Nevertheless, Elena Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2018-03-06 22:00:15

---
title: Nevertheless, Elena Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began to code because...

My mom was a programmer. In our house, punched cards were a thing to draw on when I was a kid. She quit her job when I was 3 and never went back, but every time I was asked who I want to be when I grow up, I answered: an astronaut or a programmer, like mom.

Despite that, I saw a real computer when I was 13. I struggled with a mouse a lot, and had troubles with MS Paint.

At 14 I was reinstalling Windows for all my friends. I was also bringing them music on floppy disks, 3 diskettes for one song.

At 15 I signed up for a programming course, and after my first line of code (a green button showing a modal window saying "hi", written in Delphi) I was hooked.

I found my first job on my 3rd year of the university because I felt like I needed real experience. It was a C++ position. I loved C++. I argued with the interviewer about some tricky template question, and at home figured out I was right. Never told the interviewer though.

It's been almost 10 years since I've been writing code for money now.

## I'm an expert at...

- [All things Geo](http://smartpuffin.com/tag/geo/): storing location data, spatial databases, spatial operations on geometry. I actually [developed a GIS-system from scratch](http://smartpuffin.com/tag/fiji/).
- Maintaining data quality with smart tools and validations.
- Translating from users' language to technical and back.
- [Project management](http://smartpuffin.com/whats-common-between-opera-houses-and-software-projects-or-10-reasons-software-developers-go-overtime/).
- Writing good code: read about it [here](http://smartpuffin.com/design-for-readability/), [here](http://smartpuffin.com/modularization-dependency-management/), [and here](http://smartpuffin.com/problem-solving-thinking-about-corner-cases/).
- [Refactoring.](http://smartpuffin.com/refactoring-luxury-or-necessity/)
- Learning technologies on the fly.


## I want to brag about...

### WordCloud app

I proudly present to you my Android app [WordCloud](http://smartpuffin.com/wordcloud/). I wrote it for myself and didn't expect much, but I have **1 million** users now, and last month I got €1315 revenue from in-app purchases. I sell themed packages of shapes: Love shapes, Halloween, New Year.

### Articles

My most popular articles are:

- [Do I Want To Work In This Company, or What Questions To Ask On An Interview.](https://dev.to/ice_lenor/do-i-want-to-work-in-this-company-or-what-questions-to-ask-on-an-interview-7po)

- [15 Random Pieces Of Wisdom About People Management
.](https://dev.to/ice_lenor/15-random-pieces-of-wisdom-about-people-management--1n9b)

- [One Useful Advice To Fight The Impostor Syndrome.](https://dev.to/ice_lenor/one-useful-advice-to-fight-the-impostor-syndrome-3p8)

- [What's Common Between Opera Houses And Software Projects, or 10 Reasons Software Developers Go Overtime.](https://dev.to/ice_lenor/whats-common-between-opera-houses-and-software-projects-or-10-reasons-software-developers-go-overtime)

But I have much more! Check out my personal website [smartpuffin.com](http://smartpuffin.com) and subscribe :).

## Outside of work I do...
[Photography](https://500px.com/lenor). Travelling. Rock climbing. Gym. Playing the piano. Skydiving in a wind tunnel (once). Learning Dutch. Running pet projects and writing articles.


## My advice for allies to support women and non-binary folks who code is....

- Be not only mentors, but also sponsors: advocate for them to help them move to the next career level.
- Trust in them and show it.
- Believe them.
- Educate yourself about biases and correct yourself.
- Ask them what you can do to help them personally.