Meet Team Rails Grrls

Posted on by Laura and Nicole

We are Laura and Nicole, a.k.a. Team Rails Grrls. We started our Summer of Code in Mid-June at the Soundcloud HQ office in Berlin.

Laura, Nicole and coach Duana

After the first few weeks of getting more familiar with Ruby, Rails and programming concepts in general, last week we couldn’t wait to get started with our first project, the Rails Apps Learners Directory. So far, we’ve set up an authentication system through GitHub and added a rating feature (without using a gem!).

Why ‘Rails Grrls’? What does the name mean?

It’s a reference to the Riot Grrrl punk rock movement that started in the early 90’s. Feminism isn’t dead and we want to spread the word that feminists rule.

How did you hear about the SoC and why did you apply?

We both heard about the SoC at the RailsGirls Anniversary Workshop on May 4th this year.

Laura: I want to apply my coding skills to projects for social justice - coding websites and other tech things that need doing. My background is in nonprofits working with queer and gender non-conforming youth, and I want to be able to go back to those movements with more skills to offer.

Nicole: I applied because I want to become a software developer and think the project will give me a good foundation to get started with.

What are you working on?

The first project is to build a crowdsourced directory of Rails-learning resources within RailsApps. The open source community will be able to post, rate and categorize the resources.

The second project will be to build our own programming language using Rubinius and document the process as a tutorial for others.

What is your happiest moment so far?

Everytime we fix something we get an adrenaline rush (and do a high-five). And sometimes we get cookies from our coaches…

If you could code anything in the world, what would it be?

Nicole: I would use my skills to contribute something meaningful to this world. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it’s the truth. Laura: I would code an app that would swallow Facebook and Google and make them less evil. Kidding, kind of :P

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