To celebrate the Hour of Code, we’ve rounded up seven coders and programmers with a strong Twitter game to help you crack the code.
When people ask what the most important second language to learn is, someone usually smugly responds with ‘Javascript’, ‘Python’ or other programming languages.
While it might not be the answer you were looking for, programming languages are becoming more and more important every day.
The importance of learning how to code has even reached government level in a number of countries, with proposals to add it to the primary-level curriculum being put forward.
For total beginners, learning a programming language can be extremely daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are countless online resources, groups, meet-ups and free courses you can take to get started.
This week, the Hour of Code challenges people to spend one hour learning code to discover how easy it can be.
With this in mind, we’ve rounded up seven great coders, programmers and tech experts that would be ideal for you to add to your Twitter follow list if you’re interested in all things code.
CoderDojo (@CoderDojo)
We couldn’t compile a list of Twitter profiles for a budding coder without including CoderDojo.
All six children winning European Digital Girl of the year awards are involved in their local #CoderDojo clubs! Inspiring stuff! Well done to you all and all who supported you! ?? https://t.co/Nh7OsRRcWj pic.twitter.com/gcVuB2rvSC
— ☯CoderDojo☯ (@CoderDojo) December 5, 2017
Founded in Cork, CoderDojo is a global volunteer-led community of free programming clubs for young people between seven and 17.
CoderDojo is a must-follow for anyone interested in learning how to code.
Jennifer Dewalt (@JenniferDewalt)
Jennifer Dewalt built one website per day for 180 days, so she definitely knows a thing or two about coding.
She’s also the founder of Zube, a project management platform for agile development teams.
Getting ready for the Hack showcase at #HacktheNorth! Here's a sneak peek at one of my favs! ? pic.twitter.com/Xt8w2vy927
— Jen Dewalt (@JenniferDewalt) September 17, 2017
Her tweets and retweets are great inspiration for any budding coder who’s just starting out. She’s also a great advocate for diversity in tech.
Ben Evans (@kittylyst)
Ben Evans is an author, speaker, consultant and educator.
Just realised that my "Practical Scala for Java Developers" course has been online for a whole year! – https://t.co/OLDWKHZBl3 – and I'm blown away by the reviews & perfect score it's received – thank you all my viewers! #Java #Scala
— Ben Evans (@kittylyst) December 2, 2017
He also helps to organise the London Java community and serves on the Java community process executive committee, helping to define standards for the Java ecosystem.
Follow Evans on Twitter for all things Java in particular. For those a little further into their coding career, Evans also wrote about what developers need to know about Java 9.
Niamh Scanlon (@niamhscanlonirl)
At 15 years old, Niamh Scanlon is the youngest entry on our list, but she is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to coding.
Scanlon was named EU Digital Girl of the Year in 2015, she is a CoderDojo mentor and she has won several awards for her apps.
Huge congratulations to @AoibheannMangan & @catrinalouisec for both winning such amazing awards today!! ? @adaawards
— Niamh Scanlon (@niamhscanlonirl) November 30, 2017
Scanlon is a huge advocate for women in science and technology, and she’s an inspiration to anyone who wants to become a coder.
Jeff Atwood (@codinghorror)
Jeff Atwood is the co-founder of Stack Overflow, an online community for developers to learn, share their programming knowledge and build their careers.
He recently mentioned taking a break from Twitter, but we decided to keep him on the list because he’s a person worth knowing if you want to be a coder.
What do you love most about coding? I had completely forgotten what I wrote in answer to this, but yeah, that covers it for me. pic.twitter.com/5SF0e97t6O
— Jeff Atwood (@codinghorror) September 28, 2017
His previous tweets are worth a look and he can still be found on his blog, CodingHorror.com.
Vicky Twomey-Lee (@whykay)
As a self-professed Pythonista, Vicky Twomey-Lee is has a strong Twitter game for anyone interested in programming, developing and learning code.
She is the co-founder of Coding Grace, a tech community that organises events and workshops for female coders.
Fantastic turnout tonight, now pitching for idea hacks at @Codess_Dub in education. Just remembered this https://t.co/VS2Bk3OsN0 #STEM pic.twitter.com/u1j777FS6U
— whykay (@whykay) November 20, 2017
Twomey-Lee is also an incredibly strong advocate and role model for women in tech, and speaks about the importance of diversity within the industry.
Eric Meyer (@meyerweb)
Eric Meyer is an American web design consultant and author.
He is best known for his advocacy work on behalf of web standards, most notably Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
My review of “Create with Code: Build Your Own Website”, which is a GREAT beginners’ web design/dev book from @CoderDojo. If you’ve been looking for an intro-to-web book to give (or to have), check this one out. https://t.co/1USVzM9LV5 pic.twitter.com/bTjHqDpORm
— Eric Meyer (@meyerweb) December 3, 2017
His Twitter account is a great one to follow for coders, no matter how experienced you are.
