am right now, is because whenever I got back home from all the shit I had to take in school and elsewhere I just went online hung out in IRC and did random stuff. Very few people actually knew me in person. When I'd talk too much shit and not do anything they'd shut me up. Oh you read the dragon book and wrote an LR parser? Now we're talking.
There were some lunatics in there, but you know what, it didn't matter. Because whenever I wanted to learn something from them. I was demanding that someone I don't know, devotes his time to me for free. I don't get to make demands in that position, if you think differently something is wrong with you. It's called entitlement.
Most discussions are not about women in tech, they're about culture or work etiquette. I'm not saying you can't be actively pissed about it, but they're two different things.
I once wore a Jacket at an Erlang conference in DC(I thought that's what they wear in the capitol). It was the most awkward moment in my life in a tech environment.
From my perspective I am a person that throughout the majority of my life has been considered turkish in germany because of my looks, until people get to know my actual heritage. Yet in the US I'm just considered a random white guy. In Germany turkish are not really considered a minority and the degratory terms are overlayed by more and more political correctness (Ausländer, Migrationshintergrund - someone who's parents immigrated sometime in the past, Musel - nowadays it's ok to hate muslims and beard means muslim anyway right).
For a long time in my naivity I did not know why I got that special treatment. Why I was the first to blame when something went wrong, and why people would think it's funny when I'd vote for the more complicated Goethe book in German class. Oh you speak very well German may I ask where you learned that?
There's plenty research on all the shit you have take when you're a foreigner in Europe. Fun fact, being Romanian or Italian can be just as bad depending on where you are in Germany.
When we talk diversity it's a whole different story. Being a white spanish dude in northern Europe can be diverse. Americans in their ignorance will see "just two white caucasian dudes at a conference".
I liked being in the US precisely because I'm considered just another white guy. Yet what absolutely utterly pisses me off about american culture is how disengenious it is.
Despite having had to spend days at the police station for forgetting my ID or getting assaulted by security guards and then getting sued in the most absurd kangoroo court i've ever been to.
Now to get back to the argument, for some reason in the US I have white middle class women, who's parents can just lash out 60k a year for an Ivy league school (an amount most Südländer as they call them will never make in their lifetime) and who haven't had a hint of discrimination in their lifetime tell me that I should keep my mouth shut and just take whatever they say and:
"what do you know, you're way too white anyway" - that's the level at which the discussion is happening.
I wouldn't even care that much if these people weren't so hell bent in destroying the only safe haven people like me had. I'm not even sure why they're doing it.
The only reason I'm at the place in my life I am right now, is because whenever I got back home from all the shit I had to take in school and elsewhere I just went online hung out in IRC and did random stuff. Very few people actually knew me in person. When I'd talk too much shit and not do anything they'd shut me up. Oh you read the dragon book and wrote an LR parser? Now we're talking.
There were some lunatics in there, but you know what, it didn't matter. Because whenever I wanted to learn something from them. I was demanding that someone I don't know, devotes his time to me for free. I don't get to make demands in that position, if you think differently something is wrong with you. It's called entitlement.
Most discussions are not about women in tech, they're about culture or work etiquette. I'm not saying you can't be actively pissed about it, but they're two different things.
I once wore a Jacket at an Erlang conference in DC(I thought that's what they wear in the capitol). It was the most awkward moment in my life in a tech environment.
It's a bit similar here in Australia - you can have a team that is made from anglos, greeks, and russians, and it's "not diverse" because all the faces are white.
I've found the same in the US as a non-native (but white) - my ethnicity is discounted, I'm lumped into a very peculiar bucket and my opinions don't count. Pretty weird experience. Is it really diversity or just a different power trip?
Pretty cool article though. We all became developers so we can build things: we have that in common I think.
Pretty cool article though. We all became developers so we can build things: we have that in common I think.
I am noticing a clear trend. Why are articles like this less likely to stay in the front page?
Because they usually don't have very good/strong arguments for the points they're making, so people find it easy to disagree with them. In addition, most are written as propaganda (not this one though).
Being a Female in general...
Can we have the link changed to be the Medium post[0] that this is copied from please? The site currently linked hijacks the scroll and has annoying popups trying to get you to subscribe.
[0] https://medium.com/art-marketing/being-a-female-developer-6f...
[0] https://medium.com/art-marketing/being-a-female-developer-6f...
Ok, we changed to that from http://www.andela.com/blog/being-a-female-developer/.
Hi Dang - can you please change back to the original link on Andela's blog? The scrolling issue should be fixed now.
Sure. Changed back from https://medium.com/art-marketing/being-a-female-developer-6f....
Unfortunately it isn't. It still jumps down about 300px per scroll, which is an awful experience.
What do you mean by hijacks the scroll?
The page seems to have the code described here: http://blog.bassta.bg/2013/05/smooth-page-scrolling-with-twe... Basically it disables the browser's default scrolling behavior and handles the mouse scrollwheel events by itself via javascript. Which is usually annoying since the new behavior can be different to what the user is accustomed to, and for other reasons as well. You might find some more arguments in discussions like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/47n9ph/psa_dont_use...
There's 12 trackers/widgets according to ghostery, guessing one of them is doing analytics reporting as you scroll, which can be particularly hellacious on mobile.
Sorry for being off-topic / ranting, but why do sites feel the need to hijack scrolling behaviour? Is it me or does this make following the text much more difficult? Instantly threw me off reading the rest of the text...
This is the most reasonable thing I've read in a while. I couldn't agree more with the author; very nuanced opinion. Outstanding work.
The hijacked scroll was annoying though!
The hijacked scroll was annoying though!
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Oh boy another "I worked so hard because im a woman in tech" post. Everyone in tech works hard regardless of gender but some people choose to brag less than others.
Good article. Disconcerting that all of the comments are from men though...
I never really look at the gender of the comments, or even look at the pictures, if there are any... I would suspect a lot of people are that way.
Once upon a time, I was in IRC having a discussion with someone about the electronic art scene... it was a few months later I discovered the person in question was even a she.
This is in particular one of the things that's great about open source, online communications, and github culture... it really doesn't matter your gender, race, or anything else, so long as you make an effort, you'll generally fit in just fine.
Once upon a time, I was in IRC having a discussion with someone about the electronic art scene... it was a few months later I discovered the person in question was even a she.
This is in particular one of the things that's great about open source, online communications, and github culture... it really doesn't matter your gender, race, or anything else, so long as you make an effort, you'll generally fit in just fine.
I also have learned to have a healthy suspicion of companies that seem too obsessed with the "women in tech" thing. I usually find they seem to just be doing it because out of causes you could pick in tech, it has little downside for the company and even serves as a recruiting tool.