In every newspaper, there are all these talented computer scientists being praised for their work and their discoveries, but there is one thing in common between all of them. They are mostly male. It is rare to see any headlines about accomplishments of a female computer scientist, and it is even rarer to see anyone talk about them. Seeing this happened, I was determined to let all the women's voices be heard, especially when it is such a male-dominated industry. And born Code Her Way, a blog to empower women to break the coding barrier.

To be able to build a blog from scratch was definitely not an easy task, especially when you are a beginner with such ambitious thoughts. In fact, the final website you see today is not what I originally planned out to be, but the work of a two-time failure.

Presenting the first version, the unfinished one. Dominated with black and yellow, this version was poorly designed and non user-friendly. My knowledge was still very limited then, so the coding process was me juggling between learning and applying what I have learnt directly to the website. The result was a patched up site with minimal functionality. The design of the website was not physically pleasing to the eyes, and it was barely compatible with different devices. There weren’t any posts on the website either, as I was too busy building the site and didn’t make time to write any articles. Although it did not work out like what I imagined, it was a great try and even a greater opportunity to learn from.

The second version was more well-planned. I became more confident with my coding skills. Although I still spent half the time debugging and searching for solutions, the process went much smoother than the first one. The design was also better, yet still seemed rather rigid and boring. I prepared articles beforehand, so I do not end up with a blank website when it is finished. But the biggest problem was: performance. The website lagged all the time. The pages took forever to load, and navigating between the pages was hard. I was not pleased with the result, so I decided to redo, again.

“Third time’s the charm.” - they said. And they were right. I listed all the problems I have faced during the first and second version and try to avoid encountering them again. With my knowledge and preparation, the process was shortened to only half the time of the first two. I became more prepared and minimized having to search up any concepts or code. The design also improved a lot; it was more friendly looking and easier to interact with, and it was made to be compatible with any devices. While the first two mainly focused on being a blog website, on the third one, I decided to expand and show my portfolio as well as my profile as well. The result turned out perfectly. It was the first complete design that I ever showed to anyone.

The journey of acquiring coding skills is undeniably challenging. It involves twists and turns, dead ends and moments of confusion. However with perseverance, access to resources and a genuine eagerness to learn it is possible to navigate this path. Although my personal journey is still ongoing, I have come to realize that every obstacle or setback presents an opportunity for learning and personal growth. It is these experiences that make this journey worthwhile.