In this series, we shine a spotlight 🔦 on the different DEV moderators — Trusted Members and Tag Mods — who help to make DEV a kind, helpful place. Aside from spreading good vibes and helping fellow community members, these folks also assist us with removing spam and keeping posts well organized by adding and removing tags as necessary amongst other things.
If you want to learn more about what these awesome folks do, I recommend checking out our Trusted Member and Tag Moderation guides. There is information about how to apply in both guides if you're interested in joining up as a moderator.
Introducing Elizabeth Mattijsen 🙌
This month, we're putting the spotlight on long-time DEV member and moderator, Elizabeth Mattijsen. Liz regularly writes about the Raku programming language, curating various blogs on the topic each week in this awesome series. She also frequently reports spammers to us, helping us to rid the site of those relentless back-linkers and SEO builders... this behind-the-scenes work goes a long way to keeping our community tidy and as spam-free as can be. 🧹 Thank you, Liz!
The Interview
Michael Tharrington: Can you talk a bit about your developer origin story? How did you first get started in software development and what made you decide to pursue it as a career?
Liz: Wow. That's a long story. Involving many systems and languages that nobody knows about anymore (PLATO, TUTOR, PILOT, TenCORE to name but a few). If we're looking at the web, then I've started doing web development in 1994 as the co-founder of xxLINK, the first commercial web presence provider in the Netherlands. From 2000 to 2003 I was involved in several startups that all didn't make it, or can now live on their own without my interference.
From 2003 until 2012 I was involved in the backend development of Booking.com (nice description can be found in The Machine). Since those crazy days, and after recovering from a burnout, I've decided to dedicate most of my time on the development of what is now the Raku Programming Language.
Michael: You do a lot of behind-the-scenes modding for us at DEV, regularly pointing out spam to us (thank you!)... what’s your methodology for finding spammers or do you just stumble upon spam and report it when you see it?
Liz: The methodology is utterly simple: if I get new followers, DEV sends me a mail with the latest new follower whenever a day has passed and I got new followers. It has a link to the current list of followers. I look at that list and basically check all of the followers that did not add a photo, but some kind of logo. And if I think they look like spam, I report and block them. Fortunately, lately this has become a lot easier since many of them were already suspended by your spam recognition tools, it seems. So I just need to block them.
Michael: Also, what’s the goofiest type of spam that you’ve run into on DEV?
Liz: I'd have to go from memory, and I try to forget these as quickly as possible. And I don't have an email copy of those reports, so I can't really go through them to refresh my memory. But there were some weird ones indeed, clearly caused by a bot gone astray.
Michael: In your DEV bio, you’ve written “Mostly working on the Raku Programming Language. Born at 314 ppm.” For the uninitiated, can you give us a bit of background on Raku and talk about why it’s particularly interesting to you?
Liz: The Raku Programming Language is a new multi-paradigm programming language with a long history. Its first public release (as "Perl 6") was in December 2015. After many discussions it was decided to change the name to the Raku Programming Language in 2019.
It's interesting to me because its syntax fits the way my brain works, rather than needing to adjust my brain to a programming language. DWIM (aka "Do What I Mean") is an acronym often used in Raku. If something doesn't DWIM, it's usually considered LTA (aka "Less Than Awesome") and will need fixing.
Michael: Bonus points if you’d like to explain the “314 ppm” line too.
Liz: I worry about climate change, and the fact that CO2 levels in the atmosphere keep rising at an ever increasing rate, breaking worst case predictions time and time again. The current level is at 420 ppm, that's a 34% increase from when I was born. I'm leaving it as an exercise to the reader when that was!
Michael: You’re a really prolific writer, regularly sharing posts on Raku and Perl amongst other subjects. Any guidance for writers out there? (For example how to keep motivated and disciplined, choosing topics to write on, etc.)
Liz: One of the mottos of the Raku Programming Language is "Optimized for Fun" (aka -Ofun). I've been in the lucky circumstance that I've (almost) always have been able to do things I thought were fun to do, and make a living out of that. And if they weren't fun (anymore), I would find something else fun to do.
My guidance for writers would be: write about something that interests you and which you find fun to do. Don't expect any reward, other than the joy of writing, and learning from that. Everything else positive that comes out of that, is bonus. Everything else negative that comes out of that, is another opportunity for learning. And the lesson can be to just ignore the negativity.
Michael: Do you have any coding luminaries that you follow?
Liz: I used to, but they all stopped programming :-)
Michael: Likewise, any developer-focused organizations, blogs, or open-source projects that you’re keeping an eye on?
Liz: Nothing specific. I try to keep an eye on open source developments in general, and organizations such as the EFF and Bits Of Freedom.
Wrap up
Thank you for tuning in to hear about another one of our amazing mods. 💚
Stay tuned for future mod interviews in this series!
Top comments (10)
*@lizmat , you have the look of a person who's lived a satisfying and fulfilling life. I absolutely love that! Spot on noting that *you knew a slew of programming languages I have never heard of. I find it inspirational, as I can imagine a lot of those were probably pretty abstract and if they had doucmentation it probably was in the form of a fifty pound book. I equally have never heard of Raku before, but love it in the face of "the programmers Toki Pona" I keep going on about. Essentially an off-shoot of a language distilled to a simplified communicative state. Although the language I see in my head is higher-level than what I'm seeing in some aspects browsing the docs.
But I like what I see. It's very clean, and even fun! I too like DWIM functionality =P!
Also kudos for being a voracious writer. Which I suppose would also imply you're a voracious reader. Any good reads to point towards, I'm open to the lot.
I'm not sure if you'll see this or not, but if you do I'd like to ask a question. As you've clearly been in the field both actively and now more passively I'm assuming in your retirement. You've probably been asked this a thousand times, and apologies in advanced if it gets old. For someone at the beginning of their journey, what sagely wisdom could you pass on? Something to do with observed trends over the lifetime of your career. Or a statement against chasing x over y. To avoid the shinier things, or something to that extent. Hahaha! Either way, I'll take any advice if you're willing to give some on the subject.
Thank you, and keep kicking tail!
Wow, you make me feel old! :-)
On advice, I'd say:
Hahaha, don't feel old! Feel seasoned! I tell people as I grow, I gain flavor. Hahaha!
a) I'm attempting to mash my unicorn brain with practicality as we speak. I think I might be stronger for it in the end, we'll see.
b) I've had consistency issues due to painful flare-ups. It's something I've been battling, but I do have the drive. I'm trying to also mash these together. The drive, the journey, and the destination. I know I can be an asset, it's just a means of gaining the skills and consistency and then applying them. But I'm getting there with the help of my loved ones and a fantastic medical team.
My grandfather was the most consistent person I've ever met. I have a lot of love for him, and have always been in awe of his talents. He was very focused, kept his word, and had a series of daily rituals he followed. I actually thought of him when I poked through your GitHub. Because I love the tenacity of individuals who have lived in a world with and without the internet. And while I try to mimic those characteristics, I can only replicate them in my own way. As culture and time is constantly shifting who we are and how we interact with this world.
But hopefully someday I can be as cool as you guys =P!
c) I love this one. It's plausibly the most important piece of advice on this site. I have a yoyo that I keep on my desk, that I play with when I get stuck. To reset my brain. My gal, she has a tyvek ball she juggles at hers. But on a larger scale, it's easy to lean into hopelessness when the chips are down. But life is amazing, and it always continues onward. And as long as you're living, you're a part of that. This fact on my end helps me march forward, at my own pace, instead of getting stuck. But equally, I'm a hard-headed fool who will hit a wall until I break it. Only some walls don't break, and learning what is a worthwhile venture over letting go has been...an interesting journey. I just wish lessons stuck the first time we learned them 10/10.
By the by, told my partner about you and she also said you sound "cool!" So take that as you'd like. Thank you for all the lovely advice. Keep on, keeping on!
Great write-up! Thank you for your hard work @lizmat - Raku looks fascinating.
Thank you for building a better community @lizmat!
Really cool and nice work @lizmat !!
Way to go, Liz @lizmat!! 🥳 🥳
I appreciate all the work you do! Thanks, Liz!
Awesome interview, thanks a lot @lizmat ! ⭐
Good Morning :
Iam really appreciate your thread I find it excellent advanced background comment very well Discussion understanding helpful questions
Best wishes,
Lahcene