Women developers need to show up more

COME on fair ladies, wherefore art thou? Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. You did not, so it was left to me to carry the flag for the sisterhood of the techie troop.

Why am I all emotional? During the weekend, I had volunteered to represent my superior who had graciously asked me to deputise for him to attend the Google Developer Group Devfest 2013. He was otherwise occupied so sent me with the intention of enabling me, the one female staff member on his team to pick up a pointer or two in redesigning Astro AWANI's website and application.

When I arrived at the event venue at the Cyberview Resort and Spa, registration had already begun. Scanning the crowd, I found that I was one of the very few women attending this conference. Google is never now, and never can be accused of any gender bias – so where are all the women developers?

I wondered why my fellows did not come out that day. Are they not successful? Are they not interested in this field? Is there no motivation for women to get into web/app development? I was motivated to stay until the end with the thought: “I'm getting out of here with something and not leaving until I get it”.

For those unfamiliar with this event, it is basically a knowledge sharing session with the community on the latest Google Developer technologies held worldwide every year. It is also a platform for all developers out there to share their ideas. For Malaysia, this is the fourth time GDG Devfest is being held.

The number of participants for the current GDG Devfest 2013 held in Cyberjaya on the 10th November was astonishing. From all range of age groups and backgrounds, everyone came together under one roof with a sole purpose : to gain some insight on the advancements in the world of Google development.

The opening speech by Sebastian Trzcinski-Clement, Senior Program Manager, Google touched on the wide range of Google Developer API. With the many libraries that these APIs have to offer, you can do anything from designing your own player interface for YouTube to promoting your new restaurant with the Google Maps API.

The conference was split into two tracks, Track 1 and Track 2. Track 1 covered more on Android and Arduino development. Want to control your fan with just a tap of your phone? Then these sessions help participants understand the mechanism behind it.

Corey Scott from Sage42 Apps spoke, Yap Wen Jiun, Android Developer for CodeAndroid Malaysia added his insights and Taylor Ling from AndroidUIUX.com also featured. A detailed demo was also shown on how to code your Android device to integrate Arduino.

Track 2 presented more the business perspective of app development, how to start monetizing your app ideas and how to succeed in creating an app that not only has a high rate in downloads, but also its implications on the promotion of social well-being.

Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO and founder of 1337 Ventures, pointed out the three motivations in creating a successful app: the idea, the people, and the money. One of the key points highlighted during the presentations was the popularity of 'to do' apps recently in the Google Play Store. One may have an app idea which is similar to 100,000 other people in the world. But has any one of those 100,000 people actually built the app? And if yes, how can one improve that existing app?

The women developers who did show up, they shone. One of them was Tuyen Nguyen, Mobile Developer Advocate for AdMob Google and Loretta Tioiela on Angular JS for gaming development. Knowing that female developers are very rare in general, these sessions threw some light on the output of female developers out there who I certainly will try to emulate.

This is the place for both developers and also entrepreneurs who are looking to increase their technical knowledge as well as to learn the baby steps needed in actualizing really awesome app ideas.

According to the coordinator of the GDG Devfest 2013, Nazrul Kamaruddin, the number of participants has increased more than the previous year and expected to increase in the following years. When asked about future plans for GDG Devfest, Nazrul hopes to introduce something new every year. A final message from Nazrul to all developers out there is: "Always be open, be transparent, share your knowledge, and have fun."

I'dlike to add: hey sistas; come out of your shell yo!

Can't wait for next year's event.