Sun Mi Kang

Follows as: Darongyi

Livecoding.tv/darongyi

A Little About Darongyi:

Sun Mi Kang is from Seoul, South Korea. Like most girls of her age, she likes chocolates, nail colors and weekly hangouts with friends. But unlike most girls of that age, she loves programming, is curious about robot development and has deep interest in network protocols. C++ is her favorite programming language and she wishes to iOS apps someday. She is proactive when it comes to interaction with her favorite streamers and so she makes sure to ask them things she don’t understand. Taking feminism to her profession, she plans to create mobile applications for young girls to help them with their shopping, make ups & all the important girl things.

On our virtual tour to Seoul last week, we happened to Darongyi. Here’s what we talked about:

Interviewer: So Sun, How did you hear about Livecoding.tv? What was your initial reaction?

Darongyi: It was on Facebook I recall. My had shared something about Livecoding.tv on her profile. I got curious. At first, I was surprised to know that developers were coding in real time in streaming sessions. I felt it was a cool and an amazing . I always had this notion, that programmers are poor when it comes to communicating with people. Livecoding.tv proved my thoughts wrong.

I: Once in a while, it’s good to be proven wrong. Right? Then who’s your favorite streamer on Livecoding.tv? What’s the best thing about him, and the worst?

D: Well my favorite streamer is eip56. Best thing about him is that he explains each and every step before taking it in regard to whatever he is . I think it’s a great way to communicate your product to viewers. I like his streams for that. He doesn’t make you bored, he is funny and plays some real good music.

I: Yeah, Eip56 is among the best streamers on Livecoding.tv. So as a viewer, seeing which products being coded are most exciting for you?

D: Game development using Unity5. I din’t know much about game development earlier but when I saw a streamer working on Unity5 on Livecoding.tv, I found myself attracted to it. I really  to learn game development using Unity5 in coming days.

I: We wish you luck for that. Did you experience anything interesting as a viewer on Livecoding.tv.

D: Yes. Many in fact. It’s like the more you spend on site, the more amazing it gets. I feel quite close to couple of streamers. At times, streamers lose plot and don’t know what or how to solve a puzzle. At all such occasions, many viewers would jump in to help the streamer. Once I even saw a streamer helping another streamer. It was very interesting to see. Livecoding.tv is quite unique from other sites that way. Since I’m Korean, I was surprised to see a developer using Korean smart-phone for his android development. I remember talking to that streamer, he even made me a Korea homepage. It felt amazing, and proud seeing Korean streamer.

I: Well, not only from Korea we do have streamers from more than 165 countries. So there’s always a chance you will find from back home. Right, so being a viewer, what role do you think Livecoding.tv is playing in promoting learning how to program?

D: Livecoding.tv I think is playing an enormous role in this regard. One, it stimulates curiosity and interest of programming  languages among beginners. For instance, when I first joined Livecoding.tv I din’t know a thing about Java ,HTML or CSS, but when I saw professional programmers coding and creating products in them. I found myself looking for more of their streams. Two, it removes distances of space and time, like one can code/view from anywhere in the world. Anyone can start live broadcast in any programming language, regardless of his physical whereabouts. That way I feel Livecoding.tv has no limitations. Three, it allows for live exchange of . One can freely communicate with professional developers in real time. Like I saw a developer who’s code was written very clean. Something I couldn’t do myself ever. So I asked him how can one write clean codes and he suggested me a book, which really helps me now writing cleaner codes.

I: That’s quite an insightful perspective you have. So what’s your dream ‘product’ that you would like to be built someday by you or someone else?

D: Well, I want to make a nail pick up application for women. It’s like most women like nail art and using different colors. But, It’s hard to know a color that looks well, without trying. So my app will suggest nail art design and nail colors to women, without actually trying them on their nails. Women will only have to take a of their hands and my program will do the rest.

I: That sounds really interesting. Is coding is dry or boring as is perceived by some people?

M: Honestly, I agree to the common perception. Coding at times needs too much patience and gets to one head. But frankly, nowadays whenever I feel my work boring, I turn on Livecoding.tv. and look for streamers which are playing some exciting brand of music. It stimulates my feelings, makes me drive inspiration from streamers work and at times I will chat out my with the streamer. It really feels good.*laughs*

I: Wow, it sounds like an anti-boring recipe. Right. So in your view, what’s the place online to stream code? Why?

D: There are quite a few online streaming out there today. Among them, Livecoding.tv I think is the best if you are looking to join one for streaming or learning. Viewers here can easily look out for the streams of their matching difficulty level and of languages they are more interested in. Similarly, streamers can designate their skill level. If a viewer feels difficulty, he/she can ask streamer about projects and codes. Most streamers are helpful towards explaining about project flow and their codes.

I: Right. Our streamers here are always helpful to their viewers. Well, what do you think does coding helps anyway in imparting social skills? Explain. 

D: Sure it does. Like whenever we encounter errors and bugs in our code, we ask people on different platforms about that bug and search if someone had meet the same bug once. That way coding makes us communicate our to people and allows us to get help from them to solve those problems with mutual sharing of ideas.

I: Great. So, If monkeys were to code, what sort of programs would they create and which will be their favorite programming language?

M: I think monkeys will create simple programs. And for that they will like to use JavaScript. Monkeys have simple thoughts and JavaScript will be ideal for them. Like for instance, if they were to draw a banana, Javascript has the easiest way to draw one.*laughs*

Well, that’s how it went with our C++ lover Darongyi. If you would like to feature in our Q&A session, simply drop us an email at [email protected].

And it goes without saying, don’t forget to let us know how you feel about our Q&A series in the comments below.

Take Care.