Why do girls want to learn Rails?

On the eve of Brisbane's first #RailsGirls event we find out why some girls want to learn to code. There is a huge difference between getting into technology and learning to code as part of a career and wanting to learn enough to know what everyone else is talking about.

Most people choose to do an entry-level course like #RailsGirls because it is a great starting point. It is an introduction to Rails, the basics of learning to code for someone who has no idea. A workshop like #RailsGirls is for all ages, if you have a laptop you can participate -  which is pretty cool.

The aim is to break down barriers and enable everyone to have a go in a comfortable environment. Hence the all-girl event. There are plenty of guys around as mentors and coaches, yet participants are all female.

Rails Girls is a global movement aiming to provide tools and a community for women to understand technology and to build their ideas. They do this by providing a great experience on building things and by making technology more approachable.

During the event participants will learn sketching, prototyping, basic programming and get introduced to the world of technology. Rails Girls was born in Finland, but is nowadays a global, non-profit volunteer community. Read more about them here.

Two local ladies and participants of Rails Girls Brisbane shared their story on why they are participating in #RailsGirlsBNE in this blog post.

The interest in this event was huge, it sold out in the first few weeks of being advertised. We had 20 people on the waiting list and have a second event planned for Brisbane in October.

 

Watch this video to see what Rails Girls is all about.

http://vimeo.com/17752439