Q&A
become a software engineer, which is a whole
different story. I love how practical and comparatively
accessible bootcamp education is versus college and
I’m really glad I have the chance to teach at one.What led you to write your new ebook and why
should people download it?
I get questions all day every day asking for my advice
on learning to code and I wanted a way to put all my
thoughts in one place. I wrote about all the things
I wish I knew before learning to code. I talk about
factors like finding a learning path; the science
behind learning anything new; how challenging
it is; the softer skills like networking and working
past impostor syndrome. I hope it motivates new
programmers to stick with it, while also giving
experienced programmers some tools to empathise
with newer programmers and what it is that they’re
going through.Your blog posts have attracted more than a million
eyeballs. What’s your secret to attracting an
audience with your writing?
I write my blog posts for my past self: the girl who
was struggling in a computer science classroom
and who felt a lot of impostor syndrome at my first
programming job. Even though most of my posts are
technical, I try to break down concepts and jargon,
write in a conversational tone and appeal to multiple
learning styles. I think that being open about my
struggles and using my teaching background to make
resources that are educationally solid is something
that resonates with people.What have been the best and worst things about
working as a digital nomad?
The best part is definitely being able to live in different
cities all over the country. I get to see different sights,
get local food and meet new people all the time. When
I’m in a city long-term, I never see all the sights
because I’m free to go to them any time; there’s more
pressure to visit things when I’m only in the city
for a limited time. The hard part is having to figure
everything out all over again when I move somewhere:
where to eat, where to walk my dog, who to hang out
with and so on. It’s a fun adventure for sure but the
goal is to find my dream city to settle down in.What’s exciting you most in the field of web design
right now?
I am really excited about WebAssembly: I love building
art with code and I think WebAssembly will be huge
for making that more performant, plus having some
language competition on the front-end will be a
welcome change.ALI SPITTEL
Q&ACould you introduce yourself to anyone who doesn’t
know you?
Hi! I’m Ali. I work as a lead instructor at General
Assembly, where I teach new programmers to be
software engineers. I also have a blog geared towards
new programmers – welearncode.com – and I co-host
the Ladybug Podcast. I’ve also been a software
engineer at a couple of startups. Outside of work I am
a digital nomad, so I travel a lot and live out of Airbnbs
with my dog Blair.You’re known for your passion for teaching code.
Where does that passion come from?
My passion for teaching code comes from two angles.
First, I learned how to code in computer science 101
class in college, which was a lot later than a lot of
my peers. I loved it initially but when I took more
advanced classes I really struggled because of the
teaching style and the expectation of pre-college
computer science, which I didn’t have access to
growing up.
Second, I studied education in college and would
have minored in it if I hadn’t left school early toThe teacher, podcaster and speaker
is on a mission to teach code in a
way that’s not intimidating
INFO
job: Software engineer,
distinguished
faculty, General
Assembly
w: welearncode.com
t: @aspittel