FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

A list of questions I am frequently asked whilst I am live streaming on Twitch — and the answers.

Why whitep4nth3r?

It started off as a throwaway code name. I'm stuck with it now.

How long have you been coding?

I have been coding professionally since 2014, when I landed my first job as a front end developer. From 2015-2020 I worked as a tech lead/lead engineer, still specialising in front end development. To read a more in-depth article about my journey into tech (which involved writing BASIC at the age of six!) check out this blog post: My non-traditional journey into tech and DevRel

How long have you been streaming on Twitch?

My first Twitch stream was on Thursday 25th June 2020. To read more about what I learned during my first few weeks on Twitch, check out this blog post: 6 things I learned about streaming live coding in my first 6 weeks on Twitch

What inspired you to start streaming on Twitch?

As a tech lead I was writing less and less code, and I saw very few programmers/developers streaming on Twitch who

were women
were based in the UK, or
specialised in front end development.

I started streaming to build stuff and learn things for myself, and to fill a gap I saw on Twitch. And it turned out to be a lot of fun!

What do you do for work?

I work at Sentry as a Senior Developer Relations Advocate.

Do you have a degree in Computer Science?

No. I have a First Class Honours degree in Music Composition, and hold a teaching qualification in music with a Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching.

How do you set up OBS?

Read this article: My Twitch live coding setup in OBS

What's that rainbow effect in your terminal?

It's lolcat.

Like weird newsletters?

Join 400+ subscribers in the Weird Wide Web Hole to find no answers to questions you didn't know you had.

Salma is looking straight at you, sat at her desk. Behind her is a wooden wall with VHS style art on it depicting HTML and CSS in VHS cover art form, there's a bit of a shelf behind her on the right where you can see a plant and a GitHub stars trophy. In the foreground there is a microphone. She is folding her arms, wearing a black high next top and thick rimmed black glasses, sitting on a cream chair that you can see the back of. To the left behind her there is a glimpse of a pink patterned chair and another plant.

Salma Alam-Naylor

I'm a software engineer, developer educator, and live streamer. I help developers build cool stuff with blog posts, videos, live coding and open source projects. Head of Developer Education at toddle.dev.