Education Ecosystem Blog

A Little About Travis Noles:

Travis Noles is a computer science student at Lake Michigan College. He loves cats and C# is his favorite programming language. He is one of the most outspoken and equally visible viewer at Livecoding.tv. On his favorite persons list, Albert Einstein stands tall among others. He is from Watervliet, Michigan and his interests vary from Astronomy to rock metal music. He has an adorable smile and he is passionate about pursuing a career as a computer programmer. His professional motto is to create softwares which help people solve real life problems.

On a recent visit to Lake Michigan, we happened to spend few hours with Travis. Here’s what we talked about:

Interviewer: Travis, where did you first hear about Livecoding.tv? How was your initial experience?

Trav:  I first heard about Livecoding.tv from a Mashable article back in March. At that time couple of my friends were streaming their coding on live streaming sites which were not dedicated to coding specifically. So when I first came to Livecoding.tv, I was super excited about this new platform that was entirely dedicated to coding community.

I: Well we are glad you liked the platform. So who’s your favorite streamer on Livecoding.tv? What’s the best thing about him, and the worst?

T: My favorite streamer on Livecoding.tv is Whilke. The best thing about him is he’s very entertaining to watch and a very awesome person in general. I highly recommend watching him if you haven’t already checked out his stream, go check it out! Other than that, he’s very welcoming of any questions his viewers have, and always tries his best to respond to people coming in his chat. As for worst thing, there isn’t any bad thing about him, except that he rigs his raffles (just kidding :P). *laughs*

I:  Well it seems Whilke has got quite an impressive fan base. Right. So as a viewer, seeing which products being coded are most interesting for you? 

T: I’m more of a C# programmer, so naturally I love seeing products that are being coded in C#. And since I’m always trying to learn new things about C#, so I prefer following streams of C# channel. But honestly, I will pretty much watch anything, everything as long as there’s something new to learn about programming. I love interacting with fellow programmers, so it’s always interesting being in chat with them, other than watching them code products.

I:  So did you encounter any particularly interesting moment as a viewer @Livecoding.tv?

T: Well yeah, the most exciting moment I had was when I won a game from my favorite streamer, Whilke. I rarely win anything, so it felt great when I got a free game from his gift library. It was like a super awesome experience. Apart from that, I consider most viewers here as ‘lurkers’, meaning they are usually working on coding projects of their own while listening in on the streams. However, I’m a bit of a lurker and a ‘contributor’. I’ve not only learned from watching people code here but also by interacting with them.

I: That’s right. It does adds to your learning if you interact with streamers. So being a viewer, what role do you think Livecoding.tv is playing in promotion and learning of programming?

T: Well I think Livecoding.tv has a great potential in promoting programming in the sense that it allows people to learn from experienced programmers. Like Whilke for instance, hosts a teaching stream every once in a while, where he goes over a certain topic and explains in depth about it to the general audience. So I think this platform has an even greater potential for teaching others how to work on real-world applications. And for the very same reason I believe livecoding.tv will be very successful in promoting coding among general population. Honestly, I’m very glad to be a part of it while it’s still a toddler and can’t wait to see it grow and expand. It’s a very exciting time for the Livecoding.tv site I believe! 

I: Haha thanks, we are obviously pretty excited to see Livecoding.tv grow and reach new heights too. So what’s your dream ‘product’ that you would like to be built someday by you or someone else?

T:  Well a dream product of mine would be to create useful software for a company or even a group of people. I love making things simple, smart and efficient. So anything that makes people’s lives more comfortable is my dream product.

I: Great. That’s what all programmers should aim for. Then how’s been your experience with coding so far, is coding that dry and boring as is perceived by most people?

T: No. Coding is neither dry nor boring as most people would think. But yes, people who are not interested in technology will find coding completely boring. For most people it should be fascinating to see how stuff we use is actually being made. But then, programming can be/cannot be very interesting depending on how it is being presented by a programmer. 

I: Very true. So in your view, what’s the best place online to stream code? Why?

T: Well Livecoding.tv is the best place to stream code online because it serves as a dedicated platform for programming community. It is easier to find coders to watch as well, rather than having to dig through certain pages to find programming streams, as is the case with other online streaming sites. Even though there’s not a lot of exposure to coding streams, and most programmers believe that people won’t benefit from watching them work on a product or solution, but in reality it can benefit both. The streaming coder, because they can get help from the viewers, and the viewers can learn on how the coder solves the problem.

I: Right. Does coding helps anyway in imparting social skills? Explain.

T: Yes it does. Like when you’re part of a team working on a project together, you have to explain other’s how the code works. This could mean you’re explaining how you came up with a solution to a problem the team was struggling as a whole. Coding works with logic and you have to explain step-by-step how something works, even at times you don’t understand how it does. 

I: Great, lastly. Tell us if monkeys were to code, what sort of programs would they create and what will be their favorite programming language?

T: If monkeys were to code they would  definitely create lots of different programs related to bananas. Like a program that will help them generate bananas somehow. Their favorite programming language will probably be Banana++. *Laughs*

I: Banana++? Seems legit. Well thank you for your time Trav and I will see you around on the site!

That’s how it went with one of our most enthusiastic viewers, Trav. If you would like to feature in our Q&A session, as a streamer or as a viewer, simply drop us an email at don@livecoding.tv.

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.